Conservation Columns

Editor’s note: In lieu of his standard comprehensive column this month, Pepper has shared the following comments he submitted to the City of Central Point Park Planner on Sept. 26 regarding proposed changes to Mingus Pond. Thanks to Pepper for his tireless work on behalf of our valley’s birds and their ecosystems! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Subject: Comments [...]

The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail Well, this certainly wasn’t the post-pandemic we were dreaming of, but I hope everyone got out and enjoyed our beautiful southern Oregon environment before the smoke descended. Here’s hoping that by the time you read this, blue skies will have returned. This first Conservation Column back from the summer [...]

The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail This last Conservation Column for the “Audubon Year” is a summary of updates on the priority issues for the Oregon Audubon Council, the consortium of Audubon chapters in Oregon. This is an abridged version of the summary prepared by Joe Liebezeit and Bob Sallinger of Portland Audubon. Lots of [...]

The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail As I write this, Earth Day is just around the corner, so it seems an appropriate time to focus on a big-picture conservation issue: the importance of forests in the fight against the climate crisis. This recent overview is from the National Audubon Society. Forests are Important in the [...]

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 [...]