Bateman Causeway: Decades-old salmon barrier finally being removed. Tribes and conservationists cheer Corps of Engineers decision that brings closure to a hard-fought campaign on the Yakima River. This is a storywe have been watching since 2023. columbiainsight.org/bateman-caus...

The Oregon Court of Appeals has ruled against state wildlife officials who tried to quietly weaken protections for migrating salmon. My latest in @columbiainsight.bsky.social on this attempted regulatory sleight-of-hand.

My story in @columbiainsight.bsky.social on forest collaboratives—quasi advisory groups to the Forest Service designed to get enviros and timber folks talking after the timber wars—covers collaboratives' current funding woes, why some enviros like collaboratives, and why some don't.

U.S. Forest Service offices in Portland charged with wildfire prevention, scientific research, forestland management and conservation across the Northwest would be shuttered and moved out of state under a new plan announced by the head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. buff.ly/hOfrNMt

I had a wonderful time reporting on @critfc.bsky.social and others' efforts to protect Pacific lamprey. It was great getting out in the field to see this important conservation work in action. Read the story @columbiainsight.bsky.social: columbiainsight.org/pacific-lamp...

My latest story in @columbiainsight.bsky.social explores how the Forest Service plans to substitute its practice of marking trees with paint with two alternative practices that give loggers greater discretion over which trees get cut.

I have a new piece out in @columbiainsight.bsky.social. Let me know what you think.

I have a story out in @columbiainsight.bsky.social on this attempt in the Washington House to defund the Columbia River Gorge Commission. While several news outlets have reported on this, our story provides (what I would like to think is) a larger (and clearer) legal/policy analysis.

Defunding the Gorge: Washington budget battle threatens National Scenic Area. columbiainsight.org/defunding-th...

I have a new story out in @sierramagazine.bsky.social. The story reviews a study that demonstrated—shocker!—that some trees will need beneficial fungi in order to migrate under #climatechange. #assistedmigration

I've been waiting for this to drop for weeks. Though keep in mind, the Forest Service has been working to "streamline" environmental oversight for years. This is likely to accelerate a trend already underway.

I have a new (and lengthy) story out today in Columbia Insight (@columbiainsight.bsky.social) examining how the Forest Service (@forestservice.bsky.social) has been using the wildfire crisis to help meet its timber targets both nationally and in the #PacificNorthwest.

Nice to see @pnwbluecarbon.bsky.social mention my recent story on #bluecarbon in @columbiainsight.bsky.social. I enjoyed interviewing your scientists and reading your research. Plus I got to visit some beautiful inter-tidal spruce forests. #climatechange

Although winter is hardly the time to plug a story on #climatechange, I would nonetheless like to share a story I wrote last spring for Earth Island Journal on the effects of extreme heat on #trees. The effects aren't good, but the #science is both interesting and important.

I have a new story out on the American West's declining ability to recover from drought. The story reviews a fantastic study by @climate-guy.bsky.social and others and includes comments from @larryoneill.bsky.social. Thank you both for the interviews. #climatechange #drought

If you're looking for a break from political news, I have a new story out on the Pacific Northwest's blue carbon stocks and the Sitka spruce-dominated tidal forests that once grew from northern California to southern Alaska. #climatechange #carbon