Blog Archives for Oregon

By Sarah Peters - September 2, 2010    Each year the Siuslaw National Forest Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area allows a privately sponsored motorized event to occur on the lands it manages - DunesFest.  An article published yesterday in the Umpqua Post released some interesting numbers regarding law enforcement and citations.  This event requires five times the law enforcement presence just to try to keep the crowds under control.

By cathy - August 27, 2010    Mt. Hood National Forest published a plan Friday, August, 27 for the management of off-highway vehicles (OHVs) such as ATVs and dirt bikes on the forest. The OHV Plan provides for a total of 146 miles for OHV routes on roads and trails in four areas of the forest. Bark, forest users and other environmental groups are applauding the new plan.

By Sarah Peters - August 17, 2010    After a lengthy wait, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals released a spectacular opinion today titled NEDC v. Brown, which addresses the application of the Clean Water Act to logging roads.  Previously these roads and any pollution that came from them were exempted from compliance with the Clean Water Act and it's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, which regulates pollution from point sources. 

By Sarah Peters - July 22, 2010    Although the use of alcohol at the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area was banned several years ago, as highlighted in our report "Six Strategies for Effective Enforcement," it is still apparently a problem.  An article from yesterday's Umpqua Post highlights the issue. 

By Sarah Peters - April 7, 2010    An article in the Douglas County, Oregon News-Review over the weekend highlighted damage that is occurring on private timber land in southern Oregon due to off road vehicle use.  While private land owners have in the past turned a blind eye to off road vehicle use on their lands, they now find themselves in a situation where the damage that is occurring is too great to ignore.  But, stopping the illegal trespass is easier said than done.  Read the full article here.

By Sarah Peters - December 8, 2009    Yesterday Wildlands CPR and four other conservation groups, Cascadia Wildlands, Umpqua Watersheds, Oregon Wild and the Center for Biological Diversity, joined forces to challenge a trail construction project slated for an undeveloped Roadless Area in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area on the Siuslaw National Forest. 

By Bethanie Walder - October 7, 2009    I spent the last two days at the Western Governor’s Association (WGA) Wildlife Council (WGWC) meeting in Helena.  The meeting focused on progress toward implementing a resolution for improving wildlife connectivity and linkage zones across the western states.

By Bethanie Walder - March 18, 2009    The Pacific Northwest Region of the Forest Service has posted a draft report documenting what they accomplished with the $8.4 million dollars they received from the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative (Legacy Roads) in fiscal year 2008. 

By Sarah Peters - January 15, 2009    This week the Forest Service was forced to close the Ann's Butte area in Eastern Oregon to motorized use due to severe resource damage and erosion.  Vehicles attempting to climb steep hills by going straight up the slope had apparently created some of the worst erosion problems.  As any of us can see who recreate outdoors, whether on foot or on a motorized vehicle, most trails are built with switchbacks and do not proceed straight up a steep slope.  There's a reason for this - to control and reduce the likelihood of erosion.  That's why cutting corners, again, whether you're under you

By Josh Hurd - September 4, 2007    It makes sense to protect your livelihood. For fisherman, that means making sure that fish populations stay strong enough to commercially harvest. While that has not been the case for Salmon in southern Oregon, an innovative program is helping do something about both the Salmon crash and subsequent unemployment.