Coast Range Radio

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/

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

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/

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

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/

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

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!

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

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!

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

Note: This is the second part of the interview that didn't make it into the radio version.  The podcast version includes the entire interview.

-----

Biomass energy, that is, burning pelletized wood for electricity generation, is a classic false climate solution.  It has been devastating forests and communities in the Southeast for years, and the Biomass industry is dead set on expanding into the Pacific Northwest. 

We did a deep dive into Biomass a couple of years ago, which you can find in the Coast Range Radio podcast feed.

But with the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans (along with some Democrats) attempting to gut protections for forests, now is a good time to learn from activists in the South and check in on the state of Biomass here in the Northwest.

So I’m joined by two amazing guests, Dr Treva Gear with The Dogwood Alliance, and Brenna Bell of 350PDX.

While you’re here, please make sure you're subscribed, and consider leaving us a nice review on your podcast app!

My email is [email protected], reach out anytime with questions, feedback, or just to say hi.

Show Notes:

https://dogwoodalliance.org/

https://350pdx.org/ax-drax/

https://www.nobigbiomasspnw.org/

"Burned: Are Trees the New Coal?" - https://burnedthemovie.com/

Support the show

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

Biomass energy, that is, burning pelletized wood for electricity generation, is a classic false climate solution.  It has been devastating forests and communities in the Southeast for years, and the Biomass industry is dead set on expanding into the Pacific Northwest. 

We did a deep dive into Biomass a couple of years ago, which you can find in the Coast Range Radio podcast feed.

But with the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans (along with some Democrats) attempting to gut protections for forests, now is a good time to learn from activists in the South and check in on the state of Biomass here in the Northwest.

So I’m joined by two amazing guests, Dr Treva Gear with The Dogwood Alliance, and Brenna Bell of 350PDX.

While you’re here, please make sure you're subscribed, and consider leaving us a nice review on your podcast app!

My email is [email protected], reach out anytime with questions, feedback, or just to say hi.

Show Notes:

https://dogwoodalliance.org/

https://350pdx.org/ax-drax/

https://www.nobigbiomasspnw.org/

"Burned: Are Trees the New Coal?" - https://burnedthemovie.com/

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

This show has been pretty Oregon-centric, but I’m told there is a large landmass just north of us that also has a lot of amazing people doing environmental and climate justice work.  

So I’m putting my Oregon bias aside for today to learn more about one of the most exciting and effective climate forest campaigns in the Pacific Northwest - Washington Legacy Forest Defense Campaign!

To find out what a legacy forest is, and how folks are working to protect them, I’m joined by Joshua Wright with the Washington Legacy Forest Defense Coalition.  I’m also joined by Lee First with Twin Harbors Waterkeeper, to learn about the great work they do to protect Washington’s coastal waterways and watersheds.

Please help me out by sharing texting the link to this show to a friend or two (or sharing any other way!).  And we have a new instagram page, just in case you're into that sort of thing...

Show Notes:

https://twinharborswaterkeeper.org/

https://www.wlfdc.org/

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

Today, to celebrate the first independent episode of Coast Range Radio, we are going to try something new! 

Sometimes its important to step back and place our work, and ourselves, in a larger context.  And even amidst the relentless assaults we are currently facing, I think this is one of those times.

So I am thrilled to be joined by bestselling Oregon author, John Larison, to talk about his transcendent new book, The Ancients.  It is, among many other things, a deeply moving allegory on the climate crisis, deep time, and the resilience of life.

More importantly, it is a thrilling and beautiful story, and I cannot recommend it highly enough!  The Ancients is available at local bookstores and online. 

The new show email is [email protected], reach out anytime with questions, thoughts, and show ideas!

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

On March first, the president issued two executive orders designed to dramatically increase commercial logging on our public lands.  These executive orders are bad news on their own, but the situation is actually even more dire.

These orders are part of a decades-long effort by industry, the ultra wealthy, and radical right wing anti-government legislators to privatize our public lands and extract maximum profit for the wealthy few. 

And look, I know that there are a million attacks and assaults that are demanding your attention.  I’m not here to tell you that forest policy is more or less important than anything else.

But we in the Pacific Northwest have way more agency and influence over our public lands than most of the other battles being waged.  And in the age of spiraling climate chaos, any intact or recovering forest that is logged is a forest that may never come back.

Last week, Oregon Wild put on a fantastic webinar where they went into detail on the executive orders, federal legislation, agency sabotage, and other ways that this Republican government is working to destroy our public lands.

But they didn’t stop at the doom and gloom.  They talked extensively about a wide variety of actions that we can take to fight back. They were kind enough to let me air clips of that webinar for today’s show.  

It was too long to play in its entirety for our format, so unfortunately I wasn’t able to include the sections where they talked about strategies for contacting legislators, using social media, and other tactics.  But you can watch the entire webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO35KTq3CK8

You can also find a really useful activism toolkit they put together at oregonwild.org/activist-toolkit/

What you’re going to hear today is a breakdown of what is happening at the federal level, including with these recent executive orders, and I hope you’ll feel angry and inspired to take action.

Show Notes:

• Webinar on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO35KTq3CK8
• Oregon Wild Activist Toolkit: https://oregonwild.org/activist-toolkit/
• The public lands privatization game plan: https://www.andykerr.net/kerr-public-lands-blog/2025/2/28/the-monetization-of-public-lands

Trump Timber EOs:

• https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/immediate-expansion-of-american-timber-production/
• https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/addressing-the-threat-to-national-security-from-imports-of-timber-lumber/

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