Our Organic Northwest

Hunting Tradition Stays Strong in Idaho

(photo: Hunter Todd Hoffman heads downhill in the direction of sounds made by a small elk herd.)

Every five years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service counts how many Americans hunt. That number has fallen steadily since the 1970s, even in the rural West. Some of the decline is due to demographics; more people live in cities and they’re less likely to hunt.

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Red Tide Along NW Coast Threatens Wildlife

(photo: Volunteers and Coast Guard crewmembers in Asotria, Oregon load hundreds of weakened seabirds for transport to a wildlife rehab center in northern California.)

ASTORIA, OR - It’s like an oil spill, but without the oil. That’s how wildlife rescue people are describing an unusual red tide along the Northwest coast. The algal bloom is causing hundreds upon hundreds of dead or dying seabirds to wash up on coastal beaches. Today, the deluge of distress shows signs of tapering off.

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1910 Big Burn Fire Anniversary Reignites Pulaski's Legend

COEUR DE' ALENE, ID - The country was riveted by images of wildfires burning the southern California hills during the summer. Though modern wildfires are strong, none compare to the 1910 blaze known as the Big Burn. It charred three million acres of forest in Idaho and Montana and killed 86 people. It also sparked the legend of Ed Pulaski. He’s one of the main characters in author Tim Egan’s new book about the fire.

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Tree Farmers May Profit From Climate Regulation

(Photo: Small woodland owner Ken Falk hopes to sell carbon offsets tied to these trees in Monroe, Oregon.)

MONROE, OR - Some airlines are starting to do it. Some Northwest ski resorts, too. They’re inviting people like you to pay a little bit extra to offset the global warming pollution resulting from an activity such as a trip. A carbon offset is a bit like an indulgence... a polluter pays someone else to remove an equivalent amount of global warming gases from the atmosphere. In our region, private timberland owners, farmers, and some tribal governments are dreaming dollar signs.

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UI Agriculture Funding Plan Deadline Looming

MOSCOW, ID - The University of Idaho says early November is the deadline to have a funding plan in place for its agriculture and extension services. The problem facing the UI and the agriculture industry in the state is the $4.7 million cut in the university’s agricultural research and extension budget, stemming from two state budget cuts. The proposed closure of research centers in the state, including one at Parma, raised alarms earlier this year.

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Forest Service Tries to Resurrects White Pine in Idaho

(Photo: Forester David Cobb checks the status of a tiny white pine seedling that the Forest Service planted last June on a hillside above Priest Lake in north Idaho.)

COEUR D'ALENE, ID - A lot of small towns in Idaho date back to the 1800s, when loggers were drawn to the area by huge white pines. It’s a tree that towered over all the others and was so common that it became Idaho’s state tree. But 100 years ago, the Great Fire of 1910 burned three million acres of timber and marked the decline of the white pine. Now the US Forest Service is trying to help the tree regain its former prominence.

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Conservationists Disappointed by Aspects of New Oregon Forest Plan

EUGENE, OR - US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced a new plan for managing federal forests in Western Oregon. Conservationists say the plan is not ideal.

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Less Trash Generated in the Down Economy

RICHLAND, WA - The down economy has one silver lining. Across the Northwest people are throwing away less trash these days. That’s good for the environment, but it’s also forcing some cities and counties to lay off landfill staff or raise dump prices.

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The Devil's Staircase in Oregon Close to Winning Federal Protection

PORTLAND, OR - A pristine piece of the Southern Oregon landscape is closer to winning federal protection. The Devil's Staircase is a rugged forested place in the southern-most edge of the Coast Range, east of Reedsport. From time to time, timber companies have identified it as a possible site for logging. But its terrain is so steep, and hard to navigate, that its old-growth trees have remained intact.

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Agriculture Secretary Visits Idaho, Talks Forests

COEUR D'ALENE, ID - US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in the Northwest today to try to build support for the Obama administration’s fire prevention strategies. Vilsack toured a wood pellet plant in southern Idaho. He used it as an example of what can be done with the byproducts of a forest that is thinned to reduce the chances of huge wildfires.

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