October 8, 2022 — Today, a “kayaktivist” flotilla of over 100 concerned community members rallied on the McKenzie River to protest an old-growth logging sale in the Willamette National Forest. The Flat Country project, proposed by the U.S. Forest Service, targets over 2,000 acres of old-growth and mature forests for logging across the headwaters of the McKenzie River. The agency could auction the old growth to be cut at any moment. Attendees held up signs from boats and kayaks, and unfurled a large banner declaring “Forest Defense is Watershed Defense”, to draw attention to the logging sale’s impact on downstream drinking water.
Press Release: Mature and old-growth logging sale undermines Biden climate policy; threatens McKenzie River, habitat
August 2, 2022 — Today, old-growth forest and wildlife advocates provided the U.S. Forest Service the means to reconsider the pending Trump-era “Flat Country” timber sale in Oregon’s Willamette National Forest. The vast majority of the proposed logging would be in mature and old-growth forests, with over 1,000 acres of clearcutting, even though President Biden this year ordered his administration to prioritize conserving these forests as a crucial climate protection.
INTERN-al UPDATE: A Snowy Field Check in Flat Country
By Courtney Kaltenbach Field Checking Intern for Cascadia Wildlands, Spring 2020 On a cool Saturday morning, over twenty people met in the Cascadia parking lot to prepare to go out on the first public field checking trip of the year into the Flat Country timber sale. Covid-19 had been declared an international pandemic three days … Continue reading INTERN-al UPDATE: A Snowy Field Check in Flat Country
Flat Country Timber Sale
Flat Country — Willamette National Forest, McKenzie Ranger District UPDATE: Early in 2022, in honor of Earth Day, President Biden signed an executive order (EO) on Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies. The EO represents progress in its acknowledgement that old-growth and, notably, mature forests are essential against the worst impacts of climate … Continue reading Flat Country Timber Sale