Best Coast Range Association Podcasts (2025)

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Why is the Forest Service Trying to Log Walla Walla's Drinking Watershed?? 43:59

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10d ago43:59

43:59

Should we be logging our drinking watersheds to protect them? That’s the question for residents of Walla Walla Washington, whose pristine drinking water comes off of National Forest land. The Forest Service is planning to a major and multi-faceted project with the stated purpose of protecting Walla Walla’s drinking water from wildfire. But what abo…

1
Newport Crushes ICE Facility! (at least for now), With Mayor Jan Kaplan 29:00

17d ago29:00

29:00

By now, many, if not most of you have heard that ICE has been secretly planning to build some kind of jail or detention facility in Newport here on the Oregon Coast. The community pushback has been immediate, fierce, inspiring, and seemingly successful, at least so far. This is a developing story, and only one skirmish in a wider war to protect our…

1
Trump's EPA Sabotage, Is Oregon's Legislature Failing Us, and more, with Britney Van Citters of OLCV 39:30

25d ago39:30

39:30

My guest today is Britney Van Citters, Political and Organizing Director at the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. Britney joins to discuss how the Environmental Protection Agency is being refashioned into the Environmental Destruction Agency, OLCV’s legislative Scorecard, and what we can do to push Oregon legislators to meet this moment of over…

1
Free To Grow - Aerial Herbicide Spraying in Industrial Timberlands, With Filmmaker Jesse Andrew Clark 33:04

1M ago33:04

33:04

I’m joined today by filmmaker Jesse Andrew Clark, to talk about his recent documentary, “Free to Grow”. Free to Grow uses deeply personal first person storytelling to highlight the harms of herbicide spraying on industrial timberlands in the Northwest. Show Notes: https://www.oldgrovefilms.com/forest-stories https://www.opb.org/news/article/blm-inv…

1
Eco-Fascism, Public Lands Attacks, and the Power of Narratives, with Professor Sarah Wald 1:02:00

1M ago1:02:00

1:02:00

My guest today is University of Oregon professor and longtime activist, Sarah Wald. Sarah is the author of multiple books, and as you’ll hear today, a profound thinker on a wide variety of issues concerning the conservation and environmental justice communities. This is one of my favorite conversations I’ve ever had on this show, in part because Sa…

1
Heroes of the Forest, Part 1: Francis Eatherington 55:26

2M ago55:26

55:26

As I’ve talked about on this show before, the Trump administration is using every tool available to target public lands and our mature and old-growth forests (along with, of course, democracy, basic human rights, any shred of protection against corporate oligarchy, etc etc. But this is primarily a show about northwest conservation and climate, so a…

1
Maya Van Rossum's Green Amendment Movement 48:31

2M ago48:31

48:31

I don’t have to tell anyone how bleak things look at the federal level. Here in the Pacific Northwest, if we’re being honest, there is not a lot that we can do at the moment to influence federal policy. But when it comes to climate and the environment, I’ve always been a little ambivalent about how much can be done at the state and local level. I w…

1
Defending Eastside Forests, with the Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project 37:48

2M ago37:48

37:48

We’re heading East today! Oregon’s Blue Mountains encompass some of the most beautiful landscapes and habitats anywhere. Within the Blue’s 15,000 square miles, you’ll find such Oregon gems as the John Day river, the Eagle Cap wilderness, Hell’s Canyon, and a huge percentage of Oregon’s forests. But because they are geographically isolated from majo…

1
Greenwashing in the Evergreen State, with Journalist Paul Koberstein 28:59

2M ago28:59

28:59

My guest today is author and journalist, Paul Koberstein. I spoke with Paul in 2024 about a book he co-authored called “Canopy of Titans: The Life and Times of the Great North American Temperate Rainforest”. I recently read a great new article of his entitled “Greenwashing in the Evergreen State”, exploring how an industry funded quasi-academic ent…

1
Action Alert! Defending the "Roadless Rule", with the Sierra Club and Representative Andrea Salinas 46:25

3M ago46:25

46:25

If you’re hearing this before September 19th, I need you to do me a favor: the Trump administration is attempting to eliminate a policy called the “Roadless Rule”, which would open tens of millions of acres of vibrant forests and public land to industrial logging and mining. The Forest Service is accepting public comment on the plan to eliminate th…

1
Grieving In Nature, and Grieving For Nature, with Adam Sawyer 28:59

3M ago28:59

28:59

I just got back from a really amazing backpacking trip in the wilderness of Wyoming, and I’ve been reflecting on how nature, wilderness, sacred lands, whatever you want to call them, have always been a source of refuge, spiritual rejuvenation, and healing for humans. But a question I and so many others are grappling with right now is, how do we con…

1
How the Trump Administration is Sabotaging Environmental Regulations 56:14

4M ago56:14

56:14

Just keeping up with the Trump administration’s all out war against our environment is exhausting. Fortunately, we in the northwest are blessed with incredible activists, organizers, and more relevant to today, environmental attorneys to help us understand the attacks so we can fight back effectively. One of the best of those attorneys is Brenna Be…

1
Flight Paths: Why Understanding the Mystery of Bird Migration Matters for Effective Conservation 29:00

4M ago29:00

29:00

I’m delighted to be joined today by Rebecca Heisman, freelance journalist and the author of “Flight Paths: how a passionate and quirky group of pioneering scientists solved the mystery of bird migration”. Flight Paths is a fascinating and engaging deep dive into the history and science of bird migration research, and how understanding bird migratio…

1
Best of (With Updates!): Forest Under Siege, with Author Rand Schenk - Part 2 28:57

4M ago28:57

28:57

I’m off this week, so you’re going to hear the second half of one of my favorite interviews, with author and activist Rand Schenk, which I first released in July of 2024. I loved this conversation, but I feel like it needs a little context at this point, since 2024 seems like a millenia ago, and the fierce arguments forest defenders and policy make…

1
Best of: Forest Under Siege, with Author Rand Schenk - Part 1 29:00

4M ago29:00

29:00

(I’m off this week, so I’m featuring one of my favorite interviews, which I first released in July of 2024. I hope you like it!) Today’s episode is part one of a two part interview with Rand Schenk, author of a fascinating and timely new history of the Forest Service, its founder, Gifford Pinchot, and over 100 years of forest management and mismana…

1
The New Federal Attacks On Our Forests, Explained - PNWFCA Presentation Series, Part 1 59:05

5M ago59:05

59:05

I’m recording this in the aftermath of what I consider a largely failed Legislative session in Oregon and the passage of what will likely be remembered as one of the most extreme and destructive pieces of legislation in modern history at the federal level, aka the One Big Bill. On the state level, Democrats failed to pass their major priority, a mu…

1
"Earth Law" and the Elwha Watershed Campaign, with Elizabeth Dunne of the Earth Law Center 31:44

5M ago31:44

31:44

Earlier this year, I did an episode on the Legacy Forest Defense Campaign in Washington. Since then, that campaign has only heated up, and in May, activists took to the forests in the Olympic peninsula to set up tree sits and road blockades in protest of State Land timber sales in the Elwha Watershed. To learn more about protecting the Elwha waters…

1
A Frank (and Fun!) Conversation with a Former Forest Service NEPA Planner 42:19

6M ago42:19

42:19

One of the things I try to do on this show is get away from the binary good vs bad framing that so many of us fall into, and explore the messy complexities and grey areas within the environmental and conservation movement here in the northwest. That’s why I enjoyed today’s conversation so much. My guest today is Tabatha Rood. Tabatha is a former Fo…

1
Why is Oregon's Treasury is Addicted to Fossil Fuels?! With the Divest Oregon Coalition 35:38

6M ago35:38

35:38

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 doll…

1
Born Of Fire And Rain: Journey Into A Pacific Coastal Forest, With Oregon Author Peg Herring! 29:00

6M ago29:00

29:00

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…

1
What's Up With Sea Otter Reintroduction In Oregon? 29:00

7M ago29:00

29:00

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 B…

1
Why Do Oregon Democrats Keep Killing Climate Legislation, With State Rep. Mark Gamba 44:35

7M ago44:35

44:35

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 lo…

1
Protecting Eelgrass & Rocky Habitats with the Oregon Ocean Alliance 29:00

7M ago29:00

29:00

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 a…

1
What Southern Environmental Justice Organizers Can Teach Us About Fighting Biomass in the PNW 43:54

7M ago43:54

43:54

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 C…

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Radio Bonus - CRR #101.5: Lessons from Southern Activists on Fighting Biomass - Continued! 16:32

7M ago16:32

16:32

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 Biom…

1
Washington's Legacy Forest Defense Campaign & Twin Harbors Waterkeeper 33:49

8M ago33:49

33:49

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 …

1
Bestselling Oregon Author John Larison on ‘The Ancients’, Climate Resilience, and More 42:18

8M ago42:18

42:18

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 Oreg…

1
Fighting Back Against Trump's Clearcut Agenda 28:59

9M ago28:59

28:59

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 legi…

1
Is The Forest Service Using The Threat Of Wildfire To Increase Logging?? 29:00

9M ago29:00

29:00

The Forest Service is using the threat of wildfires to justify a drastic expansion of commercial logging on our public lands. That is the contention in an investigative reporting series from Nathan Gilles at Columbia Insight. Many of us in the environmental world have long thought this to be the case, and this series brings the receipts, including …

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Now is the Time to Take Action on the Northwest Forest Plan, with Grace Brahler (NWFP series, part 3) 42:00

9M ago42:00

42:00

This episode is part three of our deep dive into the Forest Service’s proposal to amend the Northwest Forest Plan, which covers 24 million acres over 17 nation forests spread across Oregon, Washington, and Northern California. As I've said before, it is one of the primary reasons we have any intact or recovering forests left in the Pacific Northwes…

1
How Trump's DEI Witchunts Impact the Environmental Movement, and How We Can Resist 38:23

9M ago38:23

38:23

We are going to have a couple banger episodes on the Northwest Forest Plan in the coming weeks, but I’m recording this on February 24th, just over one month since Trump’s second term began, and I think we need to step back and take stock for a minute. Don’t worry, this episode is not going to be all about the dark lord, but the administration’s act…

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Labor Exploitation in Forestry and the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP Series, Part 2) 29:00

10M ago29:00

29:00

This is part two of our series on the Forest Service’s major proposed changes to the Northwest Forest Plan. As most of our listeners know, the 30 year old Northwest Forest Plan provides critical protections to over 24 million acres of public land in Oregon, Washington, and California. The Forest Service has proposed sweeping changes to the Plan thr…

1
Tribal Sovereignty & The Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP series, Part 1) 41:00

10M ago41:00

41:00

The Northwest Forest Plan is one of the primary reasons that we have any forest left in the Northwest. Without it, and other protections that are now also at risk because of the Trump administration, our public lands would look no different than the industrial clearcuts and monocrop tree plantations that surround me in the Coast Range. In December,…

1
NWFP Series Update & Wildfire Myths vs Facts Revisited 28:59

10M ago28:59

28:59

Historic LA wildfires are still smoldering, the Oregon legislature is back in session, a massively controversial plan to drastically amend the northwest forest plan governing management policies on over 20 million acres of our most precious forests barrels forward, and that little matter of he who shall not be named returning to power and confirmin…

1
Why Oregon Needs an Environmental Rights Amendment 29:00

11M ago29:00

29:00

This is our first episode of 2025, and while we brace for the tidal wave of insanity coming our way on the federal level, we are also preparing for Oregon’s biennial legislative session. If you don’t know, Oregon only has full legislative sessions in odd years, meaning that 2025 will be a big year for Oregon politics and policy. Oregon’s session ru…

1
The Fallacy of "Chainsaw Medicine" for Wildfire, with George Wuerthner, Part 2 29:00

12M ago29:00

29:00

Today’s show is the second part of a recent talk by conservationist and author, George Wuerthner, on the failures and fallacies of some of the ingrained beliefs around wildfires and wildfire suppression. George Wuerthner is a well-known ecologist and author who has dedicated his career to studying and advocating for wilderness and wildlife conserva…

1
The Fallacy of "Chainsaw Medicine" for Wildfire, with George Wuerthner - Part 1 29:00

12M ago29:00

29:00

Our last episode was a great discussion with a Forest Service scientist and a forest ecologist with the Nature Conservancy about the effects of various fire treatments on subsequent fire behavior. While I appreciated their perspective and research, I wanted to bring in a different viewpoint on fire and forest ecology. It’s important to remember tha…

1
Treating Fire with Fire (and Logging??): A Surprisingly Interesting Scientific Review of Fire Treatments! 52:25

1y ago52:25

52:25

Like it or not, fire politics affects every aspect of public forest policy and the rural landscape, and that is not changing anytime soon. But is science or politics guiding the policy? Are management decisions being made with forest ecology and community resilience as the top priorities, or are certain actors using fire as a smoke screen to score …

1
Preparing for the Dark Days Ahead 47:01

1y ago47:01

47:01

As we all collectively live through the unfolding trauma of the 2024 election results, I am going to share a conversation I had yesterday with two of my colleagues in the climate justice world that I found really helpful in starting to process what this election could mean for climate justice and our movement, and how to engage in these early stage…

1
State of the Climate Emergency, with Dr. Jillian Gregg 38:00

1y ago38:00

38:00

“We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster. This is a global emergency beyond any doubt. Much of the very fabric of life on Earth is imperiled. We are stepping into a critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis”. Those are the opening sentences of the 2024 State of the Climate Report, led in part by scientists at Oregon…

1
Exposing Oregon's Mega-Dairies, with Oregon Rural Action & Food and Water Watch 39:01

1y ago39:01

39:01

Oregon Rural Action and Food and Water Watch recently conducted a rare flyover of Threemile Canyon Farms, one of Oregon’s most notorious factory cattle farms, also known by the simultaneously anodyne and horrifying technical name: confined animal feeding operation, or CAFO, in Morrow County. In conjunction with that, both organizations have release…

1
Water Rights and Changing Oregon's Water Law, with Christopher Hall of the Water League 32:15

1y ago32:15

32:15

Freshwater, i.e. non-salinated water, is arguably the most precious resource on earth, and in Oregon, by law, all water belongs to the public. However, if you examine who actually controls water usage in Oregon, you might come away with a very different impression. Water rights, and the laws that govern them, are incredibly consequential for both h…

1
Forest Under Siege, with Author Rand Schenk - Part 2 29:00

1+ y ago29:00

29:00

Today’s episode is part two of my interview with Rand Schenk, author of a great new book on history of the Forest Service, its founder, Gifford Pinchot, and over 100 years of forest management and mismanagement in the Pacific Northwest. The book, “Forest Under Siege: The Story of Old Growth After Gifford Pinchot”, chronicles the Forest Service’s pr…

1
Forest Under Siege, with Author Rand Schenk - Part 1 29:00

1+ y ago29:00

29:00

Today’s episode is part one of a two part interview with Rand Schenk, author of a fascinating and timely new history of the Forest Service, its founder, Gifford Pinchot, and over 100 years of forest management and mismanagement in the Pacific Northwest. The book, “Forest Under Siege: The Story of Old Growth After Gifford Pinchot”, explores the Fore…

1
Fighting for our Drinking Water, with North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection 29:00

1+ y ago29:00

29:00

Whether you live in a city, a small town, or even if you get your water from a well like I do, one of the biggest threats to drinking water in the Pacific Northwest is industrial logging. (A hugely notable exception is portland, which as my guest will touch on in the interview, does not allow logging in its drinking water source, the Bull Run water…

1
Saving Oregon's Kelp Forests, with Tom Calvanese of Oregon Kelp Alliance 36:00

1+ y ago36:00

36:00

The Coast Range Association is a founding member of the brand new Oregon Ocean Alliance, which has formed to more effectively advocate for Oregon’s ocean and coast ecosystems. In a future episode, I’ll be talking with some of the other founding members about our mission and goals and all of that good stuff. The reason I bring it up today is that on…

1
Poor Windy Update: BLM Backs Down After Tree Sit! 29:00

1+ y ago29:00

29:00

About a year and half ago, we did an episode on a Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, timber sale in Southern Oregon called Poor Windy, as part of our Worth More Standing series highlighting some of the biggest threats to mature and old growth forests on public lands. Recently, community activists set up a tree sit in an old growth grove that was ta…

1
Northwest Forest Plan: Protecting the Siuslaw National Forest 29:00

1+ y ago29:00

29:00

Today, we’re going to go deep on an incredibly important subject, albeit one with a somewhat less than stirring name if you aren’t already familiar: The northwest forest plan The northwest forest plan sets the overall management strategy for 17 National Forests across a staggering 24 million acres of federal lands in Washington, Oregon and northwes…

1
Celebrating Two Recent Victories for Oceans and State Forests! 29:01

1+ y ago29:01

29:01

It is important to celebrate our victories, and today we get to talk about two of them! The Oregon Board of Forestry (BoF) recently voted to approve its first ever Habitat Conservation Plan on State Forests, and a bill to fully fund and strengthen Oregon’s Marine Reserve Program sailed through the recent legislative session. To talk about these vic…

1
The Campaign for Oregon's Estuaries, with Annie Merrill 37:17

1+ y ago37:17

37:17

We often think of the land and the sea as separate worlds that have little to do with each other. But that barrier is much more fluid and interconnected than many people realize. We’ve talked on this program before about what folks call the ‘Land-Sea Connection’, and today we’re going to talk about the ‘connection’ piece of that equation, estuaries…