Oregon WildBlog

If it seems like it has been a decade since Congress did anything good for conservation and the protection of Oregon’s public lands, there’s a reason for that.  Up until this year, 2009 was the last time Congress passed a major piece of Wilderness legislation that benefited special places in Oregon.

Last week, we learned that one of the wolves in the newly established White River wolf pack died late last year. 

by Tom A. Titus

In a state covered in nearly 30 million acres of forested lands, it can be difficult to get a sense of the scale and extent of logging across Oregon.

While hard to believe, it’s almost that time again: the 5-year review of the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan. The ‘wolf plan’, which was first adopted in 2005, included a provision to have the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and Commission review and update it every five years. This was done to ensure that the living document kept up with emerging best available science, incorporated new applied learning based on lived experience, and reflected current endangered species listing status. 

A little over a week ago, Oregon was on the verge of celebrating new Wilderness designations with the inclusion of the Oregon Wildlands Act in a proposed budget deal in Congress. Unfortunately, last minute objections from Congressman Greg Walden and a late-night tantrum by anti-public lands Senator Mike Lee stopped the bill just short of the finish line.

The good news is Congress committed to a vote on a public lands package again in January (once the government is back up and running again, of course). Now, we have less than a month to make new Oregon Wilderness a reality.

Mackenzie Martinz & Jorge Guzman, Vive NW

Fundada en el 2016, Vive NW fue creada con el propósito de conectar a la comunidad latina y otras comunidades con actividades al aire libre y proporcionar experiencias enriquecedoras a través de la naturaleza. Nuestra misión es diversificar culturalmente la participación de la comunidad con actividades al aire libre y capacitar a todas las comunidades para que adopten un estilo de vida más activo y saludable y de la misma forma proteger y ayudar a conservar el medio ambiente.

Humboldt marten, otherwise known as the coastal or pacific marten is one of the 14 recognized subspecies of the American marten. This tiny carnivore can be found only on the west coast.

When I set out to write “Oregon’s Ancient Forests: A Hiking Guide” (with a release date of July 2019!), the idea of the research I’d have to do simply sounded fun - discovering and hiking trails in ancient forests across the state, camping out in new places, enjoying time away from the real world… fun stuff. 

Since the election, there’s been a great deal of attention paid to Democrats seizing control of the House of Representatives and flipping several governorships across the country. Here in Oregon, progressives have celebrated Gov. Brown’s re-election and Democrats winning supermajorities in both houses of Oregon’s State Legislature (see Oregon Wild’s 5 Election Takeaways for Oregon's Wildlands and Wildlife).