third try may be the charm in Senator Wyden’s long effort to enact public lands legislation to conserve wildlands in the Owyhee and lower Malheur Basins in Oregon.
Read MoreSenator Wyden’s Owyhee Wilderness, and More, Legislation
Bureau of Land Management
30x30: Biden Needs to Up His Game
For President Biden to ensure that 30 percent of the nation’s lands and waters are conserved by 2030, as he promised, the pace and scale of protections needs to increase dramatically.
Read MoreBiden’s Executive Order on Forests, Part 1: A Great Opportunity
President Biden is poised to enter the pantheon of forest-protecting American presidents.
Read MoreSenator Ron Wyden and National Recreation Areas: How Large a Legacy?
Top Line: Oregon’s senior senator is poised to leave a legacy of national recreation areas. Just how many and how good that legacy will be is up to him.
Read MoreSocial Cost of Fossil Fuels from US Public Lands
A fee based on the social cost of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide should be imposed on fossil-fuel mining leases on federal public lands.
Read MoreThe Proposed Sutton Mountain National “Monument”
Legislation has been introduced to conserve and restore one of the most colorful natural landscapes in Oregon for the benefit of this and future generations.
Read MoreClinton and Obama Giveth, Trump Taketh, and Biden Restoreth: Two National Monuments in the State of Utah
Two national monuments in Utah have been restored, but it isn’t over.
Read MoreWhere’s the Beef?
Domestic livestock grazing could end on the federal public lands (with great benefit to federal taxpayers and incalculable benefits to nature) with no affect on the nation’s beef, lamb, and wool supply.
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Figure 1. Graffiti by me. I’m not going there yet but may have to. Source: Forest Stewardship Council-US.
Certified Wood from Federal Forests? Hell No. Make That NFW!
So far, I have happily recommended FSC-certified tree flesh to those who have asked (and commended to those who haven’t). However, if any federal forest lands are certified by the FSC, I will no longer be able to recommend FSC-certified wood as I cannot be assured that the FSC label means the wood product didn’t come from the logging of older (mature and old-growth) forests on federal public forest lands.
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Figure 1. Some red cliffs in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area. Source: Bureau of Land Management.
Roading the Red Cliffs: Unnecessary, and Illegal to Boot
As the Trump administration was slithering out the door in mid-January, it issued decisions that would put a new 4.5-mile-long four-lane divided highway through both the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area and a particular stronghold for the imperiled Mojave desert tortoise.
Read MoreWyden’s Unprecedently Good Wild and Scenic Rivers Legislation
Nearly 4,700 miles of Oregon’s free-flowing streams will be added to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System if legislation introduced this past Wednesday by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) becomes law.
Read MoreConverting State Trust Lands into Public Lands, Part 2: Focus on Oregon
The federal government, through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, should buy a significant portion of state trust lands that have high conservation value. The Oregon Legislative Assembly should use the state’s bonding authority to issue bonds to buy the state trust lands out of their bondage in the Common School Fund.
Read MoreNational Parks in Oregon, Part 4: Will the Inertia Continue?
I am bearish on the prospect of establishing any new national parks in Oregon, save perhaps one that would be a hell of a long shot. I am semi-bullish on the possibility of modest additions to Oregon’s only national park. But I am bullish on the chances of designating several new National Park System units in Oregon.
Read MoreAnother Northwest Forest War in the Offing? Part 1: A Sordid Tale of Environmental Destruction, Greed, and Political Malfeasance
There may (or may not) soon be an existential threat to over two million acres of federal public forestlands in western Oregon administered (for now, at least) by the Bureau of Land Management. Northwest Forest War III may be in the offing, and such would be a good thing.
Read MoreL’Affaire Malheur, Part 2: Backstory and Analysis
L’Affaire Malheur, Part 1: The Proposed Legislation
Malheur is the French word for adversity, misfortune, and/or tragedy. It is also, among other things, a name for a county in Oregon, a national forest, a national wildlife refuge, and a river. Senator Ron Wyden’s proposed Malheur Community Empowerment for the Owyhee Act is indeed a misfortune and a tragedy.
Read MoreThe Hard Case of Hardrock Mining Reform (Part 2): Conservation Areas in Which to Just Say No
While the how, when, where, and why of mining on federal public lands is important (see Part 1), at least as important is where notto mine on federal public lands. These include places where the public’s interest in the conservation of natural, historical, and cultural values outweighs the value of any minerals that might be had, places that have been reserved for the benefit of this and future generations rather than for the benefit of today’s corporation.
Read MoreThe Hard Case of Hardrock Mining Reform (Part 1): Where Done, If It Cannot Be Done Right, Then Do It the Least Wrong
Today anybody, including foreign companies (as long as they own a domestic corporate shell), can enter most federal public lands and stake a claim, which the government treats as a right to mine. The government cannot say no to such hardrock mining, no matter how inappropriate.
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Showdown for the Oregon Wildlands Act
In play right now in Congress are two bills that would elevate the conservation status of 442,620 acres of public land in Oregon.
Read MoreWither the Wild Rogue?
When Representative Greg Walden (R-2nd-OR) hears “the Rogue,” he happily dreams of the roar of chainsaws. But now Walden is down and Representative Peter DeFazio (D-4th-OR) is up, and the stars have aligned to save the Wild Rogue. You can help.
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