Emile Old Growth Trees Grove
I highly recommend a visit to Emile old growth trees grove. It is easy to get to for an inspiring outing a few miles up Little River. Complete directions are on-line. It is a short easy hike to the tree pictured. If you go off the trail to wander around the forest and marvel at [...]
Conservation Update
…by Janice Reid
Recently, we heard of a decision in a five-year-long legal challenge by Crag Law Center on behalf of our sister organizations KS Wild, Cascadia Wildlands, Oregon Wild, and Soda Mountain Wilderness Council brought against the Medford Bureau of Land Management (BLM). At issue was the way Medford BLM ignored their management plans [...]
Conservation Update
Lethal Barred Owl Removal…by Janice Reid
There are several opinions on the proposal by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to lethally remove barred owls within the range of the Northern and California Spotted Owl populations.1 Spotted owls are a specialized species with narrow habitat and prey requirements. Work continues to protect the [...]
Conservation Update- Tyee Complex Fire
“A Good Fire”
By Janice Reid
The high severity of the Archie Creek Fire in 2020 was a real shock to most of us who live, work, or play in the area affected by the fire. Conditions were extreme, and a catastrophic event unfolded. This year, in September, another fire occurred in our beautiful [...]
OSU backs out of proposal to Manage Elliott State Forest
President Murthy Letter to State Land Board 11-13-2023
Message from Department of State lands regarding the Elliott Forest
https://mailchi.mp/news.dsl.oregon.gov/elliottupdate111423?e=c4889c9476
View this email in your browser A Message from DSL Director Vicki Walker November 14, 2023Dear Elliott State Research Forest Community,
Yesterday, Oregon State University President Jayathi Y. Murthy informed the State Land Board and the Department of State Lands that OSU is no [...]
Conservation Committee Update: Fall 2023
During the last few months, the Conservation Committee followed up with several state and federal projects.
In July, the Forest Service held an information meeting via Zoom to update the public on the progress of Executive Order 14072. The order directs the Forest Service (FS) and Bureau of Land Management [...]
Conservation Update- Illegal activities on BLM
by Janice Reid
Timber harvesting and related activities such as road building can devastate forest ecosystems and biodiversity. Monitoring public land and the activities in our forests is of utmost importance from a conservation organization’s perspective to minimize the negative impact on the environment. Monitoring projects and activities on our public land allows conservation [...]
Conservation Update-Danger Tree Removal
CONSERVATION UPDATE
By Janice Reid
Here in the Umpqua, we have so many entities that make policies and decisions about the land. Federal, state, county, private, city, tribal, and non-governmental organizations comprise most entities. It is often hard to keep up with all the planning and prioritize projects. Sometimes it can seem as if we [...]
CONSERVATION UPDATE
By Janice Reid
DIFFICULTIES IN ACCESSING OUR PUBLIC LANDS ARE ON the rise. Public land management agencies invite the public to comment on their management actions, but in many cases, especially in the landscape of checkerboard ownership patterns on the O&C lands, access to these lands takes quite a bit of effort and time.
Hikes in the Archie Creek Fire area of the North Umpqua River
With the trails reopening Diana and Connie went on post fire hike to Fall Creek Falls and Susan Creek Falls. Fall Creek Trail bridge is replaced. The view is of the charred remains of the high intensity fire. There is lush undergrowth and seedlings sprouting with the falls as lovely as ever.
At Susan Creek [...]
CONSERVATION ON A SMALLER SCALE
I often write about what our Conservation Committee is doing, the challenges we face in our efforts, and inevitably, the ongoing uphill battle of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Writing to you in this way keeps you apprised of our efforts and ongoing struggles. But it has occurred to me that [...]
Big Tom Right-of-Way Update
By Janice Reid
I spent 33 years studying the federally listed northern spotted owl (NSO) for the US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station in the Roseburg Bureau of Land Management (RBLM) office. I took my position as a research scientist seriously and did not participate in the management side of federal employment. Over the [...]
New Climate Change Page
UW IS PROUD TO PRESENT TWO AWESOME NEW FEATURES!
Check out the new Climate Change page on the UW website…
It contains lots of great information about the ins and outs of the climate crisis, how it affects us here in the PNW, and how we can mitigate against it. Includes links to other credible [...]
CONSERVATION COMMITTEE UPDATE
Our Conservation Committee has a great deal to report since our last newsletter, but I want to first share some personal news.
July to December of last year was a very difficult time for me. Along with the ongoing pandemic, life presented many personal challenges that distracted me from the work I love. As [...]
Tell President Biden – U.S. Climate Strategy Must Protect Forests
Our mature and old-growth are some of our most powerful climate solutions. But these forests are still being logged when they should be set aside for carbon storage, wildlife habitat, and clean water.
We need the Biden administration to understand that forest defense is climate defense!
When we protect our older forests [...]
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly….
Conservation Committee Update:
Janice Reid & Angela Jensen
Let’s start with a few “good” news items. In 2019, Oregon conservation groups filed ballot initiatives to reform Oregon’s outdated Forest Practices Act (Act). Concerned with the lack of environmental and habitat protection afforded by the Act, conservation groups signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with [...]
Umpqua Watersheds Executive Director talks about the Forest Accord
Lone Rock land management crew member Jose Calvillo plants 2-year-old Douglas fir seedlings in the Callahan Mountains west of Roseburg in 2017. Photo credit by MICHAEL SULLIVAN/The News-Review
Robyn Bath [...]
UW joins with other Conservation Groups to question Danger Tree removal on the Umpqua National Forest
Last month Umpqua Watersheds filed a complaint against the US Forest Service challenging their decision to indiscriminately remove trees along 65 miles of public roads comprising nearly 2600 acres of the Umpqua National Forest.
On Aug 18, 2021, the Forest Service issued a final decision on its proposed Archie Creek Fire Roadside Danger Tree Project [...]
PROTECTING HOMES AND NATIVE FORESTS FROM WILDFIRE
PROTECTING HOMES AND NATIVE FORESTS FROM WILDFIRE:
Challenges and Opportunities
Since the early 2000s, wildfires have been getting larger, faster moving, and more destructive to homes, infrastructure, and forestlands. This is partly due to climate change and partly due to the legacy of the wholesale conversion of native forests to highly flammable tree [...]