This is the second of two Public Lands Blog posts that are not about public lands but rather the conservation of public resources on private land. I offer my take on the Oregon Private Forest Accords (OPFA) because several readers asked for it. Part 1 examined the Oregon OPFA deal and its significance. Part 2 examines whether the OPFA is a grand bargain, a mere détente, or a great sellout.

This is the first of two Public Lands Blog posts that are not about public lands but rather the conservation of public resources on private land. I offer my take on the Oregon Private Forest Accords (OPFA) because several readers asked for it. Part 1 examines the Oregon OPFA deal and its significance. Part 2 will examine whether the OPFA is a grand bargain, a mere détente, or a great sellout.

Legislation has been introduced to conserve and restore one of the most colorful natural landscapes in Oregon for the benefit of this and future generations.

The barred owl has invaded the range of the northern spotted owl and needs to be stopped before driving the latter to extinction.

Two national monuments in Utah have been restored, but it isn’t over.

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.

A huge amount of federal land is dedicated to domestic livestock grazing to produce a very small amount of feed and forage for the nation’s beef and lamb supply.

This is the third of three Public Lands Blog posts that focus on Oregon’s coast. Part 1 looked at Oregon’s (and the nation’s) “blue carbon” and a congressional effort to conserve and restore it. Part 2 examined coastal wetland loss, conservation, and restoration. Part 3 describes a now very rare type of coastal wetland: the forested tidal swamp.

This is the second of three Public Lands Blog posts that focus on Oregon’s coast. Part 1 looked at Oregon’s (and the nation’s) “blue carbon” and a congressional effort to conserve and restore it. Part 2 examines coastal wetland loss, conservation, and restoration. Part 3 will describe a now very rare type of coastal wetland: the tidal swamp or tidal forested wetland.

This is the first of three Public Lands Blog posts that focus on Oregon’s coast. Part 1 looks at Oregon’s (and the nation’s) “blue carbon” and a congressional effort to conserve and restore it. Part 2 will examine coastal wetland loss, conservation, and restoration. Part 3 will describe a now very rare type of coastal wetland: the tidal swamp or tidal forested wetland.

Most fish and wildlife funding in the United States goes to game species. However, a third of our wildlife species are imperiled and/or vulnerable, and mostly not because of hunting and fishing

The FSC is back with a new document signaling its continuing quest to certify wood products that come from federal public lands (including units of the National Park System) as being “environmentally sound, socially beneficial, and economically prosperous.” The standards FSC is proposing to apply to federal forestlands are little more than what is required of federal land management agencies now, if that. It’s called greenwashing.

A preliminary report to the National Climate Task Force recommending a ten-year, locally led campaign to conserve and restore the lands and waters upon which we all depend, and that bind us together as Americans.

The Colorado Plateau, the Great Basin Desert, and the Mojave Desert come together in Washington County, Utah, where the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (RCNCA) is generally centered. In this transition zone, unusual plant and animal species have evolved, including the dwarf bearclaw-poppy (Arctomecon humilis) and Shivwits milk-vetch (Astragalus ampullarioides), small native plants that grow nowhere else on earth.

After decades of dithering, the Fish and Wildlife Service has finally proposed listing the species as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). But a special rule appended to the proposed listing creates a conundrum: Does ESA protection take precedence over wilderness area protection?

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. “Norm and Jerry,” as they are affectionately (or, depending upon your point of view, derisively) known, have had a greater positive impact on federal forest policy in the Pacific Northwest than any other individuals.

Soon after the first attacks on the roadless rule, legislation was introduced in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to “codify” the roadless rule into a statute, making it part of the United States Code. The first roadless area bills were introduced in 2002 in the 107th Congress. The bills have been reintroduced in most, but not all, Congresses since 2002 and are due to be introduced again.

“Despite spending over $17 billion on fish recovery efforts, Idaho salmon and steelhead numbers are not improving and will continue to get worse,” says Representative Mike Simpson (R-2-ID). “Will we spend $20 billion more in the next thirty years only to have them go extinct anyway? The worse they get, the more we will spend.”

The proposed River Democracy Act (RDA) would expand 42 existing wild and scenic rivers (WSRs) and establish 81 new wild and scenic rivers. All the proposed new and expanded components are listed at the end of this post.