Study: No increased fire threat in owl habitat
JEFF BARNARD AP Environmental Writer
July 6, 2009
Associated Press Archive
A new study challenges a basic justification about the threat of wildfires that the Bush administration used to make room for more logging in old growth forests that are home to the northern spotted owl.
The study, appearing in the journal Conservation Biology, found no increasing threat of severe wildfires destroying old growth forests in the drier areas where the owl lives in Oregon, Washington and Northern California. Read more…
Obama retreats from Bush’s spotted owl plan
Dominick DellaSala isn’t normally one to say “I told you so,” but the forest ecologist couldn’t help himself Wednesday. Read more…
Spotted-owl recovery gets another look from Obama administration
The Northwest’s spotted owl has proved to be a barometer of the federal government’s changing attitudes toward endangered species, and environmental issues more broadly. Read more…
Obama won’t defend Bush spotted owl plan
The Obama administration is backing away from its predecessor’s plan for the northern spotted owl. Read more…
Wilderness bill awaits Obama’s OK
Two wilderness areas long proposed in southwestern Oregon are now only one signature away from becoming the law of the land. Read more…
Eugene-Springfield in path of climate threats to Upper Willamette Basin
Bush gets in a few last whacks at Northwest forests
A last minute change in the rules for Oregon forests will be hard to undo, though the environmental lawsuits have already begun. Read more…
The Spotted Owl’s New Nemesis
An epic battle between environmentalists and loggers left much of the spotted owl’s habitat protected. Now the celebrity species faces a new threat—a tougher owl. Read more…
Oregon’s Rogue River Basin to face climate-change hurdles
GEOS Institute and University of Oregon’s Climate Leadership Initiative collaborate to look at 2030 & 2080
EUGENE, OR Three major global climate-change projections scaled down to Oregon’s scenic Rogue River watershed point to hotter, dryer summers with increasing wildfire risk, reduced snowpack and more rainy, stormy winters, according to a report coordinated by the University of Oregon’s Climate Leadership Initiative and the GEOS Institute.
The owl’s stunning reprieve
History is certain to judge the Bush years as a disaster for the nation’s — and the planet’s — environment. But as his second term winds down, it’s worth noting that ancient forests in the Pacific Northwest are still standing, despite the administration’s vigorous efforts to help timber companies cut them down, and thanks to countless citizens who stood in the way. Read more…
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Robert Macnee, Ph.D. is Deputy Director of Resilience Services at Climate Resilience Consulting, where he helps governments, institutions, and communities reduce climate risk in equitable and practical ways. He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Management focused on climate change impacts on health and communities, and brings over a decade of experience spanning economic development, resilience planning, and implementation.
Samantha Medlock is President of Climate Risk Advisors, helping communities and organizations advance equity, sustainability, and resilience. Her career began chasing floods as a local official in Texas Flash Flood Alley—a hands-on experience that still shapes her approach to climate and disaster risk management.
Jim is a multilingual world traveler. Based in Bavaria during the 1970s, Jim spent most of this period in India, Afghanistan and Nepal, where he founded and operated a charitable medical clinic serving Tibetan Refugees. He settled in Oregon in 1983 on a forested ranch in the Umpqua National Forest.
Dr. Micah Hahn is an Associate Professor of Environmental Health in the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. She received her joint PhD in Epidemiology / Environment and Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her MPH in Global Environmental Health from Emory University. Subsequently, she was a postdoctoral fellow for the CDC Climate and Health Program, and in this position worked collaboratively with the CDC Division of Vector-borne Diseases and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Her research focuses on understanding the health impacts of climate change and working with communities to develop locally-relevant adaptation and resilience-building strategies. Dr. Hahn is also on the Management Team of the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center.
Michael is a former Founding Principal of Resilient Cities Catalyst, a global non-profit helping cities and their partners tackle their toughest challenges. He is currently the Executive Director of Climate Resilience Academy at the University of Miami.
Dr. Quintus Jett is a consultant, educator, and strategist for public causes. He has a doctorate in Organizations & Management from Stanford University, and a two-decade faculty career which spans schools, departments, and programs of business, engineering, liberal studies, divinity, and public and nonprofit management. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Dr. Jett launched a volunteer project in New Orleans, which enlisted residents, students from over a dozen colleges and universities, and hundreds of others to field map the city’s Gentilly district, Lower Ninth Ward, and New Orleans East. Dr. Jett is an innovator in higher education, bridging the divide between academic research and the other priorities of the modern university, including student access and diversity, community engagement, and providing foundations for life-long learning in today’s rapidly changing world.
Scott is Monfort Professor of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. He has written about 100 publications in the peer-reviewed climate literature, is a former editor of the Journal of Climate, and served for five years as founding Science Chair of the North American Carbon Program.
Linda has many years of experience in disaster preparedness and resilience. She has been an elected official on the Linn County Iowa Board of Supervisors, Chair of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, the East Central Iowa Council of Governments, the statewide Mental Health Developmental Disability and the Linn County Board of Health. Langston is a former president of the National Association of Counties (2013-2014).
Ken works with families and organizations as a mediator, organizational consultant, trainer and facilitator. Along with his passion for helping people prepare for and reduce climate change, Ken also volunteers as a mediator through Mediation Works and is passionate about supporting youth through mentoring with Boys to Men of Southern Oregon.
Matthew is a retired high school teacher who was once honored as Oregon High School Social Studies Teacher of the Year. Before his teaching career he was in the restaurant business in Portland. He is also a lawyer who has been a member of the Oregon State Bar Association since 1980.
Andrea is the Resilience Policy Advisor for the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency. She works across state agencies and with local governments to increase the state’s resilience to the impacts of climate change.