Permit violations during the August 2023 repairs of the Winchester Dam on the North Umpqua River near Roseburg, resulted in the biggest fish kill on an Oregon River this year. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife fined the dam’s owners and their contractors $27.6 million dollars for the needless death of hundreds of thousands on native fish. The Winchester Dam was condemned in 1976. The Oregon Water Resource District gave the dam their highest danger rating, “high hazard,” meaning: “the department expects loss of human life to occur if the dam fails.” Mike Ruehle and Adam Miller of Commu ..read more

Kai Huschke, with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, talks to us about the hierarchy of community rights, states rights, and corporate rights. We look at examples of Rights of Nature laws in other countries, and why it is so difficult to have community or nature rights under the Unites States system of capitalism. Community vs corporation examples include the timber and fossil fuel industries. For more information, see https://celdf.org/. Ending song is “Occupy the USA” from the album “Revolutions Per Minute” by Emma’s Revolution. https://emmasrevolution.com/.  You can purcha ..read more

A panel of speakers discusses the plight of native wild horses in "Horse Management Areas" on public lands in western states. Our speakers on Part 1 and Part 2 of the Wild Horse Podcast include: Lorna Torrey Palermo is a long time horse lover, animal advocate and Advocate For Wild Equines.. Linda Wallace first became interested in the wild horses as a child when she heard about Wild Horse Annie. She has been writing letters and making phone calls ever since! Linda adopted an amazing black Eastern Oregon Mustang named Moonshine in the 80s. She now visits HMAs all over the West to photograph the ..read more

This is a conversation with Carol Van Strum, who has fought against the aerial spraying of pesticides, including Agent Orange, since 1975. Join Carol on the webinar Wednesday, April 6, 6 PM, 2022. "Oregonians Love Trees".  Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83135992632?pwd=VlFvZUp1SmxxKzdjZzRESEVVQ3BiZz09 The PBS documentary that features Carol: The People vs. Agent Orange. https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/the-people-vs-agent-orange/ Books by Carol:  A Bitter Fog, Herbicides and Human Rights. https://bookshop.org/books/a-bitter-fog-herbicides-human-rights/9 ..read more

This is a conservation with Patrick Starnes, long time environmental activist, and now a candidate for governor of Oregon. We talk about some recent environmental victories, then a conversation on health plan options for Oregonians. We also chat about campaign finance reform, the housing crisis, renewable energy possibilities, and a bit about forestry in Oregon. For more information on Patrick Starnes, see: https://starnes2022.com/, and https://ballotpedia.org/Patrick_Starnes Ending music is “Vote Republican” by Roy Zimmerman, from his “You’re Getting Sleepy” album.  https://roy-zimmerman ..read more

This is a fascinating conversation with Bonnie Olin. Bonnie is an avid river user, including kayaking on the Snake River. Bonnie talks about the four lower Snake River Dams, why they should be removed, and the impacts removal would have on fish and wildlife, as well as the economy. She covers the mitigations available for impacts such as barging grain and electrical generation. For more information, the following links were mentioned in the podcast: * Wild Salmon Center and their work. This is also the center created by Guido Rahr of the book Stronghold. https://wildsalmoncenter.org/strategy ..read more

This is a conversation with Dr. Robert Dannenhoffer, the Douglas County Public Health Officer. We discuss the current state of the Covid pandemic in Douglas County, and what you can do keep yourself healthy. The current situation is dire, with many dying needlessly at Mercy Medical Center. Bob discusses some of the myths surrounding the Covid vaccines. He explains how the vaccines were developed so quickly, yet safely, under Operation Warp Speed. For more information on how you can get a vaccine or a Covid test, see https://douglaspublichealthnetwork.org/. Or call 541-464-6550. Our ending song ..read more

This is a conversation with Audrey Squires, Umpqua Restoration Program Coordinator for the mitigation funds from the North Umpqua Hydro Project. The Hydro Project’s 2001 settlement agreement required PacificCorp to pay annual funding for restoration projects to mitigate their wildlife impacts. Audrey describes the types of wildlife impacts, types of restoration projects, and volunteer opportunities. For more information: The North Umpqua Hydro Project, see https://www.pacificorp.com/energy/hydro/north-umpqua-river.html The Umpqua National Forest page with mitigation fund information:  ht ..read more

Today we talk with Kimberly Holmquist about Douglas County Community Rights and some issues before the Douglas County Commissioners, including the proposed 2,800 acre destination resort planned for near Yoncalla. Kimberly also describes the history of the “Doctrine of Discovery”, and how it favors corporate rights over community rights.  The ending song is "Why Am I An Anarchist?" by Norman Nawrocki. For more information about the Douglas County issues discussed in this podcast, see: https://celdf.org/community-rights/ https://communityrightslanecounty.org/ https://orcrn.org/Lincoln-count ..read more

This conversation with Kyle Reed is about how to keep safer during fire season. Kyle is the Fire Prevention Specialists at the Douglas Forest Protective Association. Kyle talks about the Firewise program for neighborhood groups, ways to better protect your home from a wildland fire, and how to keep track of the changing guidelines for your work as the fire season progresses. Below are links to more information that Kyle referred to: www.firewise.org ... for your neighborhood group; https://www.dfpa.net/ ... to keep track of fires in our area and times chainsaws or mowers are allowed; https://c ..read more