skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Extending the 'Ponderosa Pine Branch' of Peace

play audio
Play

Thursday, December 17, 2009   

WASHINGTON, D.C. - It's not an olive branch being extended, but perhaps a Ponderosa pine branch. On Wednesday, Oregon environmental leaders and timber industry executives stood side-by-side in the nation's capital, joining Sen. Ron Wyden to announce new legislation to revive the Oregon timber industry with a more conservation-oriented approach to logging.

Wyden prodded the discussions along over the past year and will introduce new legislation that has the blessing of both sides, for managing the six national forests in Eastern Oregon. It focuses on protecting old-growth trees and streams, and logging more selectively to improve the health of the forests.

Steve Pedery, conservation director for Oregon Wild, was part of the negotiations.

"I'm not going to say we see eye-to-eye with the timber industry on everything, because we certainly don't. But, I think it's demonstrated to both sides that there really are opportunities to sit down and meet both sides' objectives."

The bill would create a scientific panel to monitor the outcome. In crafting the historic agreement, Pedery says there was more common ground than either side had expected.

"We were a little surprised on the environmental side of the table that the industry folks really weren't all that interested in logging old-growth Ponderosa pine anymore, either. They had a general consensus on their team that there's not a lot of that stuff left, and the public really doesn't want it logged. It was really, 'Yep, that's the right thing to do.'"

Eventually, the agreement and legislation are expected to end the cycle of expensive legal challenges to many of the timber sales on federal land. Pedery says it is not retroactive, however, so the fate of some sales would still be decided in court. If it becomes law and works well, he says a similar agreement might someday be forged for Western Oregon.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021