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Recreation and Wildlands Enthusiasts Celebrate as Local Clearcut Proposal Defeated in Court for a Second Time

August 1, 2025June 4, 2021 by nsc425

June 4, 2021 — For the second time in three years, a logging proposal slated to clearcut over 100 acres of forest from the Thurston Hills designated recreation area on the edge of Springfield has been deemed illegal by a federal judge. The Court’s Findings and Recommendations come after years of campaigning by affected landowners and wildlands and recreation enthusiasts working alongside attorneys litigating on behalf of Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild. Landowners living adjacent to Thurston Hills and citizens of Springfield and Eugene have opposed the project since its inception, due to the increased risk of wildfire and the diminished recreational value that clear-cut logging would bring to the area.

2020 Oregon Wolf Numbers Are In!

August 1, 2025April 21, 2021 by kaley

April 21, 2021 — Today, gray wolf advocates are celebrating the positive trends for wolves in Oregon in 2020. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (ODFW) annual state wolf report shows Oregon’s wolf population increased by 9.5% to a minimum count of 173 wolves. While 22 packs were identified, just 17 met the criteria of breeding pairs (an adult female and adult male with at least two pups surviving to December 31st of their year of birth), two fewer than at the end of 2019. Seven additional small groups of two to three wolves were documented; these groups are not considered packs, as a pack is defined as four or more wolves traveling together in winter. Wolf activity was documented in 12 Oregon counties and 35 geographic areas.

Lawsuit Filed Challenging Ongoing Post-Fire Clearcutting in Santiam State Forest East of Salem

August 1, 2025April 14, 2021 by kaley

April 14, 2021 — Today conservation groups including Cascadia Wildlands, the Center for Biological Diversity, Willamette Riverkeeper, Audubon Society of Corvallis, Audubon Society of Salem, Oregon Wild, and the Benton Forest Coalition filed suit challenging the ongoing post-fire clearcutting in the Santiam State forest east of Salem. Closed to visitors since 2020’s Labor Day wildfires, the state forest is currently being extensively logged by the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF).

A Call on Secretaries Haaland and Vilsack to Rein in Reckless Post-Fire Roadside Logging in Oregon

August 1, 2025April 13, 2021 by kaley

April 13, 2021 — Today, over twenty conservation and climate justice organizations sent a letter to Cabinet Secretaries Deb Haaland of the Department of the Interior and Tom Vilsack of the Department of Agriculture opposing the sweeping post-fire roadside logging proposed or actively being carried out by their respective agencies. The organizations are calling for an end to the blanket prescription linear clearcuts within the perimeters of the 2020 Labor Day wildfires, and a halt to the use of Categorical Exclusions (CE) by federal land management agencies to bypass environmental review and public participation. These clearcuts are up to 200 feet wide on both sides of roadways, adding up to tens of thousands of acres of clearcuts in addition to the hundreds of thousands of acres of private land clearcuts and proposed public lands post-fire logging.

Condemning Hate Crimes Against the AAPI Community

August 4, 2025April 1, 2021 by kaley

Cascadia Wildlands condemns hate targeting the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in all of its forms. Like so many, we are appalled by the recent murders in Atlanta and escalating attacks against members of the AAPI community around the country. We condemn the vilification of people based on their ethnic background, citizenship status, … Read more

Lawsuit Filed to Protect Red Tree Vole

August 4, 2025March 30, 2021 by nsc425

March 25, 2021 — Conservation groups filed a lawsuit today challenging a decision by the Trump administration to deny the north Oregon coast population of red tree voles protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Lawsuit Filed Challenging Removal of 3.4 Million Acres of Critical Spotted Owl Habitat

August 1, 2025March 23, 2021 by kaley

March 23, 2021 — Conservation groups in the Pacific Northwest filed a legal challenge to reinstate federal protections on more than 3.4 million acres of federal old-growth forests, which are essential for the survival of the threatened northern spotted owl. The lawsuit asks the court to reject a rule issued in the last days of the Trump administration that eliminated one-third of the critical habitat protections for the species. The nonprofit law firms Earthjustice and Western Environmental Law Center represent Audubon Society of Portland, Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Northwest, Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Oregon Wild, Sierra Club and The Wilderness Society in the lawsuit.

Celebrating the Historic Confirmation of Secretary Haaland

August 4, 2025March 16, 2021 by kaley

March 16, 2021 — Oregon’s conservation community is celebrating the historic bipartisan confirmation of Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the first Indigenous person to serve as a Cabinet member. Secretary Haaland’s leadership of the Department of the Interior is especially significant in light of the Department and the agencies it oversees’ historic and ongoing role in the systematic oppression and displacement of Native American communities since its creation 150 years ago. She enters the role at a time of unprecedented and urgent need for action on a host of environmental crises impacting public lands, from climate change to mass wildlife extinctions to fossil fuel extraction and ongoing irresponsible old growth logging.

Federal Government Rejects Request to Overturn Oregon’s Denial of LNG Project

August 1, 2025February 9, 2021 by kaley

February 8, 2020 — The proposed Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and fracked gas pipeline faced another massive blow today when the US Secretary of Commerce rejected a request to override the State of Oregon’s February 2020 denial of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) federal consistency review. This project cannot begin construction without approval of the CZMA federal consistency review. This is another enormous victory for communities across the region who have been fighting this project for over 15 years.

Victory for Eugene Climate Goals!

August 1, 2025February 9, 2021 by kaley

February 9, 2021 — After three months of public pressure and countless hours of public testimony about the climate and health impacts of fracked gas, the City’s franchise negotiations with NW Natural last night hit an impasse. Members of the Fossil Free Eugene campaign hailed this new development as a victory, as the franchise agreement being discussed was set to lock the city into a ten-year contract in which the fracked gas corporation could use the City’s right of way to expand its infrastructure and capacity without restriction.

Wild and Scenic River Legislation Introduced

August 1, 2025February 4, 2021 by kaley

February 4, 2021 — On February 3, Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley introduced the River Democracy Act, which will add 4,700 river miles in Oregon into the Wild and Scenic Rivers system. The proposal will permanently protect waterways across the state, from tributaries of the Snake River in northeast Oregon to unprotected creeks in the Siskiyou Mountains in southwest Oregon and dozens within the Oregon Coast Range and Cascade Mountains.

BLOG: A Week to Remember

August 4, 2025January 22, 2021 by kaley

by Bethany Cotton, Campaign Director What a wonderful week for Cascadia! TUESDAY On Tuesday, the proposed Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and 230-mile Pacific Connector pipeline was dealt what we hope is a fatal blow by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which – in a surprise but welcomed move – denied the … Read more

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