Oregon WildBlog

The 2022 Oregon state legislative short session ended last week. Check out our wrap, including a look at significant wins for forests, water, and wildlife!

There are hikers, and there are hikers. Long distance thru-hikers are uniquely driven, but Triple Crown hikers? They're extra special. In order to qualify as a Triple Crown hiker, you must complete three of the US's major long distance trails - the Pacific Crest Trail, the Appalachian Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail. 

The Private Forest Accord was just passed by the Oregon Legislature!

This means that across 10 million acres of private forests in Oregon we will have bigger riparian buffers, more protections against steep slopes logging, an upgraded road system that won’t bleed sediment into streams, and a whole lot more. When you add it all up, Oregon will finally be catching up to our neighbors in Washington in adequately protecting our aquatic ecosystems from the impacts of logging.

Purported “fuels reduction” logging targets the most fire resistant trees

Don't cut down the last old-growth we have left. It’s as simple as that and has been for Oregon Wild’s mission for nearly 50 years. 

Racism is a problem on public lands, and many communities do not feel safe or welcome when recreating. Luckily, there are state-based solutions that seek to make a difference.

As Oregonians, we take pride in our beautiful landscapes, roaring rivers, craggy mountains, and diverse fish and wildlife species. It’s what makes Oregon so special. However, to ensure we have abundant and thriving fish and wildlife (and habitat) for generations to come, we have to invest in proactive conservation now.

That’s where Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) comes in. RAWA is legislation being considered by Congress to invest $1.4 billion into state wildlife agencies and tribes for wildlife conservation and recovery programs. What does that mean for Oregon? 

Scientists worldwide agree that in order to protect biodiversity and address global climate change, bold action towards conservation is needed: they recommend working to conserve 30% of the planet's natural land and oceans by the year 2030 (known as the “30x30 initiative”).

It’s February in 2022 - the one year anniversary of the introduction of the River Democracy Act! This bill is special, to be sure, and is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect some of Oregon’s most special rivers and streams.

On February 2nd, Bob Bailey from the Elakha Alliance taught us about the sea otter feasibility study, the most important guiding document for reintroducing sea otters to the Oregon coast. We learned about topics varying from habitat suitability and ecosystem effects of sea otters, to political, legal, economic, and social considerations for successful reintroduction.

Dr. Katie Moriarty, a research scientist with the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI), dug into what, exactly, are fisher and marten, how to tell them apart, what their current habitats are, and why they're so important in the ecosystem.