Fourth-fifths of Americans cannot experience (it’s more than just seeing) the Milky Way without a special trip to find a dark enough sky.
Read MoreThe Conservation of Darkness
in Energy, Federal Lands
Welcoming Back Pumas to the Eastern United States
Scientists have identified seventeen areas in the eastern US suitable for the recolonization of Puma concolor. Will humans allow it?
Read MoreClosing the Disconnect Between Voter Attitudes and Public Lands Conservation in the West
While most Mountain Westerners favor the conservation of public lands, most of their elected officials are either openly hostile or passively wimpy. Conservation organizations need to rethink its nonprofit status to allow effective legislative and political engagement. Now.
Read MoreIt’s About Dam Time
Congress told the Bureau of Land Management to remove a small, but fish-damaging, dam on the Donner und Blitzen Wild and Scenic River and the Steens Mountain Wilderness. The BLM may finally get around to it.
Read MoreThe Forest Service Proposal to Save Its Old Growth: A Start, Though Inadequate
If President Biden wants to be remembered in history for saving the nation’s remaining mature and old-growth forests and trees for the benefit of this and future generations, the Forest Service is going to have to do significantly more than what it has proposed so far.
Read MoreChanges Coming to the Oregon Delegation to the US House, Part 2: 1st, 2nd, and 4th Districts
If you care about nature and the climate, you must not only vote but also give both time and money during the 2024 election, which is already far along.
Read MoreChanges Coming to the Oregon Delegation to the US House, Part 1: 3rd, 5th, and 6th Districts
Along with the great danger of the Oregon US House delegation becoming worse on public lands issues, there are also great opportunities for it to be better.
Read MoreThe Unmaking of the Northwest Forest Plan, Part 2: Remaking It for the Next Quarter Century
The prospective defeminization/emasculation of the Northwest Forest Plan by the Forest Service is likely inevitable. All the more reason for the Biden administration to promulgate an enduring administrative rule that conserves and restores mature and old-growth forests.
Read MoreThe Unmaking of the Northwest Forest Plan, Part 1: Out with Enforceable Substance and in with Performative Process
The world’s largest ecosystem management plan is under existential threat.
Read MoreProtecting Drinking Water Sources, Part 2: Suggestions for Improvement
Municipal and community surface drinking water supplies need to be protected from logging, grazing, roading, and other development.
Read MoreProtecting Drinking Water Sources, Part 1: Water Quantity, Quality, and Timely Release
Most Americans get their drinking, bathing, and flushing water from surface sources, most of which are unprotected from logging and other exploitation.
Read MoreRetiring Grazing Permits, Part 3: Future of the Voluntary Retirement Option
The future of the voluntary federal land grazing permit retirement option.
Read MoreRetiring Grazing Permits, Part 2: History of the Voluntary Retirement Option
The history of congressional and other actions to facilitate retirement of federal grazing permits
Read MoreRetiring Grazing Permits, Part 1: Context and Case for the Voluntary Retirement Option
The option to voluntarily retire federal grazing permits is progressing, albeit in fits and starts.
Read MoreMalheur County Federal Land Legislation Take 4, Part 2: The Ugly, the Missing, and the Alternative
If the recommended critical tweaks are made to remove the ugly parts (grazing “rights” and further exaltation of livestock grazing in wilderness areas) of S.1890, the Senate and the House of Representatives should pass the bill and the president should sign it into law.
Read MoreMalheur County Federal Land Legislation Take 4, Part 1: The Good, the Whatever, and the Bad
With a few critical tweaks, Senator Wyden’s legislation could be a net gain for the conservation of nature for the benefit of this and future generations. Without those tweaks, the bill as drafted is an existential threat to the conservation of federal public lands and should not be enacted into law.
Read MoreForest Service Proposes Rulemaking: An Opportunity to Conserve and Restore Mature and Old-Growth Forests
The Forest Service has announced it is going to be proposing new regulations to address the “climate resilience” of the National Forest System.
Read MoreHow Much Mature and Old-Growth Forest Does the US Have Left?
Any inventory reveals that most of the nation’s mature and old-growth forests have fallen to the saw. Not only must all that remains remain, but degraded forests should also be allowed to become mature and old-growth forests once again.
Read MoreThe BLM’s Proposed “Conservation” Rule: Open for Comments
The nation’s largest land manager is proposing a new “conservation” rule that might result in improved land management but more likely will serve as a shield for the agency to continue to degrade public lands at the expense of this and future generations.
Read MoreForests in the American East, Part 3: A Vision of the Return of Old-Growth Forests
This Part 3 suggests ways to partially—but significantly—bring back the magnificent old-growth forests that have long been lost.
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