May I introduce.. Usnea Lichen?
May I introduce, the Yellow Bellied Marmot??
May I introduce…. The most ghostly of flowers???
May I introduce, the Yellow Spotted Millipede?
May I introduce, the otherworldly ‘By the Wind Sailor’?
May I introduce (the much maligned…) Turkey Vulture??
May I introduce, the beautiful rosy colored Pacific Sideband snail?
May I introduce… the snake with all sizzle but very little snap?
May I introduce, the Magnificent Bryozoan??
May I introduce, the Black Tailed Jackrabbit?
May I Introduce … the Western Fence Lizard?
Though a rather common lizard of the western United States, this beautiful medium sized lizard has some superhero powers. A member of the spiny lizard family, fence lizards have spiny grey, tan or brown scales with a white or yellow underside. Males often boast a beautiful blue belly or throat.
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Restoration Update Winter 2025
WHEN IS IT OK TO KILL A TREE?
by Ken Carloni
I chose the title for this article after I posed this deliberately provocative question to spur discussion with a group of forest scientists and activists a while back. Forests the world over have been systematically managed for millennia, and fire was the only real [...]
Wilderness Update Winter 2025
The 90-Mile Wilderness Corridor Along the High Cascades
by Diana Pace
The proposed 90-mile High Cascades Wilderness Corridor represents one of the most ambitious and ecologically meaningful conservation visions in Oregon’s recent history. Stretching across a continuous chain of protected lands from the proposed Brown Mountain Wilderness in the south to the Diamond Peak [...]
Education Update Winter 2025
Lifelong Learning: A Foundation for Our Future
by Julie Lowe
UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) identifies lifelong learning as a human right and calls it the foundation of a “learning society.” Lifelong learning is the idea that education isn’t a stage of life, but rather a way of life. It recognizes [...]
Honoring the Life of Ted Swagerty
President’s Corner Winter 2025
by Janice Reid
This winter, our community received the sad news of the passing of Ted Swagerty, a Roseburg native whose life reflected a deep commitment to service, creativity, and environmental stewardship. Though he recently made his home in Portland, Ted remained connected to the Umpqua and to [...]
Conservation Update Winter 2025
The Endangered Species Act- Under threat
by Janice Reid
In 1970, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released The Right to Exist—A Report on Our Endangered Wildlife (Resource Publication 69, Stock No. 2410-0161). The authors quoted Aldo Leopold and reflected on America’s vanishing wildlife: passenger pigeons, heath hens, Carolina parakeets, and others. They [...]
Outreach Update Winter 2025
by Julie Lowe
As the new Director of Environmental Education and Outreach, I’ve taken a moment to consider the goals of “outreach.” It’s easy to think of Outreach as simply getting the word out about Umpqua Watersheds and promoting our programs. But in this strange and shifting political climate, where resources are being cut left [...]
Wilderness Update Fall 2025
Last Creek Roadless Area – Protecting the Upper South Umpqua
The Roadless Rule, a cornerstone of national forest protection, is currently in danger of being rescinded. This rule safeguards undeveloped forests from road building and logging, helping preserve habitat, clean water, and cultural heritage across millions of acres. Its loss would threaten landscapes [...]
Restoration Update Fall 2025
Back in Dec. 2023, I wrote a guest column for the Roseburg News-Review entitled Public Forests Are Not the Problem and later published it in our Spring 2024 newsletter and Restoration Blog. In that article, I cite numerous peer-reviewed research papers that refute the erroneous but oft-repeated timber industry mantra that unmanaged primary forests [...]
Education Update Fall 2025
Growing Stewardship in the Umpqu
Exciting News! In partnership with the Oregon State University Extension office, Umpqua Watersheds will design and facilitate the field course for the Master Naturalists program in Southern Oregon. We’re pleased to announce this brand-new initiative, which will enable Umpqua Watersheds to take a hands-on, integral role in shaping [...]