Oregon Wild Fall 2017 Volume 44, Number 3

Turning up the heat Also: Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion at Wild Working to protect and restore Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and waters as an enduring legacy for future generations.

Main Office Western Field Office 5825 N Greeley Avenue Portland, OR 97217 P.O. Box 11648 Eugene, OR 97440 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Phone: 503.283.6343 Phone 541.344.0675 Fax: 541.343.0996 www.oregonwild.org Turning up the heat on Oregon's forests {4-7} Forest & Watershed Organizer Jason Gonzales The e-mail address for each Oregon Wild Conservation & Restoration Coord. Doug Heiken Oregon Wild on Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion {10} staff member: [email protected] Western Oregon Field Coord. chandra LeGue (for example: [email protected]) Northeastern Field Office Break out your favorite flannel... {back cover} Crater Lake Wilderness Coord. tara Brown x 202 P.O. Box 48, Enterprise, OR 97828 Outreach & Marketing Coord. Marielle Cowdin x 213 Phone: 541.886.0212 Membership Manager Jamie Dawson x 205 Office & Event Manager Gaby Diaz x 200 NE Oregon Field Coordinator rob Klavins Public Lands Fellow Alex Harris x 203 Central Oregon Field Office Development Director Jonathan Jelen x 224 2445 NE Division St, Bend, OR 97701 Wildlife Coordinator Danielle Moser x 226 Phone: 541.382.2616 Fax: 541.385.3370 Finance Director tony Mounts x 219 Conservation Director steve Pedery x 212 Ochoco Campaign Coordinator sarah Cuddy Communications Manager Arran Robertson x 223 Wilderness Program Manager erik Fernandez Executive Director sean Stevens x 211 Oregon Wild Board of Directors Vik Anantha, President Megan Gibb Kate Blazar, Vice President Danielle Grabiel Nathan Kennedy, Treasurer Jared Kennedy Mellie Pullman, Secretary Clara Soh Hillary Barbour Brett Sommermeyer Naila Bhatri

www.facebook.com/OregonWild Oregon Wild is a tax-exempt, non-profit charitable organization. cover photo: Jesse roos Forest fires are a regular and natural part of nature's ecological cycle, but the science of forests and fire has been lost from much of public @oregonwild Newsletter printed on New Leaf 100% recycled, 50% post-consumer, understanding and is either overlooked or skewed to benefit political agendas. Forests are FSC certified paper with soy based inks. Oregon Wild is printed locally by reborn after fire, but greater threats are knocking at the charred doorsteps. Environmental Paper and Print, an Oregon Wild donor and business partner.

Fall 2017 Volume 44, Number 3 2 From the Director’s Desk Fire without, fire within Sean Stevens, Executive Director

control, fire is something to be reborn in a cycle repeated clearcutting epidemic of feared and corralled. throughout millennia. the 1970s and ‘80s are all imminent. Largely fueled by the logging No doubt, the Eagle Creek Fire s I write, ash is falling like a industry, we are still feels different. Started by a The response to the light drizzle outside my misinformed that most fire is firework tossed into the forest by Eagle Creek Fire alone PortlandA office and smoke is bad, that it must be put out, and a misguided teenager, the fire has been overwhelming choking much of the state. that if we just logged the hell seems all too preventable. It is – tens of thousands of Every 30 minutes, Oregon out of everything we’d no longer consuming one of our most dollars raised for Public Broadcasting debriefs the have forest fires. We must beloved places and it hurts. Still, emergency responders latest firefighting news – 10% constantly resist such facile the landscape will bounce back and evacuees; hundreds contained at the Chetco Bar, 5% thinking. and nature will heal itself. pledging to volunteer for contained at Eagle Creek. Shut Generations from now, the restoration efforts; wall Most of the fires still burning indoors due to poor air quality, Gorge will still be the Gorge to wall media coverage. across Oregon are naturally- we wonder when it will all just and our ancestors will thank us caused and only the changing But how will we respond stop. for protecting their natural seasons will snuff them out. to the real dangers inheritance. Something about fire triggers a These lightning-sparked blazes awaiting our forests? deeply atavistic response in are busy rejuvenating the While wildfire makes us feel as Oregon Wild will need humans. When beyond our landscape, bringing forth forests though the lands we cherish are Tula Top While the extent of the Eagle Creek Fire in your passion for public at risk, our feature article this the may not be known for some lands in the struggles time, the beauty of the forests and waterfalls will no issue details the real – and doubt persist. ahead. We will need your dangerous – threats mounting voice to speak out against Oregon’s public forest against opportunists who lands. Assaults on bedrock this place that we have seek to squeeze yet more profit environmental laws in Congress, temporarily borrowed from from over-exploited national efforts to dismantle National future generations. forests. We will need you to Monuments, and logging sustain your current feelings for industry lawsuits aiming to turn the Gorge for all of Oregon’s Cheryl hill back the clock to the special landscapes and protect

3 Fall 2017 Volume 44, Number 3 Turning up the heat on Oregon's forests Sean Stevens, Executive Director

outhern Oregon’s Rogue Logging without laws River is a world-class treasure.S Any whitewater lover Congressman Bruce Westerman or steelhead junkie has it near (R-AR) likes to boast that he is the top of their bucket list. In the only forester in Congress. 2018, it will celebrate 50 years So, perhaps it is unsurprising of protection as a Wild and that the only healthy forest he Scenic River and 40 years of believes in is a logged one. safeguards under the Wilderness That is certainly the animating Act. principle behind HR 2936, a bill If Congress and the logging he has introduced in both of his industry get their way, it will terms served in the capitol. also be on the chopping block Nicknamed “logging without by the end of the year. laws” for its complete disregard for our nation’s bedrock Though most think the Wild environmental protection laws, Rogue is so beloved that we’d among other calamities, the bill never contemplate letting would: chainsaws loose in its ancient forests, we are living in a new • dismantle the National era of public lands attacks – an Environmental Policy Act era where nothing is sacred and (the look before you leap nothing is safe. law that requires citizen input) and replace it with If the worst comes to pass and super-sized “categorical logging roads cut deep into the exclusion” zones that allow Rogue Wilderness in future agencies to bypass years, we will have a environmental and misleadingly named piece of scientific review; and legislation, the “Resilient Federal Forests Act” (HR 2936), • gut the Endangered Species to blame. Act, Roadless Area Conservation Rule, and Sue Newman Though difficult to believe, legislation in Congress would undo protections for Oregon’s and open Equal Access to Justice Act the area to mandated logging.

Fall 2017 Volume 44, Number 3 4 The bill has already sailed Wilderness, he signed on as a through the House Committee co-sponsor for HR 2936 – a bill on Natural Resources, chaired that would explicitly eliminate by the king of anti-public lands the ! boosterism in Congress – Rob Bishop (R-UT). Bishop It doesn’t stop there. Influential infamously called the corporate logging interests Antiquities Act (the century-old managed to insert language into legislation that allowed the bill that mandates logging President Teddy Roosevelt to levels on all BLM lands in first protect the Grand Canyon) Oregon at three times the “the most evil act ever invented.” current rate. In so doing, it effectively would strip With logging, oil, gas, and protections for not only Soda mining money flowing in the Mountain, but every protected veins of so many members of BLM landscape in western Wesley Chancellor the U.S. House of Oregon including the Table Representatives, HR 2936 will Rock Wilderness, Cascade likely pass through the full Siskiyou National Monument, Forest, fire, and the facts chamber. It won’t hurt that and the aforementioned Wild Arran Robertson, Communications Manager Oregon Congressman Greg Rogue. Walden is a co-sponsor of the bill and a key member of the This might not come as much of Forest fires can be scary, especially when they are There are things we can do to better prepare for a surprise to Oregonians who Republican leadership in impacting the places that we love or threatening them, as well as maintain healthy forests. have tracked logging industry Congress. In fact, despite the our communities. It can be hard to remember Protecting resilient, old-growth forests in the fact that the chief author of the demands over the last few decades. The dominant theory that forest fires are a natural, and unavoidable, backcountry while focusing forest management bill is from 2,000 miles away, part of Oregon’s landscape. Unfortunately, a and thinning projects in areas near homes and Oregon’s clearcut lobby has its from the logging lobbyists at the century of fire suppression, a warming climate, communities are just some of the ways we can fingerprints all over this bill. American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) is that an increased development in fire-prone areas, as well better manage for inevitable wildfires. Homegrown hysteria obscure 1937 law governing as a long history of aggressive logging practices For more on wildfire, visit : certain western Oregon forests have exacerbated fire dangers. www.oregonwild.org/fire While the Westerman bill has precedent over all other promotes logging above all federal laws adopted before or other uses across our nation’s after. Luckily, the courts have on county commissions, from the most insidious claims always propaganda aimed at making us public lands, it contains special never agreed with that appealing directly to the public stem from logging industry all believe repeated falsehoods: provisions for Oregon that even contention. its sponsors don’t seem to grasp. fear-mongering around fire. that fires are universally bad, In the same week that Walden Of course, the lack of a legal with the usual rhetoric about that we can control them, and Without fail, the first fire in claimed credit for previously foothold hasn’t stopped the decimated economies and that cutting trees down is the Oregon’s forests triggers an protecting the Soda Mountain industry, along with their allies shrinking county budgets. But only way to save them from onslaught of industry

5 Fall 2017 Volume 44, Number 3 burning to piles of ash. It’s a climate change – storing massive cynical annual ploy to play on our amounts of carbon and providing Oh I see, O & C fears with the hopes of increasing refuge for wildlife. We know that Doug Heiken, Conservation & Restoration Coordinator profits for big timber. our cleanest drinking water will continue to come from rivers and The truth about fire is far more streams that flow through public O&C stands for “Oregon & California complex (see sidebar page 5). Railroad” lands, managed by the Bureau lands. And we know that we have of Land Management in western 2020 vision decades of restoration still left Oregon. It’s a long story, but the short ahead to help heal the damage version is that a railroad company tried to Politicians at all levels have their logging has caused in our forests steal more than two million acres of sights on our forests as resources in the last century. to be exploited. public land in a checkerboard pattern This vision for protected and across western Oregon, and in a rare fit Sonny Purdue, the Trump restored forests can’t happen of sanity, Congress put their foot down Administration Agriculture without immense effort and allies and stopped them. Secretary who oversees the Forest in elected office. Oregon Senators Unfortunately, the O&C lands are stuck Service, told a House Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley between a rock and a hard place. On the subcommittee in May that trees have oft been champions of public one hand, the O&C lands provide are “crops” that “ought to be lands protections. Merkley’s first critically important ecological services, harvested for the benefit of the vote in Congress was to protect such as keeping our drinking water clean; American public.” Are the ancient over 200,000 acres of Wilderness recovery of endangered salmon and birds; forests of the Wild Rogue just a in Oregon (as part of the carbon storage to help stabilize our crop to be turned into two-by- Omnibus Public Lands climate; and providing landscape fours? Management Act of 2009). Just connections between the Coast Range, this summer, Merkley and Wyden Less than a year into the Trump Cascades, and Klamath-Siskiyou both sponsored legislation to presidency, we are facing Mountains. protect special places all across the unprecedented attacks from all state. At the same time, those lands are under corners. The logging industry and intense logging pressure to financially the politicians they fund want to While these efforts should be support counties in western Oregon. In turn back the clock on forest applauded, more recently 2016, BLM adopted a new plan for management, deny the last thirty Oregon’s two senators have had a O&C lands that weakens environmental years of science, and squeeze more much murkier stance on logging protections and increases logging. That profit from our public lands. It is our public lands – and in some plan is being challenged by Oregon Wild our job to hold back the tide until cases have promoted the idea that and others. O&C lands have been a focus Doug heiken 2020, and to defend the more public lands logging will of Oregon Wild work for more than 30 wildlands, wildlife, and waters solve rural Oregon’s problems. years, and we will continue to fight for For more information on Oregon's O&C that make Oregon special. lands and Oregon Wild's work, visit: Earlier this year, Wyden, who these lands and the natural heritage they oregonwild.org/backyardforests. We know that our forests will be serves on the Energy and Natural offer to current and future generations. integral in the fight against Resources Committee, was one of

Fall 2017 Volume 44, Number 3 6 just 17 Democrats who Of course, Secretary Zinke is carbon captured in Oregon’s supported Ryan Zinke's now doing just that as he seeks forests are far more equivocal. confirmation as Interior to dismantle protections for the Secretary (Merkley voted "no"). Cascade Siskiyou National Perhaps the best example came While other Senators Monument. in early 2016, while the Bundy questioned Zinke’s dismal occupation was in full force, and environmental record and Merkley has been a leading many of Merkley’s public voice on many environmental statements condemned the confusing statements on public Michael Graw lands privatization, Wyden's issues including the effort to militia in one breath but then primary focus was to encourage keep fossil fuels on public lands accepted their premise that Zinke and the Trump in the ground. But while he federal land management A clearcut by any other name administration to log public leads on climate change at the needed a review in the next. (A Jonathan Jelen, Development Director (& Evergreen Society Member) land more aggressively. national level, his views on the national headline at the time, “Ore. senators open to reviewing law amid standoff,” The current “logging without laws” working toward permanent captures the troubling proposal (see page 4/5) is the most Wilderness protections, protesting sentiment well). serious threat facing our public a proposed clearcut in our last lands and forests in a generation, old-growth forests, or engaging Amid unprecedented attacks, but it’s far from the only threat. with local communities to find now is not the time for our common ground for restoring our elected leaders to shrink from The bad ideas threatening our landscapes, we’re working year- the challenge in front of them. forests tend to be recycled over and round to protect Oregon’s public Oregon has spent far too long over again. They use terms like lands and forests. Our Evergreen seeking to minimize “regeneration harvest” (a.k.a. Society members fuel that work. conservation while maximizing clearcutting) and are packaged exploitation of our public lands, with innocuous or misleading The “logging without laws” bill to the benefit of logging, names like the Healthy Forests reminds us that if places like the mining, and grazing interests Initiative, Western Oregon Plan Wild Rogue and Cascade-Siskiyou who are incapable of taking no Revisions, and the Resilient are under threat, your favorite hike for an answer. Federal Forests Act to name a few. on , campsite in the Details vary but the goal is the Three Sisters, and fishing spot on Now is not the time for same: to liquidate our public forests the Umpqua River are too. If we Oregonians who treasure places and the clean water, critical wildlife don’t stand up for them, who will? like the Wild Rogue, Mount habitat, and world-class recreation Hood, or the Columbia Gorge they provide – all to appease an to sit on the sidelines as the insatiable logging industry. Take Action! Trump administration and Stand with me and join our anti-environmental members of But throughout the endless attacks Evergreen Society with a Congress seek to exploit them. on our forests, Oregon Wild is monthly gift at Now is the time to fight like watchdogging, mobilizing, and www.oregonwild.org/donate Kat Dierickx hell to protect them. fighting back. Whether it’s

7 Fall 2017 Volume 44, Number 3 Oregon's Ancient Forests - a guide Chandra LeGue, Western Oregon Field Coordinator

many hikes to out-geek dozens of trails in old-growth state I’ve never been to, or have everyone else. While he taught forests across the state, just breezed through on a me only a small portion of his documenting how to get to the highway. Getting out to the encyclopedic knowledge of trails and what I find there, Malheur, Umatilla, and Oregon’s forests, he thankfully taking photos, researching the Wallowa-Whitman National also left a written guide – his changes since 1990, and Forests has been a thrill, and book, A Walking Guide to developing maps and associated even exploring the forests Oregon’s Ancient Forests web content to go with the new around Mount Hood is new to published in 1991. book. me. The book, which features more It’s fun to hike familiar and Since the original book was than 200 hikes, served as an beloved trails with this in published in 1991, so much has old-growth forest guide across mind…places like Lookout changed in Oregon and in these Oregon and also included Creek on the Willamette and forests. The state’s population information about Oregon Cummins Creek in the Siuslaw has grown by over a million Wild’s past campaigns to National Forest. But it’s even people, many of whom are protect these forests, helping to more fun to have the excuse to getting outside to enjoy our Chandra Legue Chandra's sabbatical project is taking her all across Oregon draw attention to these get out and explore parts of the public lands more than ever to explore the beloved old-growth forests of former staffer Wendell Wood. sensitive and at-risk places. I’d been thinking for years y work with Oregon Wild the ancient forests Oregon Wild about the need for this book to since 2003 has centered and others have protected – be updated, but when Wendell onM the advocacy and policy exploring the plants, animals, died, I decided the time was affecting public forest lands streams, and diversity of these ripe. I devised a plan to take a across the state. From protecting forests, and generally “geeking six-month sabbatical from my the last remaining old-growth out” on nature. Many of my regular job to revise, update, and and undisturbed forests to colleagues can relate to this, but republish the guide. With the advancing the restoration of I feel exceptionally lucky to have amazing support of everyone at important fish and wildlife had Wendell Wood (a naturalist Oregon Wild, as well as my habitat, it has been fulfilling extraordinaire and one of family and friends, I started on work. Oregon Wild’s longest-serving this project last June. volunteers and staffers until he It’s been even more fulfilling to passed away in 2015) along on Since then I’ve been spending Pete springer get outside and discover some of the summer and fall hiking

Fall 2017 Volume 44, Number 3 8 “Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.” - Emily Brontë An updated guide to these forests will help build the knowledge and appreciation people need to become advocates for their still too-tenuous protection. For those open to it, it will also offer a way to tap into their inner nature geek. By the time this newsletter lands in your hands, I should be well on my way to a completed manuscript, due to publisher The Matthew N. King Mountaineers Books in spring of before. Many of our ancient 2018. Publication, in early 2019, forests have been protected seems like millennia away, but in Fall hikes & events through Oregon Wild’s work, the life of a forest it’s the blink of either through policies like the an eye. As long as Oregon Wild Join Oregon Wild for another great season of hikes and events celebrating our state's most keeps doing the hard work of pristine and iconic wild places – from the pristine waters of Waldo Lake to the colorful maples Northwest Forest Plan and the www.oregonwild.org. Roadless Rule, or with advocating for the protection of along Mount Hood. Sign up at Wilderness designation. Many of these amazing forests, they SUN, SEPT 30 (PDX) the forests Wendell featured in should still be there throughout Sat, Oct 21 (EUG) Community Apple Pressing at Portland Cider his book have changed or the lifetime of Oregon’s Ancient Co. (PDX) Clear Lake Loop Brewshed® Hike disappeared, whether through Forests – the new edition. I can’t wait to share it with you all! Fri, Nov 3 (BEND) wildfire, logging, or other Sun, Oct 8 (EUG) disturbances. Take Action! Hike Lookout Mountain Hike Sun, Nov 5 (EuG) From lush western hemlock and Learn more about the Wed, Oct 11 (BEND) red cedar in the Coast Range, to project, and find out how Oregon Wild Wednesday: Mountain Biking Fall Creek Mushroom Hike larch, Ponderosa pine, and you can support it at: Wed, Nov 8 (BEND) Fri, Oct 13 (PDX) Engelmann spruce in the Blue www.oregonwild.org/ Call of the Wild: a camp-inspired benefit Oregon Wild Wednesday: Backcountry Mountains, Oregon’s ancient forests/guide-oregons- Skiing forests have a story to tell about Fri, Oct 20 (PDX) protected proposed ancient-forests watershed their history – and their future. Tamanawas Falls Fall Foliage Hike wilderness wilderness 9 Fall 2017 Volume 44, Number 3 Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion at Oregon Wild Gaby Diaz, Office & Event Manager

and have committed to environmental advocacy is evolving and holding our stronger, more relevant, more organization to a higher successful and sustainable standard. when we create a big tent. For so many reasons, we cannot In May 2017, Oregon Wild claim to accomplish our staff and board members from mission for all Oregonians or across the state gathered for a for future generations when two-day EDI training with we’re not engaging all voices the Center for Diversity and across the state. the Environment. Over the course of our training, we Like our forests have shown discussed privilege, us, when the big trees are cut organizational culture, and the down, when the wildlife seek Gaby diaz unintended impacts of our new land, and when the water advocacy. We began the deep is poisoned, we lose sight of here are lessons to be ground and felled logs. through a fine-tuned and reflective work of creating the beauty and strength it learned from old-growth Nesting birds cried out from biological system. Evolution “Our Vision for Oregon Wild” once held. Our resiliency is Tforests. A few weeks ago, I the misty treetops above, water guided this ancient forest to and mapped out why and how rooted in the many, diverse went hiking in Drift Creek trickled in the distance, and I be diverse and inclusive at the we’re going to bring this and beautiful parts that make Wilderness in Oregon’s central wondered about the water’s same time, and because of awareness and action into our up the whole. Coast Range. Alongside the journey to reach the sea. that, it has withstood the test everyday endeavors. two-foot-wide trail, old- of time. Nothing was uniform about Since our training, we’ve growth Doug fir and Western developed an internal EDI hemlock towered above me; this land; everywhere I looked Much like our ancient forests, the ecosystem teamed with life the environmental movement team with a handful of giant trees over a century old. passionate staff and board, Faded green lichen dripped in and rich biodiversity. The cannot function as a collective, forest looked healthy and resilient whole when we lack tasked with implementing heavy tangles from every EDI procedures and practices branch, and the faint smell of balanced, with each individual equity, diversity, and species of flora and fauna inclusivity (EDI). At Oregon within multiple layers of our the salty sea danced around work and holding our team me. Tightly-knit moss and contributing to its overall Wild we recognize the value, strength and resiliency strength, and power of EDI accountable for creating fanned ferns carpeted the change. We realize our Dennis Davenport

Fall 2017 Volume 44, Number 3 10 Oregon Wild migrations Jonathan Jelen, Development Director Anatoliy Lukich

organizations flourish as the distance runner, Jamie has hit Oregon’s wildlands. Now we development strategist for the ground running to build take that partnership to the LKA Fundraising & support for protecting the next level as we welcome Jared Communications. You’ll still wilds of Oregon! Before to the Oregon Wild board! find Shasta out on the trail joining Oregon Wild, she was with us as a hike shepherd. a National Park Ranger at A native Portlander, Jared Rock Chalk, Shasta! Glacier National Park in serves as the Outdoor Project’s Montana and the COO as well as chairperson of After Shasta’s departure we Development Coordinator for its sister non-profit welcomed Jamie Dawson as a small non-profit partner of OutdoorProject.org. In his our new Membership Wrangell-St. Elias National free time, Jared likes to be ast spring, we Manager in the Portland Park in Alaska. So if you’ve outside finding places well begrudgingly bid farewell office. Jamie’s passion for been a members for years (or away from the beaten path Lto our friend and Membership protecting wildlands and and engaging with land know someone who should be consultant who advises clients & Events Manager Shasta wildlife is nothing short of restoration efforts on his a member), say welcome to on understanding, navigating, Zielke. For nearly two years, infectious. As a self-described family's land in Eastern Jamie at [email protected]. and advocating for federal and Shasta did it all - from “bird nerd” and an avid long Oregon. state policies and regulations. connecting with Oregon Wild We’re also excited to welcome With degrees from Yale and members and supporters to Clara Soh onto the Oregon NYU, Clara will now be spearheading the Wild board! Living in Bend, helping us keep Oregon wild! organization’s most successful Clara is an avid rock climber, Call of the Wild event to date. Deschutes County Search and Co-founded by Jared All of us (and the wildlands, Rescue Volunteer, and outdoor Kennedy, the Outdoor wildlife, and waters of enthusiast. Trained as a Project has been a steadfast Oregon) owe Shasta a big scientist, she moved into partner of Oregon Wild for debt of gratitude. Continuing public health after spending years by hosting events, to deepen her development several years as a Peace Corps promoting conservation expertise, Shasta is now Volunteer in West Africa. She campaigns, and being strong helping other great now works as a healthcare advocates for protecting

11 Fall 2017 Volume 44, Number 3 Here today, gone tomorrow Rob Klavins, Northeast Oregon Field Coordinator & Danielle Moser, Wildlife Coordinator

hands. Now we are paying to and the conservation community rallied. kill our wolves at his request. Now, keeping public lands in public hands has become one of Governor When wolves were Brown’s signature issues. prematurely and illegally stripped of endangered species Why should wildlife be different? When protections (a decision we are it comes to agencies like ODFW, the still fighting in court) under a (metaphorical) buck stops at Governor weak and outdated wolf plan, Brown’s desk. we feared this future. That’s why we need the Governor to Though Oregonians fulfill her public promise and ensure overwhelmingly support wolf Oregon’s wolf recovery program stays on recovery, oppose wolf hunting, track by reining in the agency overseeing and think precious landscapes the fate of our native wildlife. Oregon wild An Oregon Wild remote camera monitored by staff and volunteers captured this member of the Harl Butte like those in Northeast Wolf Pack in July. It may be OR50. The photo was taken on public lands prior to the kill orders being placed by ODFW. Oregon should be valued as Recently, Oregon was a national leader more than subsidized feedlots on wolves. Conflict decreased even as fter government-sponsored generations – a mission similar to ours and game farms, ODFW has wolf numbers grew. Without her eradication, wolves began returning – recently killed off four wolves from the proposed indefensible revisions to the leadership the current course is clear: Ato Oregon nearly two decades ago. At Harl Butte Pack and allowed a livestock wolf plan. more dead cows and more dead wolves last count, eight known breeding pairs operator to kill one from the Meacham in our future. resided in the state with all but one Pack. It’s symptomatic of an agency that has Take Action! inhabiting the rugged northeast corner. lost its way. An Oregon Public Whether you care about wolves, , What an absurdity that at taxpayer’s Broadcasting investigation found that elk, sea otters, or salmon, our Sadly, our wild landscape provides little expense, ODFW began its latest killing just three of the agency’s 1,200 staff are wildlife need your voice. In the protection from those who fear and spree to satisfy the request of one of the committed to non-game wildlife coming months, we’ll be counting oppose the native hunters’ return. It is state’s leading anti-wolf voices; the conservation. But when the call went out on it! If you haven’t already, be sure here that Oregon’s wildlife agency livestock manager for a California to kill wolves, choppers were in the air to sign up for our Wild Ones (ODFW) has been busy with what they company that runs cows on and degrades and for days at a time, three employees program. Find out more at describe as “wolf management” – a.k.a. public lands. Oregonians pay full market worked overtime to track down and kill oregonwild.org. killing wolves. value for unattended calves lost to wolves wolves. It doesn’t have to be this way. and even those that go missing. We pay But first pick up the phone and call The agency charged with protecting for range riders who act as extra ranch Not long ago Oregon considered selling wildlife and their habitat for future our Elliott State Forest. Together, you Governor Brown at 503.378.4582.

Fall 2017 Volume 44, Number 3 12 Conservation roundup Steve Pedery, Conservation Director

gold, suction dredges can devastate Red Tape” legislation, drafted in native fish populations and water quality. partnership with Representative Rob After California banned the practice, Bishop (R-Utah) – one of the most suction dredge mining boosters turned notoriously anti-public lands members of their attention to Oregon rivers like the the House. The bill largely focuses on the Rogue. After years of hard work and the backlog of public lands trail maintenance tireless advocacy of former State Senator and the slowness with which permits for Alan Bates (who passed away in 2016), new trails and new commercial guiding Governor Brown signed mining reform permits on public lands are processed. legislation into law on June 14. It bans The bill provides no new resources to mining in critical salmon habitat, caps address these problems, however. In the total number of mining permits Oregon Wild’s view, the bill misses the allowed, and raises the cost of those point. The number one problem with permits that will be allowed. public lands recreation today is Wyden recreation bill misses the overcrowding. Simply put, people need mark more Wilderness, National Recreation Areas, Monuments and other protected On July 26, Senator Ron Wyden released places to use and enjoy. d. saiget Oregon cutthroat trout. a new version of his “Recreation, Not

The Elliott stays public! provide $100 million to safeguard One year ago, it seemed Oregon was old-growth in the forest, is a major doomed to sell-off 80,000 acres of public victory for Oregon Wild supporters, and land in the Elliott State Forest to a for everyone who values our state’s politically well-connected private logging wildlife, wildlands, and waters! company. But on August 18 in a triumph Suction dredge victory! of grassroots power over special interest money, Governor Kate Brown signed Over four years ago, Oregon Wild began into law SB 847, a bill designed to keep working with a coalition of other the Elliott public and allow portions of conservation groups to strengthen the the forest to be set aside, protected from laws that protect Oregon rivers and clearcut logging. The passage of this bill, salmon from suction dredge mining. As along with a companion measure to gas-powered vacuums that suck up the Joshua Meador Our public lands are our lifeblood and gravel from river bottoms in search of the places we love to play.

13 Fall 2017 Volume 44, Number 3 Protecting the Deschutes State Scenic Erik Fernandez, Wilderness Program Manager Waterway update

“State Scenic Waterways” are a recreational uses and wildlife disturbance. designation that Oregon has used at While some landscapes are capable of varying times over the years to protect handling higher levels of recreation, some rivers, such as the Deschutes, Metolius, sensitive areas may be more important as rare wildlife habitat. Rogue, and more. Currently the Oregon Parks and Recreation One recent proposal Oregon Wild is Department is considering several keeping an eye on is a scheme to connect rivers that could be added to the trails between Bend and Sunriver. system. It’s hard to say which rivers Ensuring the trail is located in an area may end up being protected as State that maximizes scenic and recreational Scenic Waterways, but in discussion experiences while minimizing disturbance to wildlife is our priority. currently are the South Umpqua, the Nehalem, and the North Santiam. One idea already floated is to route the trail (adding a new bridge) through a Take Action! section of the Deschutes River just Email Oregon State Parks upstream from Bend. Unfortunately, the chosen location is in one of the few and encourage them to stretches along the Deschutes River that protect these and other has rare habitat for everything from Peter C. Blanchard rivers as State Scenic golden eagles to the threatened Oregon Waterways: oprd. spotted frog. This section of river is also [email protected] he Deschutes is one of Oregon’s most Fortunately, the river is benefiting from a protected as a State Scenic Waterway. iconic rivers, winding its way from growing interest in water conservation Some have proposed weakening the rules Twildflower-filled meadows in the high and restoration in recent years that has protecting this stretch of river – a Cascades near Diamond Peak, down slowed some of the threats. concerning precedent in this day and age through Bend, and ultimately flowing into when our environmental safeguards are the mighty Columbia River. Different The Deschutes is known as a recreational destination for hiking, rafting, camping, being threatened at all levels. We are stretches have faced different threats over working to encourage a solution that the decades, from dams and irrigation trail running, paddle boarding, and more. It’s also known for its fish and wildlife. protects both the wildlife in the demands to grazing and logging. Each has Deschutes region but also creates taken a toll on the health of the river. This combination has created a challenge Shelley Finnigan in how we find the right balance between awesome trails.

Fall 2017 Volume 44, Number 3 14 Defending Oregon's Monument for biodiversity Steve Pedery, Conservation Director

But almost immediately, the Association mining, oil, and coal industries. On of O&C Counties (county governments August 24, Zinke sent a final report to who receive a cut of logging revenue Trump (but did not release it to the from publicly-owned Western Oregon public). It is almost certain that Zinke, BLM lands) sued to block the expansion. who held a political fundraiser with They were soon joined by logging logging barons opposed to the industry lobby groups, all arguing that Monument earlier this summer, will the area should be managed not for recommend it be shrunk. biodiversity, but for clearcuts. Unfortunately, they found a receptive Oregon Wild is already working with a audience in Donald Trump and Ryan coalition of sister groups, including Soda Zinke. Mountain Wilderness Council, to fight back. As we go to press, our attorneys are wendell wood Lewisia cotyledon var cotyledon Siskiyou Lewisia Zinke included Cascade-Siskiyou in his preparing a legal challenge to block any - many species of rare plants grow only in the Cascade-Siskiyou. “review” of National Monuments effort by Trump to weaken the launched earlier this year. From the Monument, and we are working with estled in the rugged mountains and high deserts of the Great Basin beginning Zinke’s only clear interest was media outlets in the U.S. (and southeast of Ashland along the co-mingle with species from the Sierra finding ways to shrink or eliminate internationally) to draw attention to the Oregon-CaliforniaN border, the Cascade- Nevada Range and Klamath Mountains Monuments at the behest of political fight over this globally significant Siskiyou National Monument may be of California, with unique Siskiyou supporters in the logging, grazing, place. Oregon’s greatest biological treasure. Mountains species from the West mixed Unfortunately, thanks to President in for good measure. Trump and his flamboyant Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke, it is also our most Back in 2000, former President Bill threatened. Clinton acknowledged its importance when he designated over 50,000 acres of For decades biologists urged Presidents, public land as the Cascade-Siskiyou members of Congress, and federal National Monument – the first agencies to do more to protect this Monument ever created specifically to spectacular region from logging, grazing, protect biodiversity. On January 12, and development. It has been recognized 2017, former President Barack Obama internationally as a “global biodiversity expanded the Monument by 48,000 hotspot,” a unique place where animals, acres. fish, and plants from the Cascade Range Marielle Cowdin Oregon Wild staff at their retreat to Cascade-Siskiyou National Mounument; From top left, clockwise: Jonathan Jelen, Steve Pedery, Doug Heiken, Danielle Moser, Tony Mounts, Sean Stevens, Tara Brown, Chandra LeGue, Erik Fernandez, Rob Klavins, Marielle Cowdin, Jason Gonzales, 15 Alex H arris, S arah C uddy, Jamie Dawson, Gaby Diaz, and Arran Fall R obertson.2017 Volume 44, Number 3 5825 N. Greeley Ave. Portland, OR 97217

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