Oregon Environmental Justice Council Statewide Listening Sessions By Oregonians for Food and Shelter, Oregon’s Environmental Justice Council will begin holding “listening sessions” around the state to hear about environmental justice (EJ) concerns directly from impacted communities. This work is outlined in HB 4077, passed in 2022, which formalized the Council. […]

Heading into Warmer Summer Months, Wyden and Schrier Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Combat Catastrophic Wildfires The West has experienced growing wildfire risks over the past 20 years By Oregon U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Representative Kim Schrier, D-Wash.,  reintroduced the bipartisan National […]

By Oregonians for Food and Shelter Legislators were back in the Capitol for quarterly “Legislative Days” this week. With the next session still over half a year away and many policy makers focused on the election cycle, the content was relatively light. On both the Senate and the House side, […]

By Oregon U.S. Representative Rep. Lori Chavez-Deremer, press release: Key provisions would help mitigate wildfires, support specialty crop growers, and improve rural child care Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05), a member of the House Agriculture Committee, successfully secured several bipartisan proposals in the committee’s Farm Bill, which was approved by the […]

Oregon Department of Agriculture, The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) takes its responsibility for regulating agricultural water quality, including permitted Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO), seriously. As Oregon’s agriculture industry continues to evolve, the Department regularly evaluates its policies to ensure they are responsive to the changing and growing needs of those […]

By Oregon State University Extension Office, CORVALLIS, Ore. – Farmers and ranchers deal with overwhelming stress from market fluctuations, crop failures, the vagaries of weather, injuries and other setbacks that can lead to depression and too often suicide. Farmers die by suicide twice as much as the general population – […]

By Oregon Forest Research Institute, Nine years ago, OFRI installed timelapse cameras in a reforested area on private timberland in Oregon’s Coast Range to capture the growth of 4-year-old and 9-year-old trees that were planted in a clearcut. Footage from the solar-powered cameras, which filmed the fast-growing young trees for […]

Managing Forests, Using Wood Products Deliver Sustained Climate Benefits By American Forest Resource Council, A new report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should question the narrative the United States is running out of old growth, and “protecting the last remaining” old growth is the only solution to combatting climate […]

By Oregon Congressman Cliff Bentz, On Friday, May 3, 2024, Chairman Cliff Bentz (OR-02) led a Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries oversight field hearing titled, “How Many Wolves Are Enough? Examining the Need to Delist the Grey Wolf.” Chairman Cliff Bentz’s opening statement (as written): “I want to thank […]

ODA Proposes Repeal of Central OR Protected District for Brassicas By Oregonians for Food and Shelter   The Oregon Department of Agriculture filed proposed rules this week to repeal the Central OR Protected District for brassicas – which currently prohibits growing canola in the region and also restricts other cover […]