When political realities come up against ecological realities, the former must be changed because the latter cannot.

While most Mountain Westerners favor the conservation of public lands, most of their elected officials are either openly hostile or passively wimpy.

This is the second installment of a two-part exploration of certain, probable, and/or needed changes to the Oregon delegation to the US House of Representatives in the 2024 elections.

This is the first installment of a two-part exploration of certain, probable and/or needed changes to the Oregon delegation to the US House of Representatives in the 2024 elections.

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.

Understanding the history of public lands is useful if one is to be the best advocate for the conservation of public lands.

Sorry, but for those of you jonesing for Part 2 of my post on Mark Hatfield (and I’ve heard from quite a few of you who are), you’ll just have to wait until next week as ballots are in the mail this week for the Oregon primary election. (Return ballots must be postmarked by election day, May 17, or received by 8 p.m. that day at an official drop site or elections office.) I just could not resist giving Oregon Democrats the benefit of my counsel when they are deciding on who to vote for in the Democratic primary for governor.

In addition, at the very end I also make an endorsement in the Democratic primary for Oregon’s new 6th congressional district seat.

This is the first of two Public Lands Blog posts on the most consequential Oregonian yet to serve in the United States Senate. In Part 1, we look at his role in enabling the destruction of Oregon forests. In Part 2, we will examine his complicated legacy. While Oregon’s Mark Hatfield was a great US senator, it was not because of his record on the conservation of nature.

Oregon’s redrawn congressional districts will affect the prospects for federal public lands conservation.

Perhaps it’s just my crankiness index rising alongside my age, but I don’t think our democracy works as well as it used to. Not that it ever worked well enough, but I believe that all three branches of our national government are more dysfunctional than they used to be.

Upon the election last November of Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., as the 46th president of the United States, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief for the environment, the body politic, and the republic. Goodbye, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)