May 24, 2022 — In a legal victory, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed today to reconsider whether red tree voles on Oregon’s North Coast need protection under the Endangered Species Act. The Service has until January 31, 2024, to make a decision.
Press Release: Oregon Department of Forestry Moves Flawed Endangered Species Plan Forward
March 17, 2022 — The Oregon Department of Forestry and the National Marine Fisheries Service issued a draft environmental impact statement today for a habitat conservation plan that regulates logging on more than 600,000 acres of state forest in western Oregon.
The plan would allow the department to continue to log and harm endangered species, including coho and Chinook salmon, northern spotted owls, marbled murrelets and others, for 70 years in exchange for some habitat protection.
Press Release: Victory for the Elliott State Forest!
March 3, 2022 — Today, the Oregon House of Representatives voted 50-8 to approve SB 1546 to create the Elliott State Research Forest and appropriate $121 million to decouple the 82,500-acre forest near Coos Bay from the Common School Fund (CSF). The vote follows the Oregon Senate’s approval of the legislation 22-4 on Tuesday.
Press Release: Groups Offer Reward for Another Recent Illegal Wolf Killing
February 23, 2022 — Conservation and animal-protection groups announced a combined $22,500 reward today for information leading to a conviction in the killing of a collared wolf outside the town of Cove in Northeast Oregon.
Press Release: VICTORY! Wolves’ Endangered Species Status Restored
February 10, 2022 — Today, a federal court restored Endangered Species Act protections for the gray wolf after they were eliminated by the Trump administration in 2020. The ruling orders the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to resume recovery efforts for the imperiled species. Today’s decision redesignates the gray wolf as a species threatened with extinction in the lower 48 states with the exception of the Northern Rockies population (map), for which wolf protections were removed by Congress in 2011.
Press Release: Cascadia Wildlands Receives Historic $500,000 Grant
January 31, 2022 — Nonprofit conservation organization, Cascadia Wildlands, announced today it is the recent recipient of a $500,000 grant from the Evergreen Hill Education Fund, an advised fund of Oregon Community Foundation. The grant will be used to bolster the organization’s effectiveness toward protecting the region’s wildlands, waterways, species and climate, specifically through the addition of a multi-year legal fellow, a strategic communications position, increased office space, and other organizational enhancements.
Press Release: Groups Offer Reward for Info on Wolf Killed Illegally
January 13, 2022 — Conservation groups announced today a $16,500 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction for the illegal shooting death of a two-year-old collared female wolf in Wallowa County in early January. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Turn in Poachers (TIP) division also offers a potential $300 reward for information regarding illegal wolf killings.
Press Release: Post-fire Logging Halted on the Willamette National Forest
December 3, 2021 — Today, a federal judge enjoined post-fire logging on the Willamette National Forest near Detroit Lake and Breitenbush hot springs. The Forest Service was converting previously approved restorative thinning projects into post-fire clearcuts without any public notice or environmental review, despite the significant new information and conditions created by the fires.
Press Release: Jordon Cove LNG Pipeline Project DEAD
December 1, 2021 — Pembina, the Canadian company that tried to impose a fracked gas pipeline and export terminal on communities across Southern Oregon, today filed a formal request asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to cancel its permit for the project.
Press Release: CW Appeals ODOT’s $87,000 Bill for Post-Fire Hazard Tree Removal Public Records Request
July 6, 2021 — Cascadia Wildlands appealed the $87,756.60 estimated bill issued by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) in response to the organization’s public records request seeking documents related to the agency’s hazard tree removal activities following the 2020 Labor Day fires.