Oregon Wildblog

142,000 Cheers for Our Forests!

The Forest Service’s public comment period on mature and old-growth forests ended on August 30th, and climate activists and conservation advocates have much to be proud of. Since February, Oregon Wild has been a driving force of the Climate Forests campaign, an alliance of more than 100 groups from across the country calling for durable protections for mature and old-growth forests on federal lands as a cornerstone of U.S. climate policy.

Empowering youth in the woods

When Mark Bennett, the director of Global Works Community Fund, reached out to Oregon Wild about doing a hike or workshop with this year’s cohort of youth at first I thought “Yes, great! I love leading hikes!” My later thought was “Oh no! Teens!” I shouldn’t have been worried. Not only were these teens eager hikers, they also asked great questions and absorbed information about fire ecology, forests and climate change, and river and salmon health like sponges. 

Exploring forests shaped by fire in western Oregon

Not long after moving to Eugene for graduate school, I took a field trip to the Warner Creek fire area outside of Oakridge. At that time it was 10 years since the 1991 fire. I remember the tall black snags rising tall above, and sapling trees crowded all around me -- head high and coated in dew that soaked through my sub-par rain gear.

Porcupine of the Pacific Northwest

Although porcupines may be slowpokes, most other animals know to keep a wide berth from those sharp quills! The porcupine's prickly self defense mechanism makes it easily recognizable, however their vital importance in the ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest is often less known. Porcupines are intertwined with healthy forest lifecycles, turning trees into critical habitat for dozens of other species. Aside from the quills, they also have many other valuable physical characteristics, allowing them to be true adventurers of every elevation of a forest.

Can US logging agencies be trusted to protect old-growth?

To protect our climate forests, President Biden’s executive order puts an awful lot of power in the hands of the agencies that have spent decades cutting them down. Oregon Wild is leading the Climate Forests Campaign to take that power back.

Leave a legacy for Oregon's wildlife

In February, a federal district court ruled in favor of Oregon Wild and partners by striking down a 2020 Trump Administration decision that removed Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves across much of the U.S.

As a result of our successful lawsuit, federal Endangered Species Act protections have been reinstated for wolves in Western Oregon and 43 other states!

Hackleman Creek: A special watershed

Guest author Bobbie Snead from the Northwest Nature blog spent a year exploring the Hackleman Creek Watershed, at the headwaters of the McKenzie River, getting to know its uplands, valley, and seasonal lake.

Legal Wildlife Wins

 

Wildlife face many challenges, many of them due to the degradation, destruction, and development of their native habitats. One of the last-ditch ways to reverse the decline of native wildlife populations and combat the extinction crisis is going to court to protect those animals through the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and other bedrock environmental laws. Learn more about how wolverines, red tree voles and wolves have benefitted from the power of the law, and what this means in the fight for their protection.