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Cascadia Forest Defender Climbs Flagpole at State Capitol

"Cascadia Forest Defenders want good schools for Oregon's children and vibrant, intact ecosystems."

(SALEM) - At 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 10th a member of the Cascadia Forest Defenders climbed the flagpole in front of the State Capitol, demanding that Governor Kitzhaber and the State Land Board decouple public school funding from state forest management.

The activist hung a large banner reading “Schools vs. Trees? We want both!”

Seeing the Forest

Northeast Oregon Survey Looks at Community and Environment.

(DURHAM, NH) - This brief reports on a survey conducted in Fall 2011 as one component of the ongoing Communities and Forests in Oregon (CAFOR) project.

The CAFOR project focuses on the people and landscapes of three counties in northeast Oregon (Baker, Union, and Wallowa), where landscapes and communities are changing in interconnected ways.

Merkley, DeFazio Introduce Bill to Ensure Americans Get Hired for Forest Work

Legislation Will Reform Temporary Visa Program.

(WASHINGTON DC) - Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley and Rep. Peter DeFazio introduced The American Jobs in American Forests Act to tighten restrictions on a visa program that was used to hire foreign workers at the expense of Oregon forest workers.

A Dept. of Labor investigation last year found federal stimulus funds were awarded to contractors in Oregon who underbid competition by using foreign laborers under the H-2B visa program.

Oregon Lumber Mill Cited for Toxic Chemical Leaks and Violations

PCBs are known carcinogens and can harm the immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine systems.

(SEATTLE) - Sanders Wood Products Company in Liberal, Oregon was found to have a series of PCB leaks and other violations of federal PCB laws at its lumber mill, according to a settlement reached with the EPA.

The company will pay over $108,000 in penalties.

Secretary Salazar Proposes Expansion of Ecological Forestry in Western Oregon

BLM to Schedule 5 Additional Ecological Forestry Sales and Update Resource Management Plans with Latest Science and Forestry Principles.

(MEDFORD, OR) - During a visit today to one of three ecological forestry pilot projects in Oregon, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that the BLM will apply ecological forestry principles on a broader landscape.

The effort is to restore forest health and to provide sustainable timber harvests for local mills and the communities who rely on the timber industry for jobs and economic strength.

Secretary Salazar`s Failed Timber Policies Bad for Rural Oregon

Industry news release decries Salazar's visit to Oregon today.

(PORTLAND, OR) - Ken Salazar, President Obama’s Secretary of the Interior, was in Medford, Oregon to tour the “Pilot Joe” demonstration project and hold a Town Hall meeting.

Downplaying the impact of a new Northern Spotted Owl critical habitat designation, he announced yet another forest planning process for 2.5 million acres of western Oregon forests.

Merkley: `Unconscionable` if Americans not Hired for Local Forest Jobs

Senator demands that Forest Service chief prevent repeat of foreign hiring debacle.

(WASHINGTON, DC) - Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley is urging Tom Tidwell, Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, to take steps to ensure Americans will be hired with the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program projects announced on February 2, 2012.

In particular, Merkley urged the Chief not to repeat the debacle in 2009 when unemployed Oregonians were passed over for forest thinning work in favor of foreign workers on H-2B visas.

BLM Sells Timber in Yamhill and Clackamas Counties

There were no bidders on the 1,052 MBF Cruiser Fly Timber Sale in Tillamook County and on the 279 MBF Rockhouse Timber Sale in Polk County.

(SALEM) - Approximately 7,623 thousand board feet (MBF) of timber was offered for sale at oral auction by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Salem District on Wednesday, February 15. Two of the four timber sales offered were sold for a total of $2,006,108.

The Wilkenson Timber Sale of 3,276 MBF, located in Yamhill County, was purchased by Banks Timber-LLC for $1,031,940.

Schedule Announced for 2012 Oregon Logging Conference `The World Needs Our Wood`

Skilled log loader operators sought for the conference’s third annual log loader operator competition.

(EUGENE, Ore.) - Towering heavy equipment and forestry professionals from across the world return to the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Feb. 23 through 25, for the 74th Oregon Logging Conference.

Kitzhaber Asked to Reject Attempts to Privatize Public Lands for Public Schools

“Where is the return on the more than 2.6 million dollars that the Department of State Lands stated was the value of 621 acres exchanged to Giustina Resources?” asked Shannon Wilson of Eco Advocates NW.

(SALEM) - Eco Advocates Northwest are urging state officials to reject the Department of State Lands attempts to privatize thousands of acres of publicly owned lands in Oregon to allegedly raise funds for public schools.

They propose that the Governor raise public school funds by rectifying a colossal mistake created by the Oregon Legislature in 1999 by reversing House Bill 3575.