By John A. Charles, Jr. Cascade Policy Institute Politicians have a lot in common with magicians. Both rely on misdirection to ensure that you don’t see how the trick is performed. One magic show receiving a lot of attention right now is HB 2021, passed by the state legislature in […]

By National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and Public Lands Council (PLC) condemned the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) decision to relocate its headquarters to Washington, D.C. amid multiple, historic environmental crises in the western United States. “More than 5.5 million acres of land have burned […]

By Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities The scale and intensity of this year’s wildfires are staggering. California’s Dixie Fire on the Plumas National Forest could soon reach 1,000,000 acres. Oregon’s Bootleg Fire on the Fremont-Winema National Forest, now fully contained, covers 413,000 acres. The Caldor Fire, which was threatening South Lake […]

By Oregon Small Business Association People living in 15 Oregon counties have inhaled unhealthy air this fall because of raging mountain wildfires that spewed smoke into the skies of Central and Southern Oregon. Air quality indexes described the air in La Pine, Bend and Redmond as “very unhealthy” in mid-September, […]

By National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and Public Lands Council (PLC) said they are confident that the newly announced review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will confirm what conservation groups, scientists, and ranchers across the West have already observed for years — […]

By Oregon Family Farm Association Oregon vintners in 2020 harvested its smallest crop of grapes in seven years and saw production and sales drop accordingly. According to the Portland Business Journal, the grape harvest last year was 29 percent lower than in 2019, partly due to wildfire smoke. The harvest […]

By Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, Ashland Police Department shot and killed a cougar within city limits that displayed no fear of humans. Police responded to a resident’s call reporting a friend had gone outside the home and encountered a cougar in the garbage cans at the residence. The […]

American Farm Bureau Federation, The American Farm Bureau Federation, along with 46 state Farm Bureaus and 280 organizations representing family-owned agribusinesses, sent a letter today to congressional leaders urging them to leave important tax policies in place as they draft legislation implementing President Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda. The letter […]

By Oregon Farm Bureau, Oregon made national headlines this spring when the Bureau of Reclamation announced that the Klamath Project, an irrigation system spanning southern Oregon and Northern California, was not going to receive any water deliveries for the first time since the project’s creation in 1907. Unfortunately, the Klamath […]

By Oregon Department of Forestry The process for defining the “wildland-urban interface” in Oregon continues to move forward following Board of Forestry approval of the proposed administrative rule during a special meeting on August 24. The board also directed the Department of Forestry to proceed with the public hearing process […]