Forest Defense
Below are some of the current threats to our public forests and ways you can use
your voice and pen to defend them.
your voice and pen to defend them.
Action: Oppose HR 7603- O & C Renewal Act of 2026, a bill proposed by Rep. Cliff Bentz.
Now is a good time to urge Oregon’s Congressional delegation to oppose H.R. 7603 (the O&C Renewal Act introduced by Rep. Bentz) and reject efforts to dismantle protections for our forests and waters.
Comment here through the Oregon Wild website here, or here through the Cascadia Wildlands website.
Action: Roadless Area Rule Comment Period - coming this fall - watch for updates.
The federal government plans to rescind this rule that protects 2 million acres in Oregon from logging and development. Read more about why our roadless areas are so important to a healthy climate here and here.
Now is a good time to urge Oregon’s Congressional delegation to oppose H.R. 7603 (the O&C Renewal Act introduced by Rep. Bentz) and reject efforts to dismantle protections for our forests and waters.
Comment here through the Oregon Wild website here, or here through the Cascadia Wildlands website.
Action: Roadless Area Rule Comment Period - coming this fall - watch for updates.
The federal government plans to rescind this rule that protects 2 million acres in Oregon from logging and development. Read more about why our roadless areas are so important to a healthy climate here and here.
Bridge Creek in the Tumalo Mountain Roadless Area, Deschutes National Forest. (Sami Godlove) Source: Oregon Wild website
Support the Road Area Conservation Act, critical legislation that would permanently safeguard roadless wildlands—working its way through congress.
Action: URGE CONGRESSWOMAN HOYLE TO CO-SPONSOR THE ROADLESS AREA CONSERVATION ACT HERE.
--She is the only Oregon Democrat not co-sponsoring the bill.
Action: Oppose ‘Fix Our Forest Act’ (H.R. 471)-a terrible, misleadingly- named bill that would increase logging with virtually no public review or participation.
More information and a sample letter to senators from Cascadia Wildlands here.
Action: Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
--She is the only Oregon Democrat not co-sponsoring the bill.
Action: Oppose ‘Fix Our Forest Act’ (H.R. 471)-a terrible, misleadingly- named bill that would increase logging with virtually no public review or participation.
More information and a sample letter to senators from Cascadia Wildlands here.
Action: Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
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As you may have heard, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision is now out for public comment. There is a 90-day comment period, ending Sept. 30th.
The Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision covers approximately 5 million acres across three National Forests in eastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. The Forest Plan will dictate almost every aspect of Forest Management, likely for decades to come, from the amount of timber output on these forests to protections (or lack thereof) for wildlife habitat, streams, water quality, road densities, and more. |
Kind of a big deal: Oregon’s Blue Mountains, seen here from Chesnimnus Vista looking at the Wallowa Mountains, occupy almost a sixth of the state’s land area. Photo: Dave Jensen
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From Paula Hood at the Blue Mountain Biodiversity Project: Unfortunately, this Forest Plan is as awful as we'd guessed it would be. It strips or severely weakens existing protections for large trees, stream habitats and water quality, and wildlife habitats. It greatly increases logging.
We very much need your voice to push back against this plan, and to advocate for strong, enforceable protections.
Here is a Grassroots Toolkit to help drive comments for the Blue Mountains forest plan revision from the forest champions at Oregon Wild.
From our friends at More Than Just Parks
Introducing PLAN, the Tool That Finds Every Public Lands Fight Open for Comment Right Now
The Public Lands Action Network is a free tool that finds every public lands decision open for comment and helps you write the one comment the law makes them answer.
It’s called PLAN, the Public Lands Action Network, and there’s never been anything like it for America’s public lands. Every morning it reads the entire Federal Register, the government’s daily log of what it intends to do to the country, and it pulls every decision open for public comment that touches the land you own. It explains each one in plain English. It shows you the official count of how many people have already spoken up. It hands you four fast ways to act. It covers all 50 states. And it’s free, with no account required and no paywall on action, ever.
Intact Forests and Fire Resilience-Learn more about fire ecology and the history of fire in Oregon forests. Understand the myths about “salvage logging” here.
Understand more about why logging doesn’t prevent wild fires from spreading here.
We very much need your voice to push back against this plan, and to advocate for strong, enforceable protections.
Here is a Grassroots Toolkit to help drive comments for the Blue Mountains forest plan revision from the forest champions at Oregon Wild.
From our friends at More Than Just Parks
Introducing PLAN, the Tool That Finds Every Public Lands Fight Open for Comment Right Now
The Public Lands Action Network is a free tool that finds every public lands decision open for comment and helps you write the one comment the law makes them answer.
It’s called PLAN, the Public Lands Action Network, and there’s never been anything like it for America’s public lands. Every morning it reads the entire Federal Register, the government’s daily log of what it intends to do to the country, and it pulls every decision open for public comment that touches the land you own. It explains each one in plain English. It shows you the official count of how many people have already spoken up. It hands you four fast ways to act. It covers all 50 states. And it’s free, with no account required and no paywall on action, ever.
Intact Forests and Fire Resilience-Learn more about fire ecology and the history of fire in Oregon forests. Understand the myths about “salvage logging” here.
Understand more about why logging doesn’t prevent wild fires from spreading here.
Only about 10% of Oregon’s total forest area is protected! We need to stand up and speak out for the trees!
Oregon has more forest area than any state in the western U.S., but the lowest proportion of its forests with strong protections. Data from Law et al. 2021. Graph: David Mildrexler
Creating more protection for industrial forests…
more about upcoming Oregon legislation you can support soon!
more about upcoming Oregon legislation you can support soon!