Conservation Today

Joe Walicki tells us the special places in Oregon to go for the best wilderness experience. He speaks about how wilderness was designated in the Umpqua in the 70's. He also tells us about his upcoming book.

Permit violations during the August 2023 repairs of the Winchester Dam on the North Umpqua River near Roseburg, resulted in the biggest fish kill on an Oregon River this year. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife fined the dam’s owners and their contractors $27.6 million dollars for the needless death of hundreds of thousands on native fish. The Winchester Dam was condemned in 1976. The Oregon Water Resource District gave the dam their highest danger rating, “high hazard,” meaning: “the department expects loss of human life to occur if the dam fails.” Mike Ruehle and Adam Miller of Community Rights Douglas County chronicle the history of the Winchester Dam. They describe the ongoing pattern of violations of both permit and law that culminated in the massive fish kill and unprecedented monetary penalty, how it could have easily been prevented, and what can be done to remove the Winchester Dam so this never happens again. The Winchester Water Control District, owners of the derelict and condemned Winchester Dam, have perpetrated a litany of documented violations including: • Illegal water storage in excess of their water rights. • Pollution of the North Umpqua River. • Privatization of publics lands and waterways. • Killing of millions of threatened and sensitive aquatic species. • Repeated failure to comply with state and federal laws and regulations.  • The use of toxic and carcinogenic building materials that leach copper, arsenic, and chromium 50 feet upstream of the intake to the public drinking water source for 37,700 residents – one third of the residents of Douglas County, Oregon. For more information, visit WinchesterDam.com

Kai Huschke, with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, talks to us about the hierarchy of community rights, states rights, and corporate rights. We look at examples of Rights of Nature laws in other countries, and why it is so difficult to have community or nature rights under the Unites States system of capitalism. Community vs corporation examples include the timber and fossil fuel industries. For more information, see https://celdf.org/. Ending song is “Occupy the USA” from the album “Revolutions Per Minute” by Emma’s Revolution. https://emmasrevolution.com/.  You can purchase this album in a non-capitalistic way by naming your own price at: https://emmasrevolution.com/revolutions-per-minute

Michelle Holman (Community Rights Lane County) and Craig Kauffman (UO professor and author) talk about a ballot initiative to help protect Lane County watersheds and give legal rights to nature. The ballot initiative can be seen here: https://www.protectlanecountywatersheds.org/lane_county_watersheds_bill_of_rights To get involved in Community Rights, and to donate to this project, see: https://www.protectlanecountywatersheds.org/donate Craig’s fascinating information is here, including a link to download his latest book: “The Politics of Rights of Nature": https://blogs.uoregon.edu/craigkauffman/ Also note, on February 22 at 6pm, Michelle, Craig and Kunu Bearchum (filmmaker, multimedia producer and Chief Petitioner for the Lane County Watersheds Bill of Rights) will join with Kai Huschke (Oregon Community Rights Network president and CELDF community organizer) in conversation about water protection, rights of nature and the pending initiative. To attend this Zoom event, send request for link to: [email protected]

A panel of speakers discusses the plight of native wild horses in "Horse Management Areas" on public lands in western states. Speakers on Part 1 and Part 2 of the Wild Horse Podcast include: Lorna Torrey Palermo is a long time horse lover, animal advocate and Advocate for Wild Equines. Linda Wallace first became interested in the wild horses as a child when she heard about Wild Horse Annie. She has been writing letters and making phone calls ever since! Linda adopted an amazing black Eastern Oregon Mustang named Moonshine in the 80s. She now visits HMAs all over the West to photograph these beautiful, majestic creatures. Nick Goertzen is a western states horse advocate Tenaya Jewell is a scientist in the medical field and a long-time activist for animals and the environment. She has always loved horses and her passion is advocating for respectful and compassionate ways of being with animals. Renee Bosarge Ivy is a long-time animal lover and dedicated horse advocate. ----------------------------------------- Links for more information: A.W.E Advocates for wild equines https://www.advocatesforwildequines.com/ https://m.facebook.com/groups/152598663650225 Wild horse education: lots of news, updates, litigation https://wildhorseeducation.org/ American wild horse campaign: Beautiful photos and very detailed background info on the issues https://americanwildhorsecampaign.org/ Skydog sanctuary: rescues mustangs, reunites families separated during round ups, has 2 locations: malibu, ca and bend, or https://www.skydogranch.org/ Articles: New evidence that wild horses are native and how history was distorted by colonizers: https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/yes-world-there-were-horses-in-native-culture-before-the-settlers-came This article includes links to official sources about grazing fees and tax payer costs http://dailypitchfork.org/?p=631&fbclid=IwAR1dMdl6jRiGlITT5amPw2vAmh68Udu4ZYXcD9vUqUkrDuLGBHBCKka2NoA Bills to Support: https://www.safe-act.org/ https://wildhorseeducation.org/2022/02/08/bill-to-ban-helicopters-to-capture-wild-horses/ ------------------------------------------- The Part 2 ending song is “Navajo Trail” by “The Slow Ponies”. Their music can be found here: https://www.slowponies.com/