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https://www.opb.org/article/2026/04/09/oregon-forest-protections-conservation-groups/Mount Hood and Mount Hood National Forest on Dec. 12, 2025. Mount Hood and Mount Hood National Forest on Dec. 12, 2025. Saskia Hatvany / OPB Before issuing sweeping protections on more than 30% of U.S. Forest Service-managed lands in 2001, federal officials spent more than a year holding 600 meetings across Western states and received more than 1.6 million public comments. But federal officials have not held a single public meeting since they announced in August an effort to terminate the 2001 Roadless Rule, which prohibits road construction, logging and mining on roughly 60 million acres of public land, including about 2 million acres of forests in Oregon. Forest Service officials did not respond to questions from the Capital Chronicle Thursday morning. Instead, U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas — a Democrat representing Oregon’s Willamette Valley and ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee’s forestry subcommittee — and several conservation groups led by the Oregon chapter of the Sierra Club are taking up the mantle. Salinas and the Sierra Club hosted a public meeting Wednesday at the Ecotrust building in Portland, where roughly 60 audience members could give verbal comments or submit written ones. It was one of three public meetings on the Roadless Rule they scheduled this month, including a Monday meeting in Bend with roughly 150 attendees, according to organizers, and another scheduled for April 14 in Eugene. Related: What the reorganization of the U.S. Forest Service will mean for the Pacific Northwest The U.S. Department of Agriculture has so far opened a single three-week comment period since its leader, Brooke Rollins, proposed terminating the rule in August. Salinas told the audience a second comment period would open soon. The first public comment period brought in more than 600,000 comments, most of which expressed opposition to any rollback of the Roadless Rule. “Our next opportunity for public comment will open any day now, and I will again use this opportunity to demand this administration change course,” Salinas said. Last summer, she introduced the Roadless Area Conservation Act to enshrine the rule in federal law, but it does not yet have enough support to pass. In the House, 78 of her colleagues have signed on as co-sponsors, including Oregon Democratic Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Janelle Bynum and Maxine Dexter, as have 25 U.S. Senators. The state’s two other representatives, Democrat Val Hoyle and Republican Cliff Bentz, have not signed on as sponsors. What roadlessness protects Roadless areas in Oregon include Iron Mountain in the Willamette National Forest, Joseph Canyon in Wallowa County, Tumalo Mountain in central Oregon and Lookout Mountain in the Ochoco National Forest. Jared Kennedy, who works for the Greater Hells Canyon Council in Enterprise, said at Wednesday’s meeting there are already 26,000 miles of roads across Forest Service lands in eastern Oregon, southeast Washington and north-central Idaho. “That’s more than enough miles of road to circle the Earth and then still drive to Portland from Enterprise and back,” he said. Some attendees had worked on passing the Roadless Rule and spoke at public meetings the Forest Service held in 1999 and 2000. Among them was Kristin Faulkner, who said issues that spurred the rule in the first place have only gotten worse, as climate change, declining snowpacks and biodiversity loss accelerate drought, floods and wildfire. “Here we are 26 years later, or six presidential terms later, or a generation later, to again defend why we desperately need the Roadless Rule to remain fully intact more than ever before,” she said. She and others argued that intact forests have far-reaching benefits, including keeping water clean for fish and humans. Nearly 90% of people in the West are served by public drinking water systems that rely on water from national forest and grasslands. Commenters also discussed the massive amounts of carbon forests take-in and store, and that would otherwise enter the atmosphere as gas, further increasing global temperatures and climate change. The largest roadless area in the U.S., the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, holds 44% of all the carbon stored by the United States’ national forests and is home to some of the last old-growth stands in the country. Related: US Forest Service to close Portland headquarters, research station, open Salem office A firefighter at the meeting discussed his concerns with more roads in forests given 85% of wildland fires are caused by humans, and 90% of those start within a half mile of roads, according to Forest Service data. Others discussed the already low funding and growing backlog of maintenance needs on existing roads in national forests. Jordan Latter, a manager at Bark, a conservation watchdog group dedicated to protecting the Mt. Hood National Forest, cited a recent Pew Charitable Trusts report showing a $6.4 billion road maintenance backlog within the National Forest system. He added that the roads in Mt. Hood alone need $72 million of investment to be brought up to standard. “And what is in the president’s fiscal year 2027 budget proposal? $73 million for road maintenance — for the entire National Forest system,” he said. Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Bluesky. This republished story is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit opb.org/partnerships.

Conservation groups hold public meetings on Oregon forest protections after feds won’t

Published on April 10, 2026

By Alex Baumhardt (Oregon Capital Chronicle) April 9, 2026 2:12 p.m. https://www.opb.org/article/2026/04/09/oregon-forest-protections-conservation-groups/ Federal officials announced in August they would terminate a 25-year-old rule protecting from development on […]

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub (ORCAH)
https://www.opb.org/article/2026/04/10/bend-oregon-charge-gas-appliances-new-homes/

Bend could become 2nd city in Oregon to charge for gas appliances in new homes

Published on April 10, 2026

By Kathryn Styer Martínez (OPB) April 10, 2026 10:03 a.m. https://www.opb.org/article/2026/04/10/bend-oregon-charge-gas-appliances-new-homes/ If approved, Bend would join local governments across the country that are encouraging decarbonization. But power […]

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub (ORCAH)
LTE

Sunday Oregonian LTE: “Legislators must prioritize climate”

Published on March 18, 2026

Climate action hero Brian Ettling from SE Portland published this LTE in the Sunday Oregonian on March 15. Legislators must prioritize climate Thank you to […]

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub (ORCAH)

Merkley, Wyden Announce Over $33 Million for Southern Oregon Critical Wildlife Crossing

Published on December 23, 2025

Text below from the office of Senator Jeff Merkley. Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced today that the Oregon […]

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub (ORCAH)

ODOE Draft Report on Natural Climate Solutions Workforce Needs Available for Public Comment

Published on December 17, 2025

Text below from ODOE. SALEM – The Oregon Department of Energy released a draft report for the Natural Climate Solutions Workforce Development and Training Programs […]

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub (ORCAH)
Forbes 30 under 30

30 Under 30 Energy & Green Tech 2026: Meet The Founders Recharging Our Energy Future

Published on December 12, 2025

Text below from Forbes. This year’s honorees are reinventing nuclear reactors, pioneering solar panel recycling, and even fighting global warming by cutting cow burps. By […]

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub (ORCAH)

One year in, a $200M climate grant has funded work in 32 of Oregon’s 36 counties

Published on December 3, 2025

Text below from OPB. By Monica Samayoa (OPB) Dec. 2, 2025 3:31 p.m. Oregon’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the state’s largest sectors […]

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub (ORCAH)

A group of young Indigenous kayakers set out to become the first to paddle the entire Klamath River, from source to sea, after the biggest dam removal project in history.

Published on December 2, 2025

This a moving story about a group of Indigenous youth that kayaked down the entire Klamath River following the dam removal project that was completed […]

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub (ORCAH)

Improving methane emissions tracking in Oregon

Published on July 16, 2025

SB 726 passed this session, and requires Benton County landfill operators to utilize the now widely available remote-monitoring technologies pioneered by Carbon Mapper (aircraft, satellite, […]

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub

Al Gore’s Real-Time Climate Data Site Just Went Live

Published on April 21, 2025

Reported by Ingmar Rentzhog, Forbes. April 21, 2025 Last month, something revolutionary quietly took place. On March 28, 2025, the world received its first-ever monthly Climate […]

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub

Oregon’s climate change education bill advances

Published on April 18, 2025

Reported by Glenn Branch, National Center for Science Education. April 18th, 2025. Oregon’s House Bill 3365, which seeks to support climate change education in the Beaver […]

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub

Oregon’s Polluters Pay Act could charge fossil fuel companies for climate damages

Published on April 8, 2025

Reported by Michaela Bourgeois, KOIN 6. April 8, 2025. On Monday, the Senate Committee on Energy and Environment held a hearing on Senate Bill 1187, the Make Polluters […]

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub

Help Bend Be Named The “Strongest Town” In The Country

Published on April 1, 2025

Bend, Oregon has advanced to the “final four” in the national Strongest Town Contest—an exciting recognition of many advocates working together to create a more sustainable, climate resilient, and livable city. Vote by April 3 to help Bend stay in the running.

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Posted by:
Central Oregon LandWatch
Fossil Free

Ashland becomes the first city in Oregon to impose a fee on new natural gas hookups

Published on February 24, 2025

A youth climate advocacy group in Ashland, Oregon, is celebrating their victory in pushing the city to enact a fee to discourage the installation of natural gas appliances in new homes.

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub

Warm Springs awarded $248,000 to develop solar projects

Published on January 13, 2025

Reported by Michael Kohn, The Bend Bulletin. January 13, 2025.  The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs were awarded $248,000 for solar projects on reservation […]

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub

Klamath River dam removal completed

Published on October 4, 2024

The largest river restoration project in American history has completed all of the work to remove four Klamath River dams on the Oregon-California border.

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub

Oregon awarded federal funding to boost climate action programs

Published on September 24, 2024

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded Oregon DEQ and the Nez Perce Tribe over $200M through its Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program.

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Posted by:
Oregon Climate Action Hub
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