skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Oregon’s “Old Growth” Debate Gets New Life in Congress

play audio
Play

Thursday, March 13, 2008   

Ashland, OR – The idea that forest management requires more finesse than a chainsaw is catching on - and Oregon Senator Ron Wyden may be the man to thank. Today, Wyden is holding a Senate hearing on the importance of protecting the nation's old-growth forests, with Oregon speakers and local examples to show Congress how it can be done.

At issue is what role Congress should play in protecting old-growth forests from logging, in order to save wildlife habitat and protect water quality. One of the central questions is how to define the term "old growth." Dominick DellaSala, chief scientist for the National Center for Conservation Policy and Science, says this has been an issue since the 1980s, as forest acreage continues to disappear.

"This is where all the social debate is right now. We should not be cutting a single acre of old-growth forest in our region. However, that doesn't mean we should not be logging."

DellaSala describes some areas of Oregon, such as the Siuslaw and Rogue-Siskiyou forests, where modern management and selective logging are working. He cautions, though, that federal protections have been eroding - which continues to put the state's oldest forests at risk.

"We're still getting old growth logs going down I-5, and at least some of that is coming from federal land. So, we really need a permanent solution to this, because the controversy still centers around old-growth logging."

The hearing is in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where Wyden chairs the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests. Testimony will not be tied to any particular bill in Congress, although both Wyden and Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR) have said they intend to introduce legislation this year.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's proposed Western Oregon Plan Revision (WOPR) would relax logging restrictions and permit clear-cutting in some areas. By some estimates, there are only 5 to 10 percent of the oldest forests left in the Northwest.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021