We're losing our forests
Mature & old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest capture and store more carbon than the Amazon rainforest.
They also support an amazing diversity of unique plant and animal species and provide important ecological services like water purification, climate regulation and flood and erosion control.
These same forests are under increasing threat from climate change, urban sprawl and public & private logging practices.
Resource use needs to be balanced with conservation, and everyone needs to be involved in holding our decision-makers accountable.
What does the research say?
We fund a number of researchers at Oregon State University and the University of Oregon who are looking at mature and old-growth forests as natural climate solutions through the lens of biodiversity, air and water quality, fire ecology and carbon storage. They are clear; preserving large tracts of mature and old-growth forests is critical in the battle against climate change and biodiversity loss.
This has profound implications on long-term forest management and we need to make our federal and state representatives are acting in the interest of current and future generations.
What we're doing
Worthy Environmental is working to document the complicated value of mature trees with the goal of changing how they are managed in natural and urban ecosystems. Through supporting research in carbon storage, climate change, biodiversity values and habitat quality, we're helping quantify the benefits that mature trees have for people and the planet.
We also interpret the findings of these studies for the general public and our legislators. The disconnect between academia and these two groups often results in misguided laws and public confusion. Making this information accessible is critical to creating change.
Become educated on the issues happening in your own community, state, region, country or world.
Contact your local representatives and express your feelings about forest health, global climate change and the effect of logging on our public and private lands.
Support efforts to plant trees and other vegetation to regenerate some of the ecological functions lost through logging, ranching and other "management" activities.
Support our work through donations, volunteering and shared SOCIAL MEDIA posts.
GET INVOLVED
RESOURCES
Map private vs. public vs. tribal lands in the state of Oregon | Oregon Forest Resources Institute
OREGON FOREST PRACTICES ACT (FPA)
A scientific and technical brief to guide legislative intervention | Center for Sustainable Economy
CLIMATE & OREGON'S INDUSTRIAL FORESTS: A GREEN NEW DEAL PROPOSAL
An outcome of over twenty years of CRA discussions about the nature of industrial forestry | Coast Range Association
NATURAL CLIMATE SOLUTIONS TO MITIGATE AND ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Articles
THE CLIMATE SOLUTION ACTUALLY ADDING MILLIONS OF TONS OF CO2 INTO THE ATMOSPHERE | ProPublica
CLEAR-CUTTING MOVES UP TO No. 1 EMISSIONS SOURCE IN OREGON | Street Roots
HOW A PUBLIC INSTITUTE IN OREGON BECAME A DE FACTO LOBBYING ARM OF THE TIMBER INDUSTRY | Oregon Public Broadcasting
TETHERED LOGGING EXTREME SLOPES | Video, Blue Line Land Works
Eastside Screens Documents
Billions in Feds' Spending on Megafire Risks Seen as Misdirected | Environment & Energy, 8/8/22
PRESS RELEASE: Conservation groups file legal challenge to restore protections for wildlife, water, and large trees in Eastern Oregon and Washington | Crag Law Center, 6/14/22
Other Views: Compromise only goes so far before action needed | Rynda Clark & Mathieu Federspiel, 7/4/22
DellaSala and Chang discussion | 11/14/22
Forest Carbon Research
Natural Climate Solutions | Griscom et al, Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 10/16/17
The Status of Science on Forest Carbon Management to Mitigate Climate Change | Law et al, 2020
Large Trees Dominate Carbon Storage in Forests East of the Cascade Crest in the United States Pacific Northwest | Mildrexler et al, Frontiers, 11/5/20
Federal Documents
Source Habitats for Terrestrial Vertebrates of Focus in the Interior Columbia Basin: Broad-Scale Trends and Management Implications | Wisdom et al, USDA Forest Service
> Volume 2A - Group Level Results
> Volume 2B - Group Level Results
US Forest Service Biological Assessment, Eastern Oregon Plans Amendment | December 2020
West Bend Project Documents
Post-logging Photos (Exhibit 2)
Phil Chang: The Dangers of Oversimplifying Forest Management
Battle over cutting down large trees near Bend moves to City Council | The Bulletin, 5/19/22
Guest Column: To save Oregon's big trees, we're suing the Forest Service | Rory Isbell, Central Oregon LandWatch, 7/1/22
Advocacy Letters
WGC Letter in Support of Elliot State Research Forest, 2/2/22
WGC Letter to Holly Jewkes, Deschutes National Forest Supervisor, 3/14/22
WGC Letter to Mayor of Bend, Sally Russell, 3/24/22
WGC Follow-up Letter to Holly Jewkes, 4/18/22
City of Bend Letter to Holly Jewkes
WGC Letter to Senators Wyden & Merkley, 4/22/22
WGC Letter to Wyden re: Codify the Protection of Big Trees, 6/28/22
WGC Letter to Oregon Congressional Delegation, 6/29/22
WGC Letter to Congressman DeFazio, 7/28/22
WGC Follow-up Letter to Wyden & Merkley re: Mature and Old Growth Trees in Oregon, 8/9/22
