Posts in Forests
Your Voice Matters! How your public involvement helps protect public lands.
Your Voice Matters! How your public involvement helps protect public lands.

Have you ever wondered if civic engagement is even worth it when it comes to protecting the forests and rivers you love? The extractive industries are so powerful, the land management agencies are so bureaucratic, the court system is so difficult to navigate, and climate change is so daunting that submitting a heartfelt public comment about a timber sale can feel like an act of futility. Yet it is persistent involvement from everyday people that makes a real difference for wildlife and watersheds.

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Forests, Public Lands, Stewardship, WildlandsHaleigh Martinactivism, take action, forest watch, forestwatch, rally, wildlands, Public lands
Medford BLM's latest old-growth timber sale is aptly named Last Chance
Medford BLM's latest old-growth timber sale is aptly named Last Chance

The Medford District Bureau of Land Management's old-growth logging program is relentless and uncompromising. Currently, the 8,150-acre "Last Chance" timber sale calls for logging most of the remaining mature and old-growth forests in the foothills between Sunny Valley and Galesville. Click to learn more.

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Backyard Forests, Forests, Old-Growth, Public Lands, WildlandsKlamath Siskiyoulast chance timber sale, Timber, timber industry, timber sale, Medford BLM, BLM, Bureau of Land Management, old-growth forest, old growth, old-growth, logging, late successional reserves, LSR, clearcutting, top story, take action
Imperiled species highlight: The northern spotted owl
Imperiled species highlight: The northern spotted owl

The northern spotted owl is a Pacific Northwest forest icon. The species relies on old-growth forests to survive, and much of its habitat is threatened by loss of habitat and habitat fragmentation due to logging. Learn more about this imperiled species of the PNW in this blog.

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Forests, WildlifeKlamath Siskiyouwildlife conservation, wildlife, endangered species, endangered species act, endangered species list, oregon endangered species list, northern spotted owls, imperiled species, logging, salvage logging, old-growth, old-growth forest, habitat
UPDATED: VICTORY! Going to court against BLM's IVM and Late Mungers
UPDATED: VICTORY! Going to court against BLM's IVM and Late Mungers

Do you remember the BLM's Integrated Vegetation Management plan to log old-growth Late Successional Reserves like those located in the Late Mungers timber sale near Williams? After commenting, public meetings, field checking, and trying everything we could think of to get BLM to retain these old-growth forests, we finally will have our day in court, and you are invited to join us.

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Backyard Forests, Applegate, Campaign, Forests, Old-Growth, Public Lands, WildlandsKlamath SiskiyouJames A Redden US CourthouseIVM, BLM, Medford BLM, court cases, top story, forests, forest management, forest defender, forestwatch
Field Report: Mill Rat Timber Sale, Poor Windy Project
Field Report: Mill Rat Timber Sale, Poor Windy Project

Last week, I ventured into the field with George, our Conservation Director, to groundtruth a Medford District Bureau of Land Management (BLM) timber sale called Mill Rat within the Poor Windy project just north of Grants Pass, Oregon. What we found was heartbreaking. Click to read the full field report.

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Backyard Forests, Campaign, Forests, Old-Growth, Public Lands, WildlandsKlamath Siskiyouold growth, old-growth forest, mature and old-growth, old-growth, poor windy, mill rat, Timber, timber industry, timber, timber sale, southern oregon, BLM, Medford BLM, field report, top story, wildlife
New BLM Conservation Rule: A Step Forward for America's Wildlands and Wildlife, Yet Challenges Persist in Oregon
New BLM Conservation Rule: A Step Forward for America's Wildlands and Wildlife, Yet Challenges Persist in Oregon

The Biden Administration has announced a federal rule for how the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) mission addresses the climate and biodiversity crises, attempting to re-balance BLM’s multi-use mandate for managing public lands, which for decades has favored resource extraction over any other use.

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Cascade-Siskiyou, Campaign, Climate, Connectivity, Earth Day, Forests, Old-Growth, Public Lands, Wildlands, WildlifeKlamath SiskiyouBLM, old-growth forest, public land, Public lands, Bureau of Land Management, Biden Administration, biodiversity, public lands rule, executive order, wildlife, top story
What’s Up with the Medford BLM & Old-Growth Logging?
What’s Up with the Medford BLM & Old-Growth Logging?

The Medford District of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continues to propose timber sales and contend they are retaining (rather than logging) old-growth, and conservation organizations and the BLM’s neighbors will argue that the BLM is in fact logging old-growth. So, who is right and what’s behind the conflicting claims?

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Backyard Forests, Campaign, Forests, Fire, Connectivity, Climate, Old-Growth, Public Lands, WildlandsKlamath Siskiyouold-growth forest, old-growth, forests, forest management, BLM, Medford BLM, Bureau of Land Management, Timber, timber industry, timber sale, poor windy, top story
Supreme Court denies hearing case: Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument expansion protected
Supreme Court denies hearing case: Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument expansion protected

For the past 7 years, the timber industry has filed numerous lawsuits with the goal of reopening these lands for logging. The legal attempts extended from Medford federal courts and made it all of the way to the Supreme Court this winter before the highest court in the country declined to hear their case earlier this month. 

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Backyard Forests, Campaign, Cascade-Siskiyou, Forests, Public Lands, WildlandsKlamath Siskiyoutop story, national monument, cascade-siskiyou, cascade-siskiyou monument, cascade-siskiyou national monument, Timber, timber industry, expansion, monument expansion, obama, logging, supreme court, klamath-siskiyou mountains
Going to court against BLM's IVM and Late Mungers
Going to court against BLM's IVM and Late Mungers

Do you remember the BLM's Integrated Vegetation Management plan to log old-growth Late Successional Reserves like those located in the Late Mungers timber sale near Williams? After commenting, public meetings, field checking, and trying everything we could think of to get BLM to retain these old-growth forests, we finally will have our day in court, and you are invited to join us.

Read More
Backyard Forests, Applegate, Campaign, Forests, Old-Growth, Public Lands, WildlandsKlamath SiskiyouJames A Redden US CourthouseIVM, BLM, Medford BLM, court cases, top story, forests, forest management, forest defender, forestwatch
Barred owls may doom old-growth ecosystems
Barred owls may doom old-growth ecosystems

Serious barred owl encroachment on northern spotted owl habitat has led the US Fish and Wildlife Service to propose a management plan to right the dynamic. Read more about the need for the plan and what the implications could be if the situation is not addressed.

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Climate, Wildlife, Wildlands, Public Lands, Old-Growth, ForestsKlamath Siskiyoutop story, northern spotted owls, usfws, us fish and wildlife, old-growth forest, old growth, old-growth, wildlife management, barred owl, barred owls, spotted owls
A Long Time Coming: Forest Service Begins Update of the Northwest Forest Plan
A Long Time Coming: Forest Service Begins Update of the Northwest Forest Plan

The Northwest Forest Plan is the largest, truly science-based forest and ecosystem management plan in the country, affecting 19 million acres of public lands across western Washington, Oregon, and northern California, and it’s getting an update. Learn more here.

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Backyard Forests, Campaign, Climate, Forests, Old-Growth, WildlandsKlamath Siskiyouclimate program, Climate, Northwest Forest Plan, NWFP, northwest forest plan, 1994 northwest forest plan, forests, Forests, public land, Public lands, public forests, land management, forest management, usfs, united states forest service, US Forest Service, old growth, old-growth, old-growth forest, wildfire severity, wildfire risk, wildfire, top, top story
Update on the Poor Windy Old-Growth Timber Sale
Update on the Poor Windy Old-Growth Timber Sale

The Medford District BLM Poor Windy Timber Sale allows logging on more than 15,000 acres, including cutting down 4,573 acres of mature and old-growth trees.

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Backyard Forests, Campaign, Climate, Forests, Old-Growth, Public Lands, WildlandsHaleigh Martinold growth, old-growth forest, old-growth, poor windy, timber, timber sale, nso, northern spotted owl, salmon run, carbon, Climate, Climate Change, top story, Medford BLM, BLM, Bureau of Land Management, mature, wildlife, public land, Public lands, public forests, biological opinion
Imperiled species highlight: The northern goshawk
Imperiled species highlight: The northern goshawk

The northern goshawk is an avian species whose population directly relies on the extent of the presence mature and old-growth forests and has been on the decline alongside mature and old-growth forests. The species is currently not listed under the ESA. Read more about the goshawk here.

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Forests, Old-Growth, WildlifeKlamath Siskiyouwildlife conservation, wildlife, us fish and wildlife, department of fish and wildlife, imperiled species, endangered species, endangered species act, endangered species list, california, logging, habitat
What is in the new inventory of mature and old-growth forests?
What is in the new inventory of mature and old-growth forests?

The US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released the first ever national inventory of mature and old-growth forests. Want to know what this all means for the protection of forests in the Pacific Northwest?

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Campaign, Climate, Forests, Old-Growth, Public LandsKlamath Siskiyouimperiled species, old-growth forest, old growth, old-growth, Forests, usfs, forest service, US Forest Service, BLM, Medford BLM, Bureau of Land Management, logging, timb, timber sale, wildlife, climate, Climate Change, Climate, climate smart, climate program, forests
“Integrated Vegetation Management” on Medford District BLM Forestlands: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
“Integrated Vegetation Management” on Medford District BLM Forestlands: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Some timber advocates within the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) simply cannot abide the idea that there are old-growth forests designated as protected on public lands, so they’ve designed a new program called “Integrated Vegetation Management” to target Late Successional Reserves for logging. Learn more about the IVM project in this blog.

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Applegate, Backyard Forests, Campaign, Wildlands, Public Lands, Old-Growth, ForestsKlamath Siskiyouforestwatch, ivm, Integrated Vegetation Management, Bureau of Land Management, Medford BLM, logging, LSR, old growth, old-growth, old-growth forest, BLM, clear cut, clearcutting, late mungers, penn butte, timber sale, Timber, land management, public land, Public lands, NEPA