A scene along Wassen Creek in the Devil's Staircase area. Photo by Kristian Skybak. For more see http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristiansven
Update: Adding Press Release by Cascadia Wildlands
A bill to protect the Devil’s Staircase, and another that expands the Oregon Caves National Monument, have been approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The vote is a “milestone” according to Senators Wyden and Merkley. The bills now go before the full Senate for consideration.
Farmers in the Klamath Basin may see a huge increase in federal dollars coming their way, to help them cope with this summer’s drought.
An emergency spending bill before the Senate will add another $10 million in drought aid. That’s on top of the $8.75 million the feds have already spent.
Cathedral Rock along the John Day River. Photo from the National Park Service.
It looks like the Wyden-Merkley bill creating a new Wilderness Area in Eastern Oregon finally gets a hearing this morning.
The Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests will take testimony starting at 11:30am Pacfic time. The hearing will be streamed live.
Cathedral Rock along the John Day River. Photo from the National Park Service.
UPDATE: Hearing has been cancelled for today. We haven’t heard when it will be rescheduled.
A bill to create 16,000 new acres of wilderness in Eastern Oregon gets a Senate hearing Tuesday morning.
Called the “Cathedral Rock and Horse Heaven Wilderness Act of 2010″, the bill arranges a land swap between private landowners and the Bureau of Land Management. The result is two large continuous tracts of land that can be preserved as wilderness.
That includes land near the town of Antelope that was once home to followers of Bagwhan Shree Rajneesh. These days it belongs to Young Life, a Christian youth group.
Senator Wyden sponsored the bill and will chair the hearing before the Senate Subcommittee on Pubic Lands and Forests.
Click on this link if you want to follow the hearing online. It’s expected to start about 11:30am Pacific time.
Courtesy National Park Service
It’s not exactly a ban on tourist flights over Crater Lake. But it’s a big step in that direction.
On Monday, the Senate passed a bill that gives the National Park Service unusual powers to regulate air tours over the Southern Oregon landmark.
A view of Steins Pillar in the Ochoco National Forest. Photo from BLM.
Long time adversaries in Oregon’s timber wars told the Senate today they’re ready to make peace, at least in Eastern Oregon.
The setting was a hearing on the Eastern Oregon Logging bill sponsored by Senator Wyden. Based on a historic compromise between timber and conservation groups, the bill hopes to revive the region’s logging industry while at the same time protecting old growth trees and restoring forests.
But despite the talk of peace and collaboration, it’s clear there are still some hard feelings out there.
About the only thing all the witnesses agreed on is that Eastern Oregon’s forests are in deep trouble and need help.
See streaming video of hearing at this link.
1:29pm: Kerr admits the conservation community is split over the bill. Many groups still believe in preserving forests from development because that activity has been harmful in the past. More are recognizing that restoring forests are now what’s needed.
1:05pm Not a fan of the bill, Larry Blasing of the Grant County Forest Commission. Calls it a bureaucratic nightmare that doesn’t address the need for jobs and the economy.
12:48pm: John Shelk of Ochoco Lumber. The bill is an “agreeable compromise” that protects forests and the Eastern Oregon tax base. Nearly two dozen mills have closed. Eight are remaining. How much longer than can survive depends on a steady supply of logs from federal forests.
12:42pm: Oregon witnesses are up. Andy Kerr of Oregon Wild says, “It’s not a perfect bill, but it is nonetheless a great bill.”
While no one is using the “D” word yet, officials at the state, federal and local levels are bracing for what could be the worst drought ever in the Klamath Basin.
Governor Kulongoski was in the region this morning for a meeting with area officials about what needs to be done now to prepare.
Senators Wyden and Merkley added to the urgency with a letter to federal officials warning of a “crisis of historic magnitude”, and asking the feds to take immediate action.
A Whitebark Pine in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Photo by Dave Powell, U.S. Forest Service
Senator Wyden’s logging bill for Eastern Oregon forests picked up the support of Senator Merkley today.
Merkley’s office issued a press release saying he’ll co-sponsor the bill, officially known as the Oregon Forest Restoration and Old Growth Protection Act of 2009. It has a first hearing March 10 with the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests.
The bill has divided Oregon’s environmental community.
LNG pipeline protesters at a December 2009 rally in Portland.
Although this is listed on my events story of the day, it’s worth a new mention. Oregon DEQ is holding a public meeting tonight in Astoria about the Bradwood Landing LNG project.
Also, I’ve learned a little bit more about the Wyden-Merkley LNG bill.
