Oregon's Ancient Forests

Old Remnant Forests Threatened by BLM Logging Sale

Wed, 02/15/2023 - 14:15 | chandra
Woman in a white raincoat stands by two towering trees in a green forest

Rain fell steadily on our drive into the mix of public and private lands southwest of Roseburg last month, the clouds and mist casting an eerie feel over the stark clearcuts we drove through on the way to a proposed logging unit in the 42 Divide Project area. In November 2021, the Roseburg District of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sent an initial proposal for the 42 Divide Project out to the public for comments, calling for logging over 5,000 acres of forests up to 200 years old. 

Exploring forests shaped by fire in western Oregon

Mon, 08/08/2022 - 15:15 | chandra
A forest regrowing after the Warner Creek fire

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.

​​Lawsuit filed to protect big trees in Oregon and Washington

Today, June 14, six conservation groups filed a lawsuit challenging a Trump-era rule change that allows logging of mature and old-growth forests on no less than 7 million acres across Eastern Oregon and Washington. The coalition filed its suit over the Forest Service’s decision to eliminate a provision of the Eastside Screens that prohibited the logging of trees larger than 21” in diameter.

Webcast: Biden's Executive Order on Forests and Climate

Thu, 05/05/2022 - 09:44 | arran
A man stands at the base of a massive tree in a dark green forest - photo by Brizz Meddings

On Earth Day, President Biden signed an Executive Order that recognized the importance of mature and old-growth forests as a climate solution but stopped short of protecting these forests from their #1 threat: logging across federal public lands.

So what does this order actually do?

Oregon Wild Welcomes Biden Order on Climate Forests

Executive order launches process for protecting mature and old-growth forests on federal lands

Today, President Joe Biden will issue an executive order that directs federal agencies to conduct an inventory of mature and old-growth forests on America’s federal lands so that policies can be adopted to protect them. The administration framed the move as a key strategy to store carbon and address climate change. 

A bold new vision for PNW forests

Wed, 06/09/2021 - 09:13 | chandra
Towering forest

In the past few months, we’ve seen incredible momentum in the United States for our leaders to take bold, concrete action on climate change and environmental justice.

60 Climate and Forest Groups Call on Biden to Protect Old-Growth Forests

A regional coalition of 60 climate and forest conservation groups representing over 500,000 members and supporters across Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California sent a letter to Gina McCarthy, the White House National Climate Advisor, and John Kerry, the United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, calling for immediate, permanent protections for mature and old-growth forests on federal lands as a critical natural climate solution.

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