Eagle Creek six years after the wildfire. Photo George Wuerthner
In September 2017, the Eagle Creek Wildfire scorched 50,000 acres in the Columbia River Gorge east of Portland. Numerous media accounts suggested the blaze “destroyed,” “damaged,” and devastated the forest communities.
Wildflowers are favored by wildfire. Photo George […]
Continue Reading →The once gin clear Deschutes River near Bend, Oregon is now a pea-green or dirty blonde due to irrigation degradation of the river. Photo George Wuerthner
This past week I hiked along the Upper Deschutes River. It was a pea-green color, or maybe you might say dirty blonde. Whatever adjective you like, […]
Continue Reading →Sutton Mountain proposed National Monument lies along the John Day River in Central Oregon. Photo George Wuerthner
Thus far in his administration, President Biden has been sparing in his use of his executive authority to create national monuments. Even with his recent designation of the Avi Kwa Ame NM […]
Continue Reading →The western slope of the Cascades contains some of the greatest concentrations of old-growth Douglas Fir forests in the United States. Photo George Wuerthner
Some of the most spectacular forests of Douglas fir in the West are found on the west slope of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. Though heavily logged by […]
Continue Reading →Many foresters want to be able to cut large grand fir like the one in this photo. Photo George Wuerthner
Recently Jim Petersen expressed in a March 1, 2023 Chieftain commentary that the Blue Mountains region needs more “active” forest management in the form of logging to preclude tree mortality due […]
Continue Reading →In Bend in the fall, irrigators draw down of the Deschutes River to the point where fish and other wildlife die or are threatened GEORGE WUERTHNER JANUARY 27, 2023 5:50 AM
The Deschutes River narrows after irrigators draw off water in Bend. […]
Continue Reading →Old growth forests of Oregon store some of the greatest amounts of carbon in the United States. Photo George Wuerthner
A new study, Strategic reserves in Oregon’s forests for biodiversity, water, and carbon to mitigate and adapt to climate change, reported in Frontiers in Forests and Global Climate Change, proposes setting […]
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The Deschutes River in Bend during the summer is downstream from irrigation removal of the water is little more than a creek. Photo George Wuerthner
In October, irrigators began the annual drawing down of the Deschutes River to the point where fish and other […]
Continue Reading →Dried-up bed of the Deschutes River upstream of Bend, Oregon. Photo George Wuerthner
This past month, irrigators began the annual drawing down of the Deschutes River to the point where fish and other wildlife die or are threatened. Good people have tried to save fish stranded in pools of water. I […]
Continue Reading →Clearcuts along the McKenzie River corridor east of Eugene, Oregon did little to slow the Holiday Farm Fire. Photo George Wuerthner
The Holiday Farm Fire began on September 7, 2020. The fire charred 173,000 acres along the McKenzie River Valley in western Oregon’s Cascade Range, possibly due to a fallen power line. […]
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