Preremembering Jerry Franklin and Norm Johnson, Oregon Conservationist

March 19, 2021 in Congress, Forest Service, Forestry, Forests, Legislation, LItigation, National Forest System, Preremembrances, State Lands

The old forests of the Pacific Northwest are in far better condition today than they would be if not for Professors Jerry F. (for Forest!) Franklin and K. Norman Johnson.

Figure 1. Brock Evans on the Snake River in Hells Canyon along the Idaho-Oregon border. Today, the stream behind Brock is a wild and scenic river, the hills above part of the Hells Canyon Wilderness, all within the Hells Canyon National Recreat… — Figure 1. Brock Evans on the Snake River in Hells Canyon along the Idaho-Oregon border. Today, the stream behind Brock is a wild and scenic river, the hills above part of the Hells Canyon Wilderness, all within the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Source: Wake-Robin Press.

Preremembering Brock Evans, Oregon Conservationist

January 21, 2021 in Congress, Endangered Species, Federal Lands, Forest Service, Legislation, Preremembrances, LItigation

Millions of acres of older (mature and old-growth) forest in Oregon still stand today, the Snake River still runs free through Hells Canyon, and French Pete is again safely in the Three Sisters Wilderness—all because La Grande resident Brock Evans was on the case.

Preremembering Norma Paulus, Oregon Conservationist

March 23, 2018 in State Lands, Preremembrances

A nuclear power plant never befouled Cape Kiwanda, and off-road vehicles do not befoul many miles of Oregon beaches today, because of Norma Paulus.

Preremembering Barbara Roberts, Oregon Conservationist

November 17, 2017 in Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Preremembrances, Wild and Scenic Rivers, Federal Lands

Millions of acres of federal old-growth forest still stand because of former Oregon governor Barbara Roberts (D). The Upper Klamath River would have another damn dam and not be safely within the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System if not for Roberts. Oregon would have some god-awful cyanide heap leach gold mines if not for her. If not for her . . . (there’s much more).

Preremembering Jim Weaver, Oregon Conservationist

July 21, 2017 in Congress, Wilderness, Preremembrances

As Jim Weaver quietly lives out his days in his beloved Oregon, this and future generations are in his debt because even though he represented the congressional district ranked highest for timber production in the nation, Weaver was a strong and tireless proponent of wilderness. There are wilderness areas today safely on the map, both inside and beyond his congressional district, because Jim Weaver stood up for the wild in Oregon in ways that no elected official had done before or has done since.

Preremembering Bob Packwood, Oregon Conservationist

January 13, 2017 in Congress, Wilderness, Courts, National Recreation Area, Wild and Scenic Rivers, Preremembrances

The Snake River in Hells Canyon would be dammed today if not for former Senator Bob Packwood (R-OR). The French Pete watershed would not have been returned to its rightful place in the Three Sisters Wilderness if not for Packwood.

No, Packwood is not dead yet, but he is in his ninth decade (and with all his marbles, the last time I saw him). I am implementing a new policy to remember some Oregon public lands conservation greats before they, in words from Hamlet’s "To be, or not to be" soliloquy, “have shuffled off this mortal coil mortal coil.” It is an interesting exercise and a challenge to write a remembrance of someone not yet passed. I’ll call it a premembrance.