Conservation Today

Biochar is the topic of this week's conversation with Scott McKain, from the Umpqua Basin Education Team (UBET). Scott discusses the chemistry of biochar, and why it is so good for soils. We also talk about the Amazon indians use of biochar, which is still evident 3,000 years later. Scott describes how biochar can be made locally, including how you can make some in your back yard, and the best tec...

Jason describes problems with the Oregon Forest Practices Act (OFPA), and how it fails to protect people, fish, and wildlife from industrial forest management on corporate private lands. For instance, schools and homes have inadequate buffers from the pesticides sprayed from helicopters on clearcuts. Jason describes studies that found industrial tree plantations are a fire hazard and also contribu...

Kat Stone and John Hunter talk about Douglas County Park politics, including the value of the parks, the Parks Master Plan, and the loss of parks like Busenbark. Also discussed are the gun issues in the county, Bolon Island (near Reedsport), and the county's proposal to circumvent land-use laws by allowing property to be chopped into smaller pieces. Other county parks discussed are Discovery Point...

Wildlife Safari in Winston Oregon is a 600-acre facility helping to conserve some of the world's most endangered species. They provide a spectacular drive-through wildlife park, where the animals roam free and we stay in our cars. I talked with Wildlife Safari education director Leila Goulet. Leila talks about the history of Wildlife Safari, it's education programs, and the iconic wildlife species...

Mark Lenihan is president of Douglas County's new chapter of PFLAG, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. PFLAG just finished sponsoring the second annual Gay Pride in Roseburg. Mark explains the how our local chapter fits into the national PFLAG organization. Mark talks about his background, and how he transformed from a traditional view of LGBTQ identified people, to where he is now, support...

Lisa Arkin, executive director of Beyond Toxics, describes how this state-wide organization works to reduce toxins in our environment. This includes protecting bees from neonicotinoids, a pesticide that kills our most important food pollinator. Lisa describes the problems with corporate forestry and their aerial herbicide spray program, including chemical impacts to rural Oregonians. She describes...

Cristina Hubbard is executive director of Forest Web of Cottage Grove. Like the mycorrhizal fungal filaments beneath the forest floor, holding the ecosystem together, Forest Web pulls information and actions together from many local groups. Forest Web is also involved in protecting local parks and BLM old growth forests near Cottage Grove, like the Boehner Woods they convinced the BLM to designate...

Robin Wisdom, current treasurer for the League of Women's voters, former state president, describes the work of The League. She talks about the structure, studies, and positions. The history of The League is tied to the 1920 victory for the women's vote, and is now a national group supporting voting education. Robin talks about the upcoming "Garden Party" on June 16. See their website for more inf...

Al Walker was an early adopter of solar energy in Douglas County when he built his off-the-grid home near Idleyld Park. Al tought the subject at Umpqua Community Collage, and then became a solar installer consultant. Bob Allen, also present, was one of his first customers. Al talks about he solar-energy in the area over the last 20 years, and how it has evolved to today. Al and Bob also use their...

Maya Jarrad works with landowners threatened with eminent domain by a Canadian Corporation that wants to put a pipeline through Douglas County to facilitate shipping Canadian gas to Asia. The 230-mile pipeline, from Malin (near K Falls), to Coos Bay, would require at least a 100' wide clearcut through fire-prone forests of Southern Oregon, crossing over 400 waterways, many with fish who will be ha...

Kasey Hovik is the Executive Director of Umpqua Watersheds, our own local environment group in Douglas County. Kasey discusses their different projects, including education, outreach, and conservation programs. Children's educational programs include the annual camp out, trips to Crater Lake, and a program for older teens to work in the woods. Kasey describes the outreach program, bringing the com...

Robbin Schindele is the Umpqua Watersheds Crater Lake Wilderness Campaign Coordinator. Robbin describes where the new wilderness proposal is, and why we need these additions. The benefits of wilderness is discussed, as well as some of the hardships, like clearing trails without a chainsaw. Robbin then describes the administration process for getting new wilderness designated, and where we are in t...

Francis talks about a new road Lone Rock Timber wants to build through a rare and beautiful old growth forest, with the blessing of Roseburg BLM. Even though Lone Rock has existing access to their adjoining land, and more direct access, the BLM will allow a huge new road and truck turn around to be cut through centuries old trees, in the best spotted owl habitat, without wildlife surveys, and duri...

Bob Hoehne, chair of the Umpqua Watersheds Wilderness Committee, talks all things wilderness. Bob has been fighting for wilderness protections since the Umpqua Wilderness Defenders days in the mid 80's. He tells us about the three existing designated wilderness on the Umpqua, and why these are so important for ecology, science, and fisheries. Bob talks about other road-less areas on the Umpqua tha...

On January 10, 2018, in Roseburg Oregon, Jacob Lebel and Alex Loznak gave a presentation about Our Children's Trust lawsuit. Jacob and Alex are plaintiffs, along with 19 other youth plaintiffs across the United States. In the presentation Jacob and Alex explain the lawsuit strategy, what and when they hope to win.

This is an interview with Daniel Robertson, attorney, historian, and former Douglas County Museum director. Daniel describes the Oregon and California Railroad land grants, now known as the O&C Lands managed by the Roseburg and Coos Bay BLM. Also described is the Coos Bay Wagon Road land grants. Both required the railroads to sell to settlers, but instead, the railroads started selling to timber c...

Stacey McLaughlin describes how it feels to have her home threatened with eminent domain by a foreign corporation, for the controversial Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline. The pipeline would ship fracked gas, as LNG, to Asia and would require a 100-foot wide clear cut for 230-miles through Oregon. We learn the 13-year history of the project, the 2016 denial by the Federal Government, and the foreign...

Gabe Scott is in-house-council for Cascadia Wildlands, an environmental group that monitors public land projects in the Umpqua watershed, including the Elliott State Forest, Roseburg BLM, Coos Bay BLM, and the Umpqua National Forest. Gabe discusses the latest in managing these lands, including the rescue of the Elliott State Forest from being sold, types of logging on BLM lands, and how the Umpqua...

This is Part two of our conversation with Shannon Applegate, in Yoncalla at the Applegate House, built by Shannon's ancestors in 1852 and still occupied by the Applegate family. We also talk with Christopher Ruiz, University of Oregon anthropologist, about his research on the Applegate grounds. Chris works with the Museum of Natural and Cultural history. We talk about the archeological finds from...

Shannon talks about her newest book, Minus Tides, describing the world war 1 effort to extract giant sita spruce trees from Oregon's coastal mountains to build war planes. In the second half, Shannon takes about the Applegate family, her ancestors, and how they participated in the "great migration" bringing settlers and livestock to Oregon. Shannon describes why the Applegate trail was created and...

Dr. Ken Carloni discusses the impacts of pre-European forest management with fire by Native Americans, and how forest management has changed through time. Ken talks about the importance of fire in the Umpqua watersheds, including fire impacts on wildlife and forest structure. He talks about how current forest management regimes could increase wildland fire impacts, and suggests how to change our l...

Janet Moore is with the Coast Range Forest Watch. We talk about the campaign to save the Elliott State Forest by being certified to survey for Marbled Murrelets, a small seabird that depends on the Elliott for nesting. We also discuss other threats to the Oregon coast range, such as Coal Bed Methane, aerial herbicide spraying, and the problems with the low taxes paid by industrial private lands. F...

Stuart, from Douglas County Global Warming Coalition, talks about the impacts of climate disruption in the pacific northwest, and about a bill in the Oregon legislature we all should support.

Peggy talks about volunteer efforts to rehabilitate injured and orphaned wildlife in Douglas County. She discusses the requirements volunteers need to best meet the needs of the wildlife, how to care for everything from birds to deer to bobcats. She also discusses the causes of wildlife injuries and how to prevent them. More information is found at www.umpquawildliferescue.org