Posts in Wildlands
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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A Win for Wildfire Resilience

The Bureau of Land Management recently published an EA and solicited public comment for the South Clark Forest Management Project, which would have increased wildfire hazard by logging the proposed 2,238 acres outside of Butte Falls, OR. The BLM, however, has course corrected this project in a win for wildfire resilience. Click to read more.

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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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Living with Wildfire Smoke

Wildfires are producing intense smoke this summer that can pose serious health risks. Please protect yourself and those you care for from excessive smoke, especially those that have sensitive respiratory systems. Read our blog post if you want to learn more about smoke resources.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Finding Relief From Wildfire Smoke

Wildfires are producing intense smoke this summer that can pose serious health risks. Please protect yourself and those you care for from excessive smoke, especially those that have sensitive respiratory systems. Read our blog post if you want to learn more about smoke resources.

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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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Partnership with USFS pays off at Alex Hole meadow

We’re celebrating 7 years of partnership and stewardship with the US Forest Service at Alex Hole meadow on the Siskiyou Crest! Read about our work and victories in this blog post.

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