After 'Exclusion Day,' kids in Oregon without completed vaccination paperwork are sent home from school until the problem is solved.

A geothermal loop will keep a fancy new elephant house toasty with the captured heat generated by the cooling system in the polar bear habitat.

The Abbey Road Farm Bed & Breakfast gives new meaning to the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle.”

Southern Oregon voted to ban genetically modified crops completely, but the rest of the state may end up mapping GMO crops for better regulation.

Cannon Beach is building the first tsunami evacuation center, a city hall that can also serve as a shelter.

A nearly 70-foot-long dock floated onto an Oregon beach after being torn loose from a fishing port in Japan after the tsunami.

Experts say it is one of the largest documented bee deaths in the Western U.S.

A bee memorial service is being held this Sunday to remember the 50,000 pollinators killed by pesticides at an Oregon Target store.

Cody Sullivan received a standing ovation when he received his college certificate.

Bob's Red Mill, an internationally renowned natural foods flouring mill and market, is now completely owned by its 209 proud employees.

Standing Stone Brewing in Ashland, Ore., has eco-responsibility covered: Bicycles for employees, energy efficient appliances, sustainable food sources.

The surprising find shows just how much there is to learn about the biodiversity of southern Oregon's mountainous region.

Collaborative efforts of MPulse Software, Rivers of Recovery, and Caddis Fly bring Pacific Northwest veterans together for therapeutic outdoor recreational activities.

von Borstel's career in financial planning and wealth management spans over 35 years, during which he has amassed an impressive array of accolades.

Navy Veteran Frank Hecker Seeks Republican Nomination in May 19th Primary

Image credit: iStock Located on the west coast of America, the state of Oregon is an exciting travel destination with a cinematic landscape. The state is ri...

Old-growth forests provide unique habitat features and landscape functions compared to younger stands. The goals of many forest management plans in the Pacific Northwest include increasing the area of late-successional and old-growth forests.

This report summarizes resource statistics for eastern Oregon's juniper forests, which are in Baker, Crook, Deschutes, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Wasco, and Wheeler Counties. We sampled all ownerships outside of the National Forest System; we report the statistics on juniper forest on national forest lands by using data from the national forest, Pacific Northwest Region inventory. Statistical tables summarize the area covered by juniper trees and juniper forest, wood volume, and numbers of trees, by ownership and juniper type. We found juniper on an estimated 6.5 million acres, a little more than half that was considered forest land. Evidence suggests that amount of forest land will continue to increase.

A study of commercial timber harvesting activities in Oregon and Washington was conducted from 2011 through 2015 to characterize current tree utilization, logging operations, and assist with estimating the amount of woody biomass left onsite after harvesting.

Changes in forest management have detrimentally affected the economic health of small communities in the Blue Mountain region of Oregon over the past few decades. A build-up of small trees threatens the ecological health of these forests and increases wildland fire hazard. Hoping to boost their economies and also restore these forests, local leaders are interested in the economic value of timber that might be available from thinning treatments on these lands.

This report highlights key findings from the most recent (2001-2005) data collected by the Pacific Northwest Forest Inventory and Analysis (PNW-FIA) Program across all ownerships in Oregon.

This report traces the flow of Oregon's 2003 timber harvest through the primary timber-processing industry and describes its structure, operations, and condition. Pulp and board, lumber, and plywood and veneer sectors accounted for 96 percent of total industry sales of $6.7 billion. Oregon's 2003 timber harvest of just over 4 billion board feet was 95 percent softwood species; 65 percent of the total was Douglas-fir. As a result of improved technology, lumber overrun increased 32 percent since 1988 to 2.07 board feet lumber tally per board foot Scribner of timber input. Despite decreases in amount of timber harvested, the industry has remained important to Oregon's workforce: average earnings for a worker in Oregon forest products industry was about $50,200; Oregon's average for all industries was $32,400.

A recurrent theme in the development of U.S. forest policies has been the assertion of strong positive relations among communities, economies, and natural resource management. Now as a new round of federal land management planning is getting underway, questions are being raised about the strength of that assertion and how to view communities following a decade of reduced federal harvests. This report examines these questions considering the 433 communities in six Bureau of Land Management districts in western Oregon. It discusses the ways that forest-based communities have been considered in the context of federal forest management planning, and it summarizes information on socioeconomic conditions and trends for communities in western Oregon.

Research suggests that forest land development can reduce the productivity of remaining forest land because private forest owners reduce their investments in forest management. We developed empirical models describing forest stocking, thinning, harvest, and postharvest tree planting in eastern Oregon, as functions of stand and site characteristics, ownership, and building densities. The models are based on USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis data gathered in eastern Oregon in 1987 and 1998, and data describing building densities gathered by the Oregon Department of Forestry from aerial photographs taken over the same period. We used the models to examine the potential effects of population growth and development, as described by increasing building densities, on the likelihood that private forest owners maintain forest stocking, precommercially thin, harvest, and plant trees following harvest. Empirical results suggest that population growth and development have had no measurable effect on these activities in eastern Oregon during the period examined. Any development effects on private forest management and investment so far are likely to be fairly localized.

We review 12 large-scale silviculture experiments (LSSEs) in western Washington and Oregon with which the Pacific Northwest Research Station of the USDA Forest Service is substantially involved. We compiled and arrayed information about the LSSEs as a series of matrices in a relational database, which is included on the compact disc published with this report and available online at http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/research/lsse. The LSSEs are both spatially and temporally large scale, with experimental treatment units between 5 and 100 acres and proposed study durations of 20 to 200 years. A defining characteristic of the LSSEs is that a broad range of response variables are measured to characterize the response of forest ecosystems to experimental treatments. We discuss the general value and limitations of the LSSEs and highlight some possible roles that can be played by the LSSEs in addressing management issues emerging at the beginning of the 21st century.

The work described in this report was initiated during the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project (ICBEMP). The ICBEMP produced a broad-scale scientific assessment of ecological, biophysical, social, and economic conditions for the interior Columbia River basin and portions of the Klamath and Great Basins. The broad-scale assessment made extensive use of potential vegetation (PV) information. This report (1) discusses certain concepts and terms as related to PV, (2) describes how a PV framework developed for the broad-scale ICBEMP assessment area was stepped down to the level of a single section in the national hierarchy of terrestrial ecological units, (3) describes how fine-scale potential vegetation types (PVTs) identified for the Blue Mountains section were aggregated into the midscale portion of the PV hierarchy, and (4) describes the PVT composition for each of the midscale hierarchical units (physiognomic class, potential vegetation group, plant association group).

Soil disturbance is a visually apparent result of using heavy equipment to harvest trees. Subsequent consequences for growth of remaining trees, however, are variable and seldom quantified. We measured tree growth 7 and 11 years after thinning of trees in four stands of coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii (Mirb. Franco)) where soil disturbance was limited by using planned skid trails, usually on dry soils. The three younger stands had responded to nitrogen fertilizer in the 4 years before thinning, but only one stand showed continued response in the subsequent 7- or 11-year period after thinning. The most consistent pattern observed was greater growth of residual trees located next to skid trails. The older stand also showed greater growth in trees located next to skid trails, whereas tillage of skid trails failed to benefit growth of nearby residual trees for the first 7 years after tillage. We conclude that traffic that compacted soil only on one side of residual trees did not reduce growth of nearby trees.

Lichens are highly valued ecological indicators known for their sensitivity to a wide variety of environmental stressors like air quality and climate change. This report summarizes baseline results from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Lichen Community Indicator covering the first full cycle of data collection (1998-2001, 2003) for Washington, Oregon, and California. During this period, FIA conducted 972 surveys of epiphytic macrolichen communities for monitoring both spatial and long-term temporal trends in forest health. Major research findings are presented with emphasis on lichen biodiversity as well as bioindication of air quality and climate. Considerable effort is devoted to mapping geographic patterns and defining lichen indicator species suitable for estimating air quality and climate.

Four types of tree shelters were evaluated in southwestern Washington for their effects on seedling microenvironment and performance of two tree species. Shelter types were fine-mesh fabric shelters, solid-walled white shelters with and without vent holes, and solid-walled blue unvented shelters. Summer mean and daily maximum air temperatures were increased by 0.8 degrees C and 3.6 degrees C, respectively, in solid-walled tree shelters. Shelter color and shelter venting did not influence air temperatures. Tree shelters only affected vapor pressure deficit late in the growing season. Midday photosynthetically active radiation within shelters ranged from 54 percent of full sun in fine-mesh fabric shelters to 15 percent of full sun in blue solid-walled shelters. In the first year after planting, height and diameter growth of western redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don) were significantly increased by all shelter types, with blue solid-walled shelters resulting in the greatest height growth. However, in blue solid-walled shelters, photosynthesis and stem diameter growth of Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana Dougl. ex Hook.) seedlings were significantly less than for unsheltered seedlings.

Mule deer populations in central Oregon are in decline, largely because of habitat loss. Several factors are likely contributors. Encroaching juniper and invasive cheatgrass are replacing deer forage with high nutritional value, such as bitterbrush and sagebrush. Fire suppression and reduced timber harvests mean fewer acres of early successional forest, which also offer forage opportunities. Human development, including homes and roads, is another factor. It is this one that scientists with the Pacific Northwest Research Station and their collaborators investigated in a recent study.

Nationally, there is growing public interest in and policy pressure for developing alternative and renewable sources of energy. Wind energy facilities in the Pacific Northwest expanded rapidly over the past decade, as a result of state policies that encourage wind energy development. While much of the development thus far has occurred on private lands, there is interest in expanding onto federal land. However, there are concerns about the impacts of wind energy on wildlife. Wind energy facilities have the potential to harm wildlife both directly through collisions with turbines and transmission lines, and indirectly by modifying habitat. This report synthesizes the available scientific literature on potential wind energy facility impacts to wildlife, with a focus on the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington), and summarizes the current best management practices recommended in federal and state guidelines for wind energy development. Research gaps in our understanding of wind energy impacts on wildlife remain. Future research needs include long-term, multisite, experimental studies of wind energy impacts on wildlife, improved ability to estimate population-level and cumulative impacts of wind energy facilities on wildlife, and better knowledge of key wildlife species' migration and demography.

This report traces the flow of Oregon’s 2008 timber harvest through the primary timber processing industry and provides a description of the structure, operation, and condition of Oregon’s forest products industry as a whole. It is the second in a series of reports that update the status of the industry every 5 years. Based on a census conducted in 2009 and 2010, we provide detailed information about the industry in 2008, and discuss historical changes as well as more recent trends in harvest, production, and sales. To convey the severe market and economic conditions that existed in 2008, 2009, and 2010, we also provide updated information on the industry and its inputs and outputs through 2010.

Moss accumulates pollutants from the atmosphere and can serve as an inexpensive screening tool for mapping air quality and guiding the placement of monitoring instruments. We measured 22 elements using 346 moss samples collected across Portland, Oregon, in December 2013.

This report traces the flow of Oregon's 2013 timber harvest through the primary wood products industry and provides detailed description of the structure, timber use, operations, and condition of Oregon's forest products sector.

This report highlights key findings from a comprehensive vegetation survey of all forested land across the state of Oregon. A total of 5,180 forested field plots in Oregon were visited by Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) crews over a 10-year period from 2001 to 2010. Oregon has 30 million acres of forest, covering nearly half the state. The structure and composition of Oregon’s forests differ considerably across the state, particularly east versus west of the Cascade Range. Western Oregon forests are dominated by higher productivity classes (85 to 224 cubic feet per acre annual growth) and are composed of Douglas-fir and western hemlock, while forests in the east typically exhibit lower productivity (0 to 84 cubic feet per acre annual growth) and are composed of ponderosa pine, western juniper, and lodgepole pine. The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management administer the majority of forested land in Oregon; these public forests managed by federal agencies tend to have older, larger trees. Private owners, both corporate and noncorporate, own nearly half of the forested land in western Oregon, particularly in areas of high productivity. Understory vegetation in Oregon forests is more abundant in younger, moist forests. Non-native species are present in many of Oregon’s forests, most notably cheatgrass in the east and Himalayan blackberry in the west. This report includes estimates of forest growth, removals, and mortality for ownership groups across the state. The FIA program will continue to revisit and remeasure all the field plots over 10 years to report on changes in Oregon’s forest resources.

In frequent-fire forests of the interior Western United States, historical (prefire suppression) conditions are often used as a reference to set management objectives, guide prescriptions, and monitor treatment effectiveness. We quantified the historical size, density, composition, and spatial patterns of dry mixed-conifer forests in the Blue Mountains of Oregon to establish reference conditions that could be used for ongoing forest-restoration efforts.

Study objectives were to evaluate yearly fluctuations in herbage canopy cover and production to aid in defining characteristics of range condition guides. Sites are located in the forested Blue Mountains of central Oregon. They were selected from those used to develop range condition guides where soil, topographic, and vegetation parameters were measured as a characterization of best range condition. Plant community dominants were ponderosa pine/pinegrass, ponderosa pine/bitterbrush/Idaho fescue savanna, low sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass, and rigid sagebrush scabland. None of the sites were grazed during the previous 30 years or during the 27-year study. Each location was permanently marked by fence posts, and a meter board was placed 10 m down an established transect line. Photographs (color slides) were taken down the transect with closeups left and right of the meter board. Sampling was limited to August 1-4 each year when canopy cover and herbage production were determined. Both total canopy cover and herbage production varied by about a 2.4-fold difference on each site over the 27 years. Apparently "good range condition" may be something of a "running target" and lacks a well-defined set of parameters. Canopy cover is a poor parameter for characterizing range condition. Three of the four plant communities were dominated by bunchgrasses. Abundance of seedheads is commonly used to indicate good range health. But on these sites, seedheads were not produced about half the time. Because these sites were in "good range condition," lack of seedhead production may indicate maximum competition in the community. Maximum competition and maximum vigor do not seem to be synonymous. These bunchgrass communities varied in their greenness on the first of August each year from cured brown to rather vibrant green suggesting important annual differences in phenology. The pinegrass community, being dominated by rhizomatous species, showed surprising variance in seedhead production. Pinegrass did not flower, but Wheeler's bluegrass, lupine, and Scouler's woolyweed were quite variable, averaging inflorescences only 75 percent of the time.

Rangeland exclosures installed primarily in the 1960s, but with some from the 1940s, were resampled for changes in plant community structure and composition periodically from 1977 to 2004 on the Malheur, Umatilla, and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests in northeastern Oregon. They allow one to compare vegetation with all-ungulate exclusion (known historically as game exclosures), all-livestock exclusion (known historically as stock exclosures), and with no exclusion (known as open areas). Thirteen upland rangeland exclosures in northeastern Oregon were selected and are presented with plant community trend data and possible causes of changes over time. Key findings are that moderate grazing by native ungulates afforded by the livestock exclosures generally stimulated bunchgrasses to retain dominance and vitality; native bunchgrasses can replace invasive rhizomatous plants given a reduction in disturbance over time; shrubs increased without ungulate use in shrubland communities; and invasive annuals that established following severe disturbances to the grassland community diminished with aggressive competition from perennial bunchgrasses.

This is a state-of-the-science synthesis of the effects of forest harvest activities on peak flows and channel morphology in the Pacific Northwest, with a specific focus on western Oregon and Washington. We develop a database of relevant studies reporting peak flow data across rain-, transient-, and snow-dominated hydrologic zones, and provide a quantitative comparison of changes in peak flow across both a range of flows and forest practices. Increases in peak flows generally diminish with decreasing intensity of percentage of watershed harvested and lengthening recurrence intervals of flow. Watersheds located in the rain dominated zone appear to be less sensitive to peak flow changes than those in the transient snow zone; insufficient data limit interpretations for the snow zone. Where present, peak flow effects on channel morphology should be confined to stream reaches where channel gradients are less than approximately 0.02 and streambeds are composed of gravel and finer material. We provide guidance as to how managers might evaluate the potential risk of peak flow increases based on factors such as presence of roads, watershed drainage efficiency, and specific management treatments employed. The magnitude of effects of forest harvest on peak flows in the Pacific Northwest, as represented by the data reported here, are relatively minor in comparison to other anthropogenic changes to streams and watersheds.

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LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Former tournament champion Notre Dame and Oregon headline the 2021 Maui Invitational field. The bracket, announced Friday, also includes Butler, Houston, Saint Mary’s, Wisconsin, Texas A&M and host Chaminade. Notre Dame won the Maui title in its last appearance in 2017, beating Wichita State in the championship game. Wisconsin is making […]

Brown said that on May 15 she will loosen restrictions statewide on day cares and on retail shops that were previously closed, including furniture stores, boutiques, jewelry stores and art galleries.

Oregon State brings a 12-2, 2-2 Pac-12 record into Alaska Airlines Arena. However, Washington (11-6, 1-3) has won 15 straight games against the Beavers at Alaska Airlines Arena. OSU's last win in Seattle was in 2003.

Gov. Kate Brown announced earlier this week that some outdoor recreation activities can resume as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

The suit argues that emergency powers only last for 30 days and after that Brown would have needed legislative approval.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Lottery officials will slash 60 jobs and furlough most other workers in response to a budget gap that comes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and state stay-home order. The cuts come six weeks after Oregonians last gambled on video lottery machines, which bring in the majority of the […]

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Three more people have died from COVID-19, bringing the death total to at least 124 in Oregon, state officials said. The Oregon Health Authority said Friday that another 75 cases were confirmed, and that 3,032 Oregonians have tested positive for the coronavirus. The three newly-reported deaths include an 80-year-old woman and […]

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon is renowned for its craft beer and increasingly for its high-grade marijuana, but the state is keeping the two apart — for now. In a new ruling, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which regulates both alcoholic products and recreational marijuana, says beer and other alcoholic drinks as of Jan. 1 […]

PORTLAND — Marijuana sales in Oregon along the Idaho state line are 420% the statewide average, according to a state report. Idaho residents are purchasing recreational marijuana in Oregon because it is illegal in Idaho, the report released Friday by the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis said. The report also showed stronger marijuana sales for […]

Gov. Kate Brown announced earlier this week that some outdoor recreation activities can resume as the coronavirus pandemic continues.