I’m off this week, so you’re going to hear the second half of one of my favorite interviews, with author and activist Rand Schenk, which I first released in July of 2024. 

I loved this conversation, but I feel like it needs a little context at this point, since 2024 seems like a millenia ago, and the fierce arguments forest defenders and policy makers were having about forest management now seem like friendly disagreements.  

Obviously our politics have undergone a cascadia megathrust level shift since I recorded this interview, and the politics and management of public lands is very much caught up in that devastation.

Some of the topics we covered, like to what extent the forest service is acting in good vs bad faith feel like moot points, and others, like Biden’s Mature and Old Growth Rule and the Northwest Forest Plan amendment, have been scrapped entirely.

With that said, Rand’s book about the history of the Forest Service is just as relevant today, and gives some important perspective on the changing nature of how we value forests.

And I’d like to think that our conversation still holds some relevance as well, but that’s for you to judge.

Speaking of judging, let me know your verdict on the the show! My email is [email protected], and all of our episodes are available for free on any podcast app. 

I am also so grateful to be carried on community radio stations across Oregon and even into Washington.  I make this show for free, but local media needs your support now more than ever, so please donate to your community radio station, subscribe to your local paper if you have one, and if you have any goodwill left over, tell your friends about Coast Range Radio.

Finally, stay tuned at the end of the show for a song I recorded a while back with my band, The Road Sodas.  If you like it, you can download our music for free at https://www.theroadsodas.com/

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(I’m off this week, so I’m featuring one of my favorite interviews, which I first released in July of 2024. I hope you like it!)

Today’s episode is part one of a two part interview with Rand Schenk, author of a fascinating and timely new history of the Forest Service, its founder, Gifford Pinchot, and over 100 years of forest management and mismanagement in the Pacific Northwest.

The book, “Forest Under Siege: The Story of Old Growth After Gifford Pinchot”,  explores the Forest Service’s progressive populist origins, how it abandoned its founding mission of conservation and drove our old growth forests to the brink of extinction, and how, or if, the agency is entering a new restoration ecology era.

Forest Under Siege is available at local bookstores throughout the northwest, and you can order a copy online by searching for Forest Under Siege.

My email is [email protected]

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I’m recording this in the aftermath of what I consider a largely failed Legislative session in Oregon and the passage of what will likely be remembered as one of the most extreme and destructive pieces of legislation in modern history at the federal level, aka the One Big Bill.

On the state level, Democrats failed to pass their major priority, a much needed transportation funding overhaul, despite having supermajorities in both chambers, and also failed on a number of other legislative fronts.  

I plan to devote multiple episodes in the coming weeks and months on Oregon (and hopefully Washington) politics, but this episode is going to focus on the disaster that is the current federal administration and ruling party.

Today’s episode is a recording of a presentation by members of the Pacific Northwest Forest Climate Alliance (PNWFCA) untangling the nefarious and overlapping schemes and policies designed to privatize and clearcut our public lands.

Speakers:

• Alex Budd, Coordinator for the Pacific Northwest Forest Climate Alliance 
• Lauren Anderson, Climate Forest Program Manager, Oregon Wild
• Lia Brewster, Conservation Campaign Strategist, Sierra Club
• Katie Bilodeau, Staff Attorney, Wilderness Watch

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Earlier this year, I did an episode on the Legacy Forest Defense Campaign in Washington.  

Since then, that campaign has only heated up, and in May, activists took to the forests in the Olympic peninsula to set up tree sits and road blockades in protest of State Land timber sales in the Elwha Watershed.

To learn more about protecting the Elwha watershed, Earth Law philosophy, and more, I’m delighted to be joined by Elizabeth Dunne, the director of legal advocacy for the Earth Law Center.

Coast Range Radio is free on all podcasts apps, and the show email is [email protected], please reach out and let me know what you think of the show!

And quick note: this conversation was recorded on June 13th, so check out elwhalegacyforests.org for timely updates!

Show Notes:

https://www.earthlawcenter.org/elwha-legacy-forests

https://elwhalegacyforests.org/

https://www.instagram.com/coastrangeradio/

One of the things I try to do on this show is get away from the binary good vs bad framing that so many of us fall into, and explore the messy complexities and grey areas within the environmental and conservation movement here in the northwest.  That’s why I enjoyed today’s conversation so much.

My guest today is Tabatha Rood.  Tabatha is a former Forest Service National Environmental Policy Act planner and currently leads the Wild Rivers Coast Forest Collaborative in Southwest Oregon.

As a former Forest Service project planner and collaborative leader, Tabatha brings a set of experiences and perspectives that are often missing in our broader dialogues.

As you’ll hear, Tabatha and I didn’t agree on everything in our conversation, and there were a number of topics that we didn’t have time to go as deep on as I would have liked.  But I really appreciated her willingness to engage with me on some thorny topics, and I found her perspectives really valuable.

As always, Coast Range Radio is free on all podcast apps, which is a great way to share this episode.  

We are also broadcast on community radio stations across the northwest.  A lot of them are struggling right now, and I cannot ask strongly enough that you support local, independent media!

My email is [email protected], let me know what you think of the show!

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I’m willing to bet that most Oregonians don’t know who our State Treasurer is, much less what the State Treasury does.

But we should.  The office of State Treasurer, currently Elizabeth Steiner by the way, is a powerful position, and invests a huge amount of public money.

How that money is invested matters, and it really matters that our public dollars and pension funds are deeply invested in the fossil fuel industry.

The statewide coalition Divest Oregon has been calling out the treasury’s dirty investments for several years now, and they’ve also put out policy proposals, research, and legislation to shift our investments to help foster a clean energy economy.

I’m delighted to talk with two of their members today about the work they do, how it affects all Oregonians, and how to help.

As always, Coast Range Radio is free on all podcast apps, which is a great way to share this episode. My email is [email protected], let me know what you think of the show!

Show Notes:

https://www.divestoregon.org/The-Pause-Act--2025

https://www.divestoregon.org/2025-climate-risk-review

https://www.green529.org/

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An absolute gem of a conversation with Oregon author M.L. Herring about her new book, “Born of Fire and Rain: Journey Into a Pacific Coastal Forest”.  

Born of Fire and Rain is one of the best books I’ve ever read on our bioregion.  It is a masterfully guided hike through virtually every aspect of the Pacific Coastal rainforests, seamlessly weaving in geology, ecology, timber politics, personal narrative, and more into a beautiful tapestry of this place we call home.

M.L. is the pen name of Oregon State University professor emerita Peg Herring, and I am so delighted have her on the show today.

Before we get started, I have to give my usual housekeeping:  Coast Range Radio is free on all podcast apps, which is a great way to share this episode with a friend or two!

And the show email is [email protected], reach out anytime with thoughts or show ideas!

Born of Fire and Rain is available at bookstores throughout the northwest, or check out:

https://www.mlherring.org/

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Today’s episode is all about one of the most charismatic of all charismatic megafauna, the sea otter!  Sea otters are a crucial part of nearshore marine ecosystems, but they were wiped out along the Oregon coast over 100 years ago.

The Elakha Alliance has been working tirelessly for years to bring them back, and I’m so excited to be joined by Jane Bacchieri and Chanel Hason to learn more.

As a note, we did an episode with Elakha co-founder Bob Bailey a few years ago, but I’ve been wanting to check back in with them for a while now.

As always, the show email is [email protected], please reach out anytime!

Show Notes:

https://www.elakhaalliance.org/

https://www.elakhaalliance.org/siletz-tribe-receives-major-grant-to-aid-tribes-in-returning-sea-otters-to-oregon-and-northern-california/

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As of this recording on May 6th, we are well into the 2025 Oregon Legislative session.  And I, like many others, am still struggling to find a coherent throughline to the session.

And many climate justice advocates are increasingly wondering whether Oregon’s Democratic led government has given up on meaningful climate action.  But there is still a lot that can happen in the next two months of the legislative session, and your voice really does matter.

To walk me through where things stand, and where we as citizens can make the greatest impact this session, I’m joined by my old boss, State Representative Mark Gamba.

Mark Gamba represents Oregon’s House District 41, which encompasses Milwaukie and parts of Southeast Portland.  He is also one of Oregon’s most outspoken climate advocates, and one of my favorite returning guests.

As always, if you appreciate Coast Range Radio, which is now completely independent, please help me out by recommending or sharing an episode with two friends! 

The show email is [email protected], please let me know what you think of the show!

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All of us in the northwest love our ocean, but we often don’t show it the love that it truly deserves.

Ocean conservation is chronically underfunded and under prioritized, but the newly formed Oregon Ocean Alliance is aiming to change that and bring much needed attention and resources to our ocean and coastal ecosystems.

To talk about all of that and more, I’m joined by two great guests, Annie Merrill of Oregon Shores, and Joe Liebezeit with Bird Alliance of Oregon.  They are also co-chairs of the Oregon Ocean Alliance. 

The show email is [email protected].  Reach out anytime!

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