This is the first of two Public Lands Blog posts that examine the management (and mismanagement) of more than 2 million acres of federal forestlands in western Oregon, administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Part 1 examines the history of rampant clear-cutting of old-growth forests and vast windfalls of revenues to local counties as a result. Part 2 will examine the current threats to these public lands from the timber industry and local counties, and the opportunity that could present itself to secure permanent comprehensive congressional conservation of these imperiled lands.

We don’t have one national election for president in 2020. Rather we have fifty-one elections (in fifty states and the District of Columbia) that will decide the next president of the United States. Today, we can predict with certainty the total number of votes that will be cast for the presidency: 538.

The sea otter should not be confused with other marine mammals found in Oregon, like the northern fur seal, the Steller sea lion, the California sea lion, the northern elephant seal, and the Pacific harbor seal. Nor should it be confused with another marine mammal, the Steller’s sea cow, that once inhabited Oregon but now inhabits nowhere. From its first discovery by Europeans in 1741, it was extinct by 1768 (1768 – 1741 = 27 frigging years).

This is the second of a two-part Public Lands Blog post. Part 1 examined the specifics of legislation that is an existential threat to more than four million acres of federal public lands in Oregon’s Malheur County. Part 2 provides backstory and analysis pertaining to the legislation.

This is the first of a two-part Public Lands Blog post. Part 1 examines the specifics of legislation that is an existential threat to more than four million acres of federal public lands in Oregon’s Malheur County. Part 2 will provide backstory and analysis pertaining to the legislation.