In this episode, Katie Murray, Executive Director of Oregonians for Food and Shelter (OFS) returns to the podcast, but this time to host a conversation with Isabella Nelson, recent graduate from Oregon State University (OSU) with an honors bachelor of science degree in environmental chemistry and a minor in toxicology, and Dr. Kim Anderson, professor from the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology at OSU. They discuss Isabella’s internship project with OFS which highlights how the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s flawed data analysis and misuse of environmental monitoring results can lead to inaccurate and warped conclusions. Isabella discusses her scientifically accurate analysis of data produced by the Pesticide Stewardship Partnership, a decades old program designed as a targeted, voluntary effort to identify local water quality issues and support education for pesticide applicators. The podcast explores how DEQ began using the program’s data inappropriately to make broad regional conclusions that inflate concerns over pesticide use and undermine trust. Isabella and Kim provide recommendations to refocus the program by applying sound science, improving data transparency and ensuring environmental policies are based on accurate, meaningful analysis that truly benefits both water quality and communities as the program as intended.

In this episode we interview Chris Evans, president of Oregon's newest mass timber manufacturer, TimberLab, who played a major role in the new mass timber ceiling at the Portland International Airport (PDX). We talk about everything from what mass timber is, the history of using large wood in construction, the construction speed advantage of wood buildings that utilize cross laminated timber, mass plywood or other mass timber, the environmental benefits, challenges to larger scale adoption and what policymakers can do to advance this emerging technology. For more information on mass timber, visit the Oregon Forest Resources Institute's page on mass timber or visit ThinkWood.

This episode with Sara Duncan, Director of Communications for the Oregon Forest Industries Council, takes on the top six myths about the timber industry, including:

1. Tree farms are not forests, and the timber industry only plants a monoculture of Douglas-fir.

2. Clearcuts are unnecessary, you could just thin forests instead.

3. Logging is the number one source of carbon emissions in Oregon and older trees sequester more carbon than young trees.

4. The timber industry cuts down trees for toilet paper.

5. All timber companies in Oregon are owned by out-of-state, wall street investors like TIMOs and REITs.

6. The listing of the spotted own didn't cause as many job losses as the industry said, it was actually automation.

In this episode, Senator Elizabeth Steiner, Senate co-chair of the full Ways and Means Committee in the Oregon Legislature, discusses a work group she convened that OFIC's Kyle Williams participated in after the end of the 2023 legislative session. The work group was tasked with exploring ways to address Oregon's wildfire funding crisis that has been building for years, and resulted in a concept that will be put forward as a bill (House Bill 4133) under consideration in the upcoming 2024 legislative session. Sen. Steiner and Kyle discuss the elements that led to formation of the work group, who participated and why, how they developed ideas, and the details of the proposal (including one element that will not move forward). Toward the end of the episode, Sen. Steiner also addresses the incomplete reporting about the workgroup by the media.

Two short clips (part 1, part 2) can be found on our YouTube channel.

Table of Contents

Background

4:23 – 13:33 The history (and context) that lead to creation of the workgroup.

13:34 – 16:03 Where fires are starting and where acres are burning.

16:04 – 21:04 What happened at the end of the 2023 session that resulted in not continuing the $15 million landowner offset?

21:05 – 23:40 Why have conversations on wildfire funding failed in the past?

23:41 – 29:44 How the workgroup came together, who was involved and the process/guidelines for the workgroup conversation.

29:45 – 33:56 Why weren’t there more people involved in the conversation?

33:57 – 45:52 How the proposal came together, the three principles that lead to consensus.

The proposal

45:53 – 50:24 One piece of the proposal that isn’t moving forward.

50:25 – The pieces of the proposal that are moving forward in the bill (HB 4133).

56:14 – 59:04 What the $10/tax account wasn’t paying for and how landowner rates would be reduced.

59:05 – 1:00:20 The primary driver that will reduce landowner per acre rates.

Responding to media coverage

1:00:21 – 1:03:25 Did Sen. Steiner do this for political reasons, because she is running for Treasurer?

1:03:26 – 1:08:09 Did contributions to Sen. Steiner’s PAC influence the proposal? Was it a quid pro quo?

1:08:10 – 1:15:10 Does this proposal shift the financial burden for wildfire from big corporations to average Oregonians?

1:15:11- 1:17:28 How does wildfire funding in Oregon compare to other states?

1:17:29 – 1:20:56 Did one company “write the proposal”/did one entity have more influence over the proposal than others?

1:20:57 – 1:23:15 Sen. Steiner’s experience with two reporters who have covered this issue.

1:23:16 – 1:25:11 Concluding remarks/what’s next.

This episode with Katie Murray, executive director of Oregonians for Food and Shelter, and Seth Barnes, director of forest policy for the Oregon Forest Industries Council covers all things related to pesticide use in forestry, including: how pesticides (primarily herbicides) are applied either aerially or with a ground crew roughly two to four times in the first few years of a new forests’ life to hold back invasive species and noxious weeds. We also cover the regulations in the Oregon Forest Practices Act related to reforestation and water quality protection (including new protections put in place by the Private Forest Accord), what happens when applicators don’t follow the law, the process for notifying the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and neighbors about forest activities, water quality monitoring studies, how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assesses health risks and registers pesticides, what’s on a pesticide label, the carcinogenicity of glyphosate (Roundup), and impacts to pollinators.

This episode with Dr. Tom DeLuca, dean of the Oregon State University College of Forestry, focuses primarily on carbon sequestration and storage in forestry and forest soils. We also discuss a whole range of topics surrounding carbon, including the history of forestry as a practice, the carbon cycle of forests, how long carbon is stored in wood products, the carbon benefits of mass timber like cross laminated timber and mass plywood panels, the human connection to trees and wood products, the impact of active management on carbon stored in soil, the symbiotic relationship between soil and trees, and the impact of different land uses on carbon in soil.

This episode with Jim Paul, the newly appointed Executive Director of the Oregon Forest Resources Institute, discusses the institute’s three primary program areas (public education, K-12 education, and landowner education), as well as how OFRI is funded, the institute’s response to former Governor Kate Brown's request for a 2021 audit by Oregon Secretary of State Shamia Fagan, and implications of a bill in the 2023 Oregon legislative session.  

As a follow-up to our two previous episodes that focused on the history of state forest lands in Oregon and the state’s pursuit of a Habitat Conservation Plan, this episode discusses the recent terms agreed to by the state to settle a lawsuit filed by environmental organizations over alleged impact the state’s forest management activities have to coho salmon habitat. The episode also includes a minor correction to statements made in the first episode on this topic (Are we putting the forest to sleep? Part 1: History of State Forests) that clarifies when former Governor Kitzhaber challenged the Oregon Department of Forestry to achieve twin goals of increased revenue and increased conservation.