By Stephen Hamway Cold, snowy storms pounded much of the Pacific Northwest, Central Oregon included, for a week, prompting winter weather warnings and canceling travel plans over the mountains. By the time those storm cells passed through, they’d dropped more than four inches of snow in Bend and more in other parts of the state. One thing the storms didn’t …
Will 2019 be the year Oregon gets climate change bill to finish line? – 1/16/2019
By Ted Sickinger If Oregon lawmakers are going to pass legislation to address climate change, 2019 could very well be their year. Such legislation has been floating around the capitol in one form or another for a decade. But it remains deeply controversial because of its complexity, its potential cost to consumers and businesses, and ongoing questions over what works. …
OSU study finds Cascade snowpack likely to diminish significantly in coming decades – 1/15/2019
By Kale Williams Researchers at Oregon State University have found that natural variability in the weather patterns of the Pacific Ocean have largely offset the effects of climate change on snow in the Cascades. That variability is probably going to change soon, the researchers said, and snowpacks in western mountain ranges could be decimated. “The western U.S. has received a …
Walking on a Knife’s Edge – 11/12/2018
by Caleb Diehl The trail that cuts through the Wild West of rural land-use politics in Oregon’s high desert. Ryan “Dirtmonger” Sylva crested a canyon rim and faced an endless expanse of sagebrush. He was hours from any sort of town, after spending days swimming through ice water in Louse Canyon, along a tributary of the Owyhee River in the remote …
Rockfish are bouncing back from years of overfishing -12/20/2018
By Cassandra Profita Booming populations of yelloweye and bocaccio rockfish, cow cod and ocean perch could bring in $60 million and support hundreds of jobs in California, Oregon and Washington. Federal fishery managers are increasing the catch limits for several West Coast species that were overfished and severely restricted for years. Surveys show depleted populations of yelloweye and bocaccio rockfish, cow cod …