This last post of the year to my Public Lands Blog is a bit different in that it focuses less on public lands and more on public democracy (though I haven’t forgotten public lands). It is also uncharacteristically short. I’m eschewing graphics, as any relevant images would be of politicians.

The Elliott State Forest (ESF) was about to be sold to a timber syndicate that would promptly liquidate almost all of its remaining old trees. Reaction to the State Land Board’s 2016 plan to sell the Elliott State Forest to a timber syndicate. Source: Francis Eatherington.

This is the third of three Public Lands Blog posts on state-owned forestlands in Oregon. Part 1 focused on a prospective habitat management plan for state forestlands in western Oregon. Part 2 surveyed state forests in Oregon by location, owner, and manager. Part 3 examines several key issues pertaining to state forest management in Oregon and explores how to secure the greatest permanent value of state forestlands to the state.

This is the second of three Public Lands Blog posts on state-owned forestlands in Oregon. Part 1 focused on a prospective habitat management plan for state forestlands in western Oregon. Part 2 surveys state forests in Oregon by location, owner, and manager. Part 3 will examine several key issues pertaining to state forest management in Oregon and explore how to secure the greatest permanent value of state forestlands to the state.

This is the first of three Public Lands Blog posts on state-owned forestlands in Oregon. Part 1 focuses on a prospective habitat management plan for state forestlands in western Oregon. Part 2 will survey state forests in Oregon by location, owner, and manager. Part 3 will examine several key issues pertaining to state forest management in Oregon and explore how to secure the greatest permanent value of state forestlands to the state.

If not for the Cold War (1945–1991), there might well have been a national park in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. In his brief time among us, Simons was instrumental in the establishment of North Cascades National Park in Washington and was just turning his focus to the establishment of a Cascade Volcanic National Park in Oregon.

This is the second of two Public Lands Blog posts on the public value of state trust lands and how such lands might be brought into public ownership. Part 1 was a national overview, while Part 2 focuses on state trust lands in Oregon.

This is the first of two Public Lands Blog posts on the public value of state trust lands and how such lands might be brought into public ownership. Part 1 is a national overview, while Part 2 will focus on state trust lands in Oregon.

I’m generally not a fan of Representative Chris Stewart (R-UT-3rd), who has a lifetime record of voting right on conservation issues just 3 percent of the time, according to the League of Conservation Voters. Now, though, he’s introduced a bill in the House that has merit.

This is the third of three Public Lands Blog posts that consider the desire of the Forest Service to amend a provision of the “Eastside Screens,” standards designed to protect public forests east of the Cascade Range. Part 1 examined the history, science, and politics leading up to the adoption of the Eastside Screens and their implementation since then. Part 2 explored issues both of management and of the science behind the management. Part 3 suggests what the Forest Service could do to improve the Eastside Screens, in both the short and long term.

This is the second of what were to be two but now are three Public Lands Blog posts that consider the desire of the Forest Service to amend a provision of the “Eastside Screens,” standards designed to protect public forests east of the Cascade Range. Part 1 examined the history, science, and politics leading up to the adoption of the Eastside Screens and their implementation since then. Part 2 explores issues both of management and of the science behind the management. Part 3 will suggest what the Forest Service could do to improve the Eastside Screens, in both the short and long term.

This is the first of two Public Lands Blog posts that consider the desire of the Forest Service to amend a provision of the “Eastside Screens,” standards designed to protect public forests east of the Cascade Range. Part 1 examines the history, science, and politics leading up to the adoption of the Eastside Screens and their implementation since then. Part 2 will suggest what the Forest Service could do to improve the Eastside Screens, in both the short and long term.

Though it’s a hell of a long shot, I propose a huge national park in northwestern Oregon that won’t fully flower for at least two centuries after its establishment. To create the park, the federal government should acquire vast ecologically and hydrologically significant tracts of state and private timberland and reconvert them to federal public parklands. 

Legislation introduced by New Mexico’s two Democratic US senators would severely undermine the integrity of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System (NWSRS). Yes, S.3670 has some good provisions, but it also has some bad and downright ugly provisions.

This is the fourth of four Public Lands Blog posts that examine the topic of national parks in Oregon. Part 1 explored Oregon’s one success in establishing a national park. Part 2 discussed multiple failures to establish additional national parks in the state. Part 3 examined both successful and failed attempts to expand Crater Lake National Park. Part 4 looks at the potential supply and demand for additional national parks in Oregon and the political challenges and chances.

This is the third of four Public Lands Blog posts that examine the topic of national parks in Oregon. Part 1 explored Oregon’s one success in establishing a national park. Part 2 discussed multiple failures to establish additional national parks in the state. Part 3 examines both successful and failed attempts to expand Crater Lake National Park. Part 4 will look at the potential supply and demand for additional national parks in Oregon and the political challenges and chances.

This is the second of four Public Lands Blog posts that examine the topic of national parks in Oregon. Part 1 explored Oregon’s one success in establishing a national park. Part 2 discusses multiple failures to establish additional national parks in the state. Part 3 will examine both successful and failed attempts to expand Crater Lake National Park. Part 4 will look at the potential supply and demand for additional national parks in Oregon and the political challenges and chances.

This is the first of four Public Lands Blog posts that examine the topic of national parks in Oregon. Part 1 explores Oregon’s one success in establishing a national park. Part 2 discusses multiple failures to establish additional national parks in the state. Part 3 examines both successful and failed attempts to expand Crater Lake National Park. Part 4 looks at the potential supply and demand for additional national parks in Oregon and the political challenges and chances.

There stood Mount Hood in all the glory of the alpenglow, looming immensely high, beaming with intelligence. It seemed neither near nor far. The whole mountain appeared as one glorious manifestation of divine power, enthusiastic and benevolent, glowing like a countenance with ineffable repose and beauty, before which we could only gaze in lowly admiration. —John Muir (1888)

This is the second 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 examined the history of rampant clear-cutting of old-growth forests and vast windfalls of revenues to local counties as a result. Part 2 examines 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.