Forest and Timber

For many communities across the Northwest, logging used to be a major if not the primary driver of the local economy.  However, a lot has changed over the past 40 years, but that doesn’t mean the timber industry doesn’t have an important roll to play in natural resource management.   That’s where...

The Bureau of Land Management has distributed more than $27.7 million in timber revenue payments to 18 western Oregon counties.  BLM said the payments are supported by the timber harvested from public lands and support local services, including emergency response and education.   “...

A U.S. District Court has stopped a logging project in northern Idaho that environmental groups claim could harm the Selkirk grizzly population habitat.  Estimates say roughly 50 grizzlies live in that portion of Idaho.  Mike Garrity head of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, a Montana-based conservation organization, which has been in litigation with the Forest Service over this issue for nearly

Last week, the Oregon House passed a bill that attempts to help homeowners in high-risk fire areas keep their insurance.  Some property owners report losing coverage.  Medford-area state Senator Jeff Golden said the bill directs the state to help communities take action to reduce wildfire risk.   "All prope...

A rural Oregon fire district has a Hollywood celebrity to thank for new safety equipment.  Southwest Polk Fire, in Dallas, just received a sizable grant from the Gary Sinise Foundation, allowing the fire district west of Salem to buy ten full sets of turnouts for firefighters.   ...

Reports continue to say the Trump administration is planning to severely scale back or end all funding for many of the key programs in the Agriculture Department.  According to White House documents obtained by Government Executive, the Administration wants to cut workers and whole offices at the local level.   ...

State lawmakers are looking for new ways to fund wildland firefighting efforts in Oregon.  2024 was a record year for the size and cost of wildfires across the Beaver State.  Doug Graf, Governor Tina Kotek’s advisor on wildfire prevention, told lawmakers last week they can't keep going to the general fund.   "The sustainable...

A controversial law involving Oregon’s Wildfire Risk Map would be repealed, under a bill in the Legislature.  The map would have required property owners to take steps to reduce wildfire risk on their property.  Derrick Wheeler, with the Department of Forestry, said the new bill would remove those requirements.   "It removes the ...

Under a recently proposed bill, the federal government would prioritize use of mass timber in construction.  Senators from Oregon and Idaho are leading the bipartisan effort to pass the Mass Timber Federal Buildings Act.  The bill would make it a preference to use mass timber in federal construction projects.   Mass timbe...

Prescribed burns will take place on Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife-managed lands this month, as conditions become favorable.  WDFW is planning to treat nearly 500 acres with prescribed fire in the following areas by the end of the 2025 spring season:    Rustlers Gulch Unit, Sherman Creek Wildlife Area – Approximately 150 acres in Pend Oreille County, 20 miles north of Spokane Sherman