Forest and Timber

The USDA will boost wildlife habitat protection as the Biden administration enters its final months.  In a department memo this week, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack directed agencies to coordinate more closely on protecting lands across different types of ownership, including making wildlife habitat a high priority in various conservation programs.  Vilsack...

Firefighters continue to battle more than a dozen large fires across Oregon, as this extended fire season continues.  And it should come as no surprise, much of that fire activity is primarily east of the Cascades.  Kaitlyn Webb, with the Deschutes National Forest, said vegetation is still very dry.   “We really...

Following this year's record fire season in Oregon, legislators are looking ahead to what's next.  Statewide, 1.9 million acres burned in 2024.  State Senator Lynn Findley recently praised a new effort by the State Fire Marshal to send task forces to protect buildings.   "One of th...

In a bipartisan vote last week, the House of Representatives passed the Fix Our Forests Act to restore forest health and increase resiliency to catastrophic wildfires.  Central Washington’s Dan Newhouse applauded the measure and said it’s an important first step in protecting the forest and fighting forest fires.   “Every summe...

This has been a record setting year for wildfires in Oregon, and fire officials say it's the new norm.  Kyle Williams, director of forest protection for the Oregon Department of Forestry, said he thought this was going to be an average year for wildfires, until the heat wave.   ...

On Thursday, Southwest Washington’s Marie Gluesenkamp Perez sent a letter urging House Leadership to prioritize a three-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools program.  Gluesenkamp Perez said SRS will ensure rural communities can continue to access vital funds for infrastructure and schools.  In order for ...

Saturday is National Public Lands Day, a fee free day at federally owned, day-use parks and public lands nationwide.   "National forests, national parks, any other public lands. wildlife refuges," said Alice Cohen of the U.S. Forest S...

Fire season continues in the Pacific Northwest.  But Carol Connolly, with the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, says conditions are improving.   “We just took five large fires off the board over the last 24 hours. Four of those were ...

Oregon will receive more than $9.4 million dollars from the USDA to address wildfire threats in three National Forest areas.  U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley said the allocation is needed to address the risk climate change poses to the state.   “...

Wildfires have forced evacuations across Oregon this summer.  And now, the state is making new software available that alerts residents to changes in evacuation levels.  Ed Flick, director of the Oregon Office of Resilience and Emergency Management, says the software makes it easy to develop an evacuation map.   "The Genas...