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CASCADIAQUARTERLYFall 2009

As recently as this August, the Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) was proposing massive clearcuts

in mature and old-growth forests throughout western

Oregon. 400 acres of beautiful old forest were planned

for clearcutting at Fall Creek, a popular outdoor

recreation spot just 20 miles from Eugene. 300 acres

of old growth were similarly threatened to the north

near Tillamook and another 700 acres just east of

Salem. In the southwestern part of the state, BLM had

proposed more than 2,000 acres of clearcuts in a

mixture of young and mature stands.

Today, just two months later, the plans look much

different. In just a few swift moves, the BLM has

“indefinitely withdrawn” every one of these

controversial logging projects, and effectively replaced

its aggressive clearcutting program with a much less

controversial approach to forest management. We

attributed the change of direction to the conservation

movement’s relentless organizing against reckless

BLM logging proposals, the continued population

decline of older forest dependant species, and a new

administration.

Rather than clearcutting old growth – a practice

that leads inevitably to protests, lawsuits, and gridlock

- the BLM is proposing to thin young tree plantations –

the tens of thousands of acres that were clearcut in

the 1940s-70s and then tightly and symmetrically

replanted as a single crop of Douglas fir. These young

plantations offer very little in the way of habitat -

forests do not naturally grow in even-aged equally

spaced rows. By removing many, and sometimes

most of the trees, the BLM is able to introduce the

structural complexity that a forest would naturally

have. Openings allow sun to reach the forest floor,

which in turn promotes the development of a second

canopy and allows a greater variety of tree species to

establish themselves. Thinning out overly dense areas

also speeds the growth of the remaining upper canopy

Save the Date!

WonderlandAuction

Saturday Dec 12

news + fun from cascadia wildlands

Will Obama End Old-Growth Logging for Good? Administration takes old-growth timeout, signals change ahead. by Dan Kruse, Legal Director.

Exquisite mushrooms decorate Devil’s Staircase in the fall (k ritley).

continued on p. 4

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Life in Cascadia is changing. In response to our incessant

campaigning, the Bureau of Land Management has started shutting

down old-growth logging in favor of thinning tree farms. DC is well-

greased for progressive change, illustrated by the momentum behind

Devil’s Staircase. We still fight battles where necessary, from the

occasional old-growth logging proposal to the current wolf slaughter in

the Rockies. Yet overall, we’re flexing our offense muscles more than

ever before.

In the spirit of this exciting shift, we decided to give our newsletter

a makeover (and we found a really inexpensive way to print in full

color!). Inside you’ll find timely updates, witty analysis, a handy event

calendar for the fridge, and a healthy dose of humor. Thank you so

much for making change possible.

CASCADIAWILDLANDSeducates, agitates, and

inspires a movement to

protect and restore

Cascadia’s wild ecosystems.

staff

Sally CummingsOperations Manager

Dan KruseLegal Director

Josh LaughlinConservation Director

Kate RitleyExecutive Director

Gabe ScottAlaska Field Director

board of directors

Kate Alexander, Secretary

Amy Atwood

Jim Flynn

Jeremy Hall, President

Paul Kuck

Jeff Long

Tim Ream

Steve Witten, Treasurer

advisory council

Jason Blazar

Ralph Bloemers

Susan Jane Brown

Alan Dickman, PhD

Timothy Ingalsbee, PhD

Megan Kemple

Pollyanna Lind, MS

Beverly McDonald

Lauren Regan, AAL, Chair

contact

PO Box 10455

Eugene, OR 97440

541.434.1463 p

541.434.6494 f

info@CascWild.org

Impress your family and wow your neighbors! It’s the recipe you’ve

been waiting for: Lawyer Dan’s Famous Vegan Chili, served at our

annual Ancient Forest Hoedown. All you need:

• 40 lbs dried beans (pinto, kidney, and black)

• 168 cups crushed or diced tomatoes

• 50 Bell Peppers (assorted)

• 40 Zucchini

• 18 lbs onions

• 30 lbs frozen corn

• 4 lbs chopped garlic

• 40 oz chili powder

• 20 oz ground cumin

• 12 oz oregano

• 10 cups nutritional yeast

• Salt to taste

• Liquid smoke to taste

• 1 cup Tapatio Sauce

Combine all ingredients in a

giant pot, cook over medium

heat for four hours and invite 400

of your closest friends for a

delicious Chili-thon!

Thanks,Lawyer

Dan!

Cascadia in Color from Kate Ritley, Executive Director.

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In just a few years, gray wolves

have made an amazing comeback in

parts of the western United States.

Fewer than 70 wolves were

reintroduced into the northern Rocky

Mountains from Canada in the

mid-1990s, and there are now more

than 1,800 wolves across Montana,

Idaho, Wyoming, and parts of eastern

Oregon and Washington.

Despite their success, wolves

have a long way to go. Having once

inhabited almost all of North America,

wolves today occupy a very small

portion of their natural range. And

while individual numbers are growing,

the overall population still suffers from

genetic isolation.

The greatest challenges for the

wolf, however, come from the federal

government’s 2008 decision to

remove wolves from the endangered

species list. This delisting leaves wolf

management decisions to the

individual state governments, and the

states of Idaho, Montana, and

Wyoming have all responded by

proposing to kill several hundred

wolves in the next few months. Wolf

hunts in Montana and Idaho are

already underway. As of October 27,

79 wolves have been shot dead in

Idaho and 25 killed in Montana as

part of the state hunts. This does not

include wolves “lethally removed” for

depredations on livestock.

Cascadia Wildlands is working to

restore full federal protections for

wolves in the Northern Rockies and to

ensure that wolf populations in

Oregon and Washington are allowed

to grow to their full potential. Our goal

is to hear wolves, in the not-too-

distant future, howling away in the

Cascade

Mountains and

throughout the

western United

States. For

more

information

about our work

to protect

wolves, visit

www.cascwild.

org/wolves.html.

GRAYWOLFcanis lupus

Of all the captivating and

intriguing animals in the

wild, of all the creatures

out there that inspire thrill,

fear and wonder, wolves

are in a class of their own.

Wolves are the subject of

myths and legends as old

as the Bible and probably

much older. Today, the

wolf is an icon for the

environmental movement,

a charismatic emblem of

the few truly untamed

things that we have left in

the world. To see a wolf in

the wild is an experience

one never forgets. (p

porter)

To look into the eyes of a wolf is to see

your own soul.

- Aldo Leopold

Gray Wolves in the Crosshairs New Policy

Threatens Recovery in Oregon. by Dan Kruse, Legal Director.

A new federal policy allows wolf hunting and

threatens recovery in the Pacific Northwest (first

people).

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by reducing competition for water, nutrients and

sunlight, which accelerated the development of old-

growth forest characteristics.

The Eugene District is currently looking to thin

several thousands acres of 30-79 year old stands in

the Long Tom River watershed and another 3,000

acres elsewhere. The Salem District is eying up the

Siletz River watershed with similarly ambitious plans.

The Medford District is proposing to thin more than

8,000 acres of young stands around Butte Falls with

the hope of reducing hazardous fuels. The list goes on.

We will comment on these proposals to ensure they

are designed with limited environmental impact with a

close eye on any road building proposed.

These types of projects can be a much more

reliable source of revenue and job creation for local

timber companies because the BLM doesn’t get sued

every step of the way. The BLM has been embattled by

controversy and lawsuits for decades over its insistent

clearcutting program. Its shift away from clearcutting

old growth and renewed focus on thinning younger,

homogenous stands offers a win-win situation for

Oregon’s forests, waters, wildlife, and communities.

We will work to ensure the BLM stays on this track.

Fall Creek,

Oregon

Conservation

Director Josh

Laughlin and

canine companion

Otis explore old-

growth forests

around Fall Creek.

The area was

planned for

clearcutting until

recently. The

Obama

administration’s

focus on

plantation thinning

is a refreshing

change for

Oregon’s forests

(c mortensen).

IS THISFOREST SAFEFOR GOOD?

continued from p. 1

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The Obama administration has given its official

nod of approval to create the Devil’s Staircase

Wilderness, located 15 miles northeast of Reedsport

in the rugged Oregon Coast Range. At Congressional

hearings in early October both the Forest Service and

Bureau of Land Management testified that the

wilderness designation was a prudent course of

action.

“The Department of

the Interior looks

forward to

working with

the sponsors

and the

Committee

on minor modifications to the legislation and to

welcoming these units into the BLM’s National

Landscape Conservation System,” testified Robert V.

Abbey, Director of the Bureau of Land Management,

Department of the Interior.

The Forest Service even suggested turning the

13 mile, east-west Road 41, which bisects the

29,650-acre proposal area in half, into a foot-and-

horse trail, preferring to manage the area as a whole

rather than in two parts. At soonest, the area could

become wilderness by the end of the year.

During the Senate committee hearing, Senator

Wyden (D-OR) spoke forcefully in favor of protecting

the area, describing Devil’s Staircase as a symbol of

Oregon’s wild beauty.

Wilderness Expedition

Cascadia Wildlands staff

recently returned from a two-day

outing to Devil’s Staircase with

Oregon Public Broadcasting’s

Oregon Field Guide, which is

working on a television story

showcasing the mystical area to

be aired this winter or spring.

After a sunrise decent and five-

hour bushwhack, the group

landed right on the Devil’s

Staircase and made it out by

dark with minor puncture

wounds, battered shins and an

unforgettable Coast Range

experience (top, j laughlin; right,

d tvedt).

Devil’s Staircase Gains Traction in DC Successful committee

hearings set stage in Congress. by Josh Laughlin, Conservation Director.

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COMMUN

ITYCALENDAR

November 5: Join the University of Oregon Outdoor Program and Cascadia Wildlands for a presentation about the proposed Devil's Staricase Wilderness. 7 pm, Outdoor Program office (Erb Memorial Union). Free.

November 17: “A Long Trek Home” with author Erin McKittrick. Don’t miss this moving presentation about her family’s 4000-mile human-powered journey from Seattle to the Aleutian Islands, including a stop on the Lost Coast to work with Cascadia Wildlands on restoration. 7 pm, EWEB Training Room, Eugene. Free.

November 5: Join the University of Oregon Outdoor Program and Cascadia Wildlands for a presentation about the proposed Devil's Staricase Wilderness. 7 pm, Outdoor Program office (Erb Memorial Union). Free.

December 12: Wonderland Auction, 6 pm, EMU Ballroom, UO, Eugene. Guaranteed to be our biggest, most elegant, and most hassle-free auction yet. Details, tickets, and auction catalogs will be available on our website, www.CascWild.org, beginning in November.

For more information and details, please visit www.CascWild.org

Devil’s Staircase, Oregon

Franklin Creek meets the lower Umpqua River at the proposed Devil’s

Staircase WIlderness. Cascadia Wildlands worked with generous volunteer

pilot Ross Bondurant and photographers to shoot aerial images of the

proposed Wilderness (t giraudier).

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THANK YOU!

CONNECT WITH CASCADIA

444S Foundation

Acorn Foundation

Alaska Conservation

Foundation

Astrov Fund

Backcountry Gear Ltd.

Ben & Jerry’s

Foundation

Brainerd Foundation

Burning Foundation

Deer Creek Foundation

Emerald Valley Kitchen

Hugh and Jane

Ferguson Foundation

Fund for Wild Nature

Kenney Brothers

Watershed Foundation

Klorfine Family

Foundation

Laird Norton

Foundation

Loeb-Meginnes

Foundation

Mazamas

Mark Frohnmayer

Donor Advised Fund of

the Oregon Community

Foundation

Millis Donor Advised

Fund of the Oregon

Community Foundation

McKenzie River

Gathering Foundation

Meyer Memorial Trust

Mountain Rose Herbs

Ninkasi Brewing

Company

Norcross Wildlife

Foundation

Patagonia

Paul’s Bicycle Way of

Life

Pizza Research

Institute

Ring of Fire Restaurant

River Jewelry

Southern Explorations

Sperling Foundation

Suwinski Family

Foundation

Tactics Board Shop

Titcomb Foundation

Tsunami Sushi

University of Oregon

Outdoor Program

Winky Foundation

Thank you to all of our individual and family supporters and the many volunteers who help us protect wild places! Huge thanks

to the foundations, businesses, and community groups that recently supported our work:

Comings and Goings

Cascadia Wildlands recently bid farewell to Board members Dee and David Tvedt. You may know Dee and Dave

from a hike to Devil’s Staircase or our video about the proposed Wilderness. This extraordinary pair helped

launch the Devil’s Staircase campaign and will continue to work for its protection. We are deeply grateful to Dave

and Dee for their passion and drive, and we look forward to celebrating a new Wilderness area with them in the

near future!

Stay in-the-know and connect with your community! Sign up for e-alerts, join the cause on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or be

old-fashioned and give us a call! (and don’t worry, we absolutely never share or sell your information!)

www.CascWild.org

www.twitter.com/CascWild

www.facebook.com/CascadiaWildlands

541.434.1463 or info@CascWild.org

CASCADIAWILDLANDS we like it wild.(FORMERLY CASCADIA WILDLANDS PROJECT)PO BOX 10455 • EUGENE, OR 97440

WILL OBAMA END OLD-GROWTH LOGGINGFOR GOOD?

Fall 2009 News and Fun

�Obama’s old-growth

agenda

� Devil’s Staircase

charges ahead in DC

�Gray wolves in the

crosshairs

� Lawyer Dan’s Famous

Vegan Chili Recipe

�Community Calendar

US Postage

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Nonprofit Org.

Permit No. 82

Eugene, OR

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