The Evergreen

Populations of the Greater Sage Grouse have dropped by 80 percent over the last 60 years. That’s because the iconic bird depends on high desert sagebrush for food and habitat. And that habitat has been threatened for decades by wildfire, human activity and invasive species. A historic agreement that came together in 2015 to protect these birds and keep them off the endangered species list has helped turn that trend around. But now, a potential lithium mine could blow up the whole deal. 

OPB “Oregon Field Guide” producer Cassandra Profita fills us in on the details and you can see the video and article she recently produced about sage grouse here. We also hear from journalist Ashley Ahearn, who created an 8-episode podcast series called “Grouse” all about the birds and what they can teach us about compromise and life in rural America.

Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:

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The cowboy is one of the most potent symbols of American Western mythology. But while pop culture might call John Wayne or the Marlboro Man to mind, real history tells a different story than Hollywood or history books. Cowboys in the West were racially diverse, and in Eastern Oregon, Chinese Americans played a big role in ranching and local economies.

As part of work to reclaim histories of the early Chinese diaspora in rural Oregon, archaeologists and community historians are on the trail of Eastern Oregon’s Chinese cowboys. That pursuit takes us to the historic Stewart Ranch in Grant County to learn more about Buckaroo Sam, cook Jim Lee and others who lived and worked there. We're joined by historical archaeologist Chelsea Rose to kick off a special series in collaboration with OPB’s “Oregon Experience,” the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology and Jefferson Public Radio about unearthing Oregon history — the real stuff.

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For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage.

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Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:
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Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars
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On Jan. 2, 2016 a dozen armed men took over the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon. Today, we bring you a documentary OPB reporters made in the immediate aftermath of the 41-day occupation. And OPB reporter Conrad Wilson gives us an update from Harney County 10 years later.
If you’re curious to learn more about the people who took over the wildlife refuge and their philosophy, check out OPB’s Bundyville podcast, produced by Leah Sottile and Ryan Haas.

For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage.

Follow OPB on Instagram, host Jenn Chávez and Oregon Field Guide.

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Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:

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Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars

Politics Now

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And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Quiet can be an elusive thing, especially in an urban environment. Going out into nature is a good way to escape the sounds of the city, but trails are often full of people talking, dogs barking and you can still hear road noise from a lot of parks and hiking spots. Some people even feel the need to bring a Bluetooth speaker along with them when they’re out in nature. So how can you find a place that is truly quiet? And what would that be like? Ed Jahn is the executive producer of Oregon Field Guide and he recently went on a quest to find the quietest spot in all of Oregon. In this Evergreen episode, he takes us to that place. 

You can see Ed’s video about the quietest place in Oregon here.

And if you want to hear about a spot in the Pacific Northwest that just might be the quietest place on earth, check out this episode of “The Wild” from our friends at the public radio station KUOW. 

For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage.

Follow OPB on Instagram, host Jenn Chávez and Oregon Field Guide.

You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.

Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:

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Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars

Politics Now

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And many more! Check out our full show list here.

What’s the philosophy behind enjoying a good roller coaster ride? What should travelers keep in mind as they’re waved through a construction site on the road? What’s it like to care for cattle at 4,200 feet elevation (and what’s the mooood on the range)? 🐮

As usual, we’ve got lots of questions about the different jobs Pacific Northwesterners do every day. So to close out 2025, we’re bringing you the latest installments of OPB’s “At Work With” series, where we get curious about all sorts of professions and ask people your questions about what it’s like to do what they do.

This time, we bring you along to a day on the job with a ride inspector-operator at Oaks Amusement Park, a traffic control supervisor on construction sites, and a rancher in Eastern Oregon’s Baker County.

We’re always open to new ideas for interesting jobs — or volunteer positions! — that we can learn about next. If you’ve got a suggestion, email us at [email protected].

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For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage.

Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too.

You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.

Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:
Hush
Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars
Politics Now
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And many more! Check out our full show list here.

The iconic artist Rick Bartow, a small-town Oregon kid, went on to see his work featured in over 100 museums across the country, including an installation in the White House garden. 

His work mirrored real life. It was raw, aggressive, dark and emotional. The beautiful and weird in his work came from, sometimes, a painful story. 

He was drafted during the Vietnam War and came back with PTSD. He then struggled with addiction for nearly a decade. Art, he says, saved him.

“I realized the creator had given me something to do,” Bartow said. “And whether people understood that now didn’t matter. I have to do this, this is my job … here’s my gift, and I can use it today.”

In this week’s episode of The Evergreen, OPB Art Beat producer Eric Slade tells us about the life and work of Rick Bartow. 

Catch the exhibition Rick Bartow: Storyteller at the Portland Art Museum until May 23, 2026. And you can also watch Slade’s recent documentary on Bartow here.

For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage.

Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too.

You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.

Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:

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Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars

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And many more! Check out our full show list here.

What happens when boats are abandoned in the water and start falling apart? Whether it’s a big barge or a small sailboat, abandoned and derelict vessels, or ADVs, have to be dealt with. If an ADV sits too long, it could end up blocking a navigation channel or becoming an environmental hazard, especially if it sinks.  It can be really challenging to figure out how to pay for the removal operation, and if someone is living on board, law enforcement has to balance the boat’s potential hazards with removing shelter from someone who may not have another place to live. 

OPB “Oregon Field Guide” producer Noah Thomas joins us to talk about the reporting he did on ADVs. We’ll meet people who work on removing these boats from the water, someone who lives on a boat he bought at an auction for $110 and a community organizer who paddles her kayak around the Willamette bringing food and other supplies to liveaboards. 

Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:

Hush

Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars

Politics Now

Think Out Loud

And many more! Check out our full show list here.

This is the English version of this podcast episode. Haga clic aquí para escuchar en español.

Luis Lamas left Oregon out of fear. 

“I don't want to find out if they're going to put me in a detention center or if I'm going to live so many more years [here] and be told, you know what, no, you have to go back to your country,” he said in Spanish. 

Lamas is among a growing number of people choosing to leave the U.S. out of fear of arrest or detention, as the Trump administration has promised to arrest or deport anyone without lawful status. Immigrants with lawful status have also been detained.

In this week’s episode of The Evergreen, OPB reporter Alejandro Figueroa chronicles the journey of Luis Lamas, a Mexican immigrant who once called Woodburn home.

For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage.

Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too.

You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.

Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:

Hush 

Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars

Politics Now

Think Out Loud

And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Esta es la versión en español de este episodio del podcast. Click here to listen in English.

Luis Lamas salió de Oregon por miedo.

“No quiero averiguar si me van a meter a un centro de detención o si voy a vivir tantos años más y que me digan sabes que, siempre no, te tienes que ir a tu país.” dijo.

Lamas se encuentra entre el creciente número de personas que están abandonando los Estados Unidos por temor a ser arrestadas o detenidas, ya que el gobierno de Trump ha prometido arrestar o deportar a cualquier persona sin estatus legal. Inmigrantes con estatus legal también han sido detenidos. 

Este semana en The Evergreen, el reportero de OPB Alejandro Figueroa narra el viaje de Luis Lamas, un inmigrante mexicano que solía vivir en Woodburn.

Para escuchar más episodios de The Evergreen y compartir tu opinión con nosotros, visita nuestra página web. 

Síguenos en nuestra página de Instagram y también sigue a nuestra presentadora Jenn Chavez.

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Hush 

Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars

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Y muchos mas! Visita nuestra lista completa aquí.

By now, you’re probably used to hearing the long list of letters and cities that make up our station IDs. But how does all that actually work? How does OPB radio reach your ears in Bend, Burns and Baker City? Well, it’s thanks to OPB’s team of broadcast engineers, who maintain radio transmitters across the state. And it is not easy to do. Imagine driving to the top of a mountain on a Sno-Cat in the winter to climb an icy tower. We learn more about what makes statewide radio transmission possible.

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For more episodes of The Evergreen, and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage.

Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too.

You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.

Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps:
Hush
Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars
Politics Now
Think Out Loud

And many more! Check out our full show list here.