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• General Location of hike: Siuslaw National Forest, Coast Range near Mapleton
• Estimated time of departure and return from meeting location: 9:30am-4:00pm
• Carpools leave from central Eugene, meet at Oregon Wild’s Eugene office, 1238 Lincoln Street.
• Leaders for the day will be Chandra LeGue with Oregon Wild and Madeline Cowen with Cascadia Wildlands.
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Distance (round trip/total): 4.4 miles
• Elevation Gain: 800 feet
• Max attendance: 20

Description: The Central Oregon Coast Range hides gorgeous forests, clear streams, a tangle of early spring vegetation and wildflowers, and big waterfalls like Kentucky Falls. Luckily Oregon Wild and Cascadia Wildlands staff know how to find them! Discover (or revisit!) this true gem on what will no doubt be a beautiful spring day. On the way, we’ll see a mix of forest management – from clearcuts to hands-off – and spend some time discussing important campaigns to protect mature and old-growth forests, wild and scenic rivers, and preserving the core elements of the Northwest Forest Plan. We’ll complete the day by writing postcards and comments advocating for the forest.

This Event is Hosted and Led by:

The post Kentucky Falls Earth Day Hike — Sunday, April 21, 2024 first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

The post Elliott State Forest Hike — August 19 first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

* The deadline for this action has past.
* This hike has already happened.

Our field checking intern wrote up a blog post from the visit to Flat Country. Check it out!

Join Cascadia Wildlands for a visit to the Flat Country timber sale, a 5,000 acre logging proposal in the Willamette National Forest. We will spend the day learning about this sale and exploring old forest stands that would be impacted. Attendees will get a hands on lesson in the basics of field surveying for public lands defense, and walk away with next steps each of us can take toward engaging in the comment process and protecting this special place.

The Flat Country sale proposed to do “regeneration harvest” (clearcut-style management) on 1,000 acres of old and mature forest at the headwaters of the McKenzie watershed. This sale is also adjacent to the Mt. Washington Wilderness and is an excellent setting for recreation in the relatively flat terrain that the name suggests . Many of the stands slated for clearcut contain healthy old forest and species and fish bearing streams

CARPOOLS leave at 9:30am from Cascadia Wildlands office east side parking lot (120 Shelton McMurphey Blvd, Eugene) for return by 4:30pm

The post Field Trip to Flat Country Timber Sale — March 14, 2020 first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

The post Visit the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Area! — August 24, 2019 first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

The post Visit the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Area! — July 13, 2019 first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

The post Visit the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Area! — June 1, 2019 first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

This all-day strenuous hike is a collaboration between Cascadia Wildlands and Our Forests that will take you into one of the most primeval places left in Oregon. This hike doesn’t go to the Devil’s Staircase waterfall, but instead we will see a portion of one of the most extensive remaining old-growth forests remaining in the Coast Range. Part of our route involves a rugged elk trail, and the remainder of the hike is totally off trail. Participants should be able to navigate steep unstable terrain, brush and log obstacles. Come prepared with “rubber-palmed” gloves, warm clothes, good rain gear and stout boots (no sandals!).

This event has already passed. But if you are interested in being notified when our next trip is planned in the Spring of 2019, please sign-up below!

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The post Devil’s Staircase Hike: Carbon Basin and the Dark Grove — November 10th, 2018 first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

WHAT: Join Cascadia and Climate Justice League for a visit to the proposed Thurston Hills clearcut timber sale. The Springfield Bureau of Land Management is planning to clearcut log 100 acres of this public forest within Willamalane biking/hiking trails and directly adjacent to the Thurston Hills Natural Area. Cascadia Wildlands is part of a coalition opposing this irresponsible timber sale because of the negative impacts that clearcutting this forests would have on recreation, wildlife, and the nearby community members who will be forced to live near this weakened and newly fire susceptible forest.

WHEN: Saturday, November 3rd, 10:30-2pm

WHERE: We’ll meet at the North trailhead in the Thurston Hills Natural Area (7575 McKenzie Hwy) for a short orientation and then set off to hike or bike and explore the area.  Carpools leave from Mac Court on UO campus at 10am. We’ll follow up our hike with a discussion and opportunity for people to get involved with our resistance to this timber sale.

This hike is free and open to the public. Bring snacks, water, plant id books, and a friend!

The post Hike & Bike the Threatened Thurston Hills Trails – November 3rd first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

The Quartz Timber sale is an 847-acre logging project set to take place in the Umpqua National Forest. The timber sale proposes to commercially log and burn older forest in the Cottage Grove Ranger District. We believe that insufficient consideration was given to the presence of imperiled spotted owls and red tree voles, both species dependent on older forests to survive. We met up with Reed Wilson from NEST (Northwest Ecosystem Survey Team) and the Benton Forest Coalition, and he walked us through how to survey for red tree voles.  Surveyors use a crossbow or a bow to shoot a line over large lateral branches and then climb up around 200 feet to look for red tree voles nests.

When the Forest Service conducted surveys, it reported only a couple abandoned red tree vole nests and dismissed the project area as unimportant for the species. Reed and his team over the course of a year found more than 70 active nests in the same areas. The Forest Service has now changed its tune, arguing that these forests are excellent vole habitat and because the species is thriving, there is no need to protect the voles in the Quartz Timber Sale area.

Needless to say that the work that Reed and NEST do is imperative to the protection and understanding of these treasured old growth forest ecosystems. We are incredibly lucky to have them helping us defend Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forest, in the courts, and in the streets.  We will keep you posted on the Quartz Timber Sale.

Check out this short video on the red tree vole survey process!

The post Climbing the Quartz Timber Sale first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

The Oregon State Land Board moves ahead with the decision to sell the Elliott to a buyer, public or private, that will agree to conservation and job creation mandates. The goal of the sale is to sever the ties between the forest and the Common School Fund, which provides money for K-12 school children. While any potential new owner of the Elliott must show that it will maintain 50% of the forest open for public access, there is no guarantee of what that will entail.

Cascadia Wildlands continues to look for a creative solution that fulfills the Common School Fund obligations and maintains this magical coastal rainforest in public ownership and open to all to enjoy.

In the meantime, we want to get you out to explore the Elliott with us. Stay tuned for more details, but be sure to put June 18, 2016 on your calendar to join us in the Elliott State Forest.

The post Explore the Elliott State Forest with Cascadia Wildlands first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.