Conservation Columns

The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail As I discussed in last month’s column, the arrival of a new administration in Washington means that conservation organizations can hope to advance an ambitious forward-looking agenda, rather than simply attempt to defend the victories of the past. Recently, the National Audubon Society and the American Bird Conservancy released [...]

The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail As we move toward spring, let’s continue to celebrate the positive (and how delightful it is to have positives to celebrate!). In this column I highlight three proposals that, if enacted, would represent tremendous victories in long-running conservation struggles. The first proposal is the River Democracy Act (RDA). Introduced [...]

The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail Happy February! Happy, happy February! Beginning with this month’s Conservation Column, I look forward to hav-ing a lot more (well…any) good news to share than I have for the past four years. For a while, though, the good news will consist mostly of reversal of some of the worst [...]

The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail Well, the election is over – right? Despite the outrageous attempts by the Trump administration to contest President-Elect Biden’s clear victory, we WILL have a new president on January 20. Unfortunately, there are plenty of anti-environmental decisions being rushed through in the meantime. I start this Conservation Column with [...]

The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail As I write this, we are all struggling to come to terms with the effects of the Almeda Fire. My deepest sympathy to all who have lost homes or businesses in the fire. Recovery of the towns of Talent and Phoenix will take many years. The fire also devastated [...]

The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail Welcome back from summer! I hope you all got out and spent plenty of time enjoying the wild birds and wild places of our beautiful region – maintaining social distancing, of course. So, what do you want to hear first – the good news or the bad news? I [...]

The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail As this is the last Chat for a few months, I thought I would present an update on some of the statewide conservation priorities for the Oregon Audubon Council (OAC) that are of particular concern here in our region. This summary is provided by Joe Liebezeit, Chief Scientist of [...]

The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail Well. Crazy world, right? At the end of February, I returned to the U.S. from a two-week voyage through the Seychelles Islands, with highlights including the incredible giant tortoises of Aldabra Atoll and such unique birds as the Seychelles Blue-Pigeon and the Black Parrot. Little did I know that [...]