Tag ENVIRONMENT
Climate change is pushing toxic chemicals into drinking wells
A home under construction along the Santiam River in Gates in September 2021, a year after wildfire tore through the canyon. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) This story was originally published by Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Don Myron is probably best known as…
Despite ambitious targets, Oregon climate policies must go further to meet global calls to action
Oregon will need to prioritize carbon sequestration in state forests and farmlands in order to advance overall greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. (Oregon Department of Forestry/Flickr) Oregon’s top climate experts agree with the conclusions of a new international report that global greenhouse gas emissions must be practically…
More flooding, mudslides in Oregon as extreme fires to be followed by extreme rains
In the heavily fire damaged North Santiam watershed, hillsides where trees and plants were burned in the wildfire are at increased risk of flooding and mudslides. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter) Oregon will face more mudslides and flooding during the next 80 years as a result of…
Groups say BLM ignoring environmental concerns when issuing grazing permits
Cattle graze along the Snake River. (Bureau of Land Management) The Bureau of Land Management has been renewing livestock grazing permits on public lands in Oregon without a thorough environmental analysis, including on overgrazed land, according to two new reports. The Western Watersheds Project and…
Oregon has most miles of polluted or ‘impaired’ waterways nationwide, new analysis says
Upper Klamath Lake is among the most polluted lakes in Oregon. (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation/Wikimedia Commons) Oregon has more than 120,000 miles of polluted or “impaired” rivers and streams – the most nationwide, according to a new analysis. The report, released last week by the Environmental…
AROUND OREGON: As salmon cook in rivers, pressure on Biden mounts
In a conference room on the Squaxin Island Reservation in Mason County near the southern edge of the Puget Sound, a dozen tribes came together this month in a show of resolve focused on saving a species—salmon—that unites indigenous peoples throughout the Columbia River Basin.…
AROUND OREGON: Oregon’s new carbon cap program takes shape, but much debate remains
The Oregon State Capitol. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) After Republicans bolted from the 2020 legislative session and once again killed Oregon’s controversial bill to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, a frustrated Gov. Kate Brown issued an executive order for state agencies to draft carbon reduction rules that…
Salem to expand parks system with two additions, but plans are years away
A tree in Minto-Brown Island Park. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) Salem is expanding its parks system after two land purchases in recent years, one in south Salem and another in northeast Salem, that total more than 60 acres. Patricia Farrell, parks and natural resources planning manager,…
Salem is more shaded than ever, thanks to city tree projects but gains are uneven
A tree in Minto-Brown Island Park. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) About a quarter of Salem is covered by trees as the result of a decade-long city effort that hasn’t shaded every neighborhood equally. The city recently released its most recent Urban Tree Canopy Assessment, showing that…