Conservation Today

Francis Eatherington

We interview people in Oregon about our environment. Interviews are played every other Saturday and Sunday morning on the Umpqua Watersheds community radio, KQUA.

  1. 19/10/2023

    Winchester Dam, The Most Dangerous Dam in Oregon

    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

    57 min
  2. 15/06/2022

    Wild Horses on Public Lands, PART 2

    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/

    1 hr
  3. 15/06/2022

    Wild Horses on Public Lands, PART 1

    A panel of speakers discusses the plight of native wild horses in "Horse Management Areas" on public lands in western states. Our 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 This is the website, there is a place to donate: https://www.advocatesforwildequines.com/ This is awe Facebook page: 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/ Current legislation in Congress that impacts the horses: *HR 3355 Safe Act: prohibits the transport of equines for the purpose of slaughter. *HR 6635 WHB Protection Act of 2022Stops the use of helicopters in the round up of wild equines *HR 6935 Grazing Retirement Act *SB 1214 Grazing, Mike LeeFacilitates the voluntary retirement of grazing allotments owned by ranchers and sale to other interested parties. * HR 5203 Ejiao Act, Don Beyer, subcommittee on health(Sept 2021)Prohibits the sale or transport of Ejiao made using donkey skins in interstate or foreign commerce. The A*W*E Advocates for Wild Equines Lobby Coalition does lobby for the passage of these acts in Congress.

    58 min
  4. 10/12/2021

    Issues with the lower Snake River Dams, a conversation with Bonnie Olin

    This is a fascinating conversation with Bonnie Olin. Bonnie is an avid river user, including kayaking on the Snake River. Bonnie talks about the four lower Snake River Dams, why they should be removed, and the impacts removal would have on fish and wildlife, as well as the economy. She covers the mitigations available for impacts such as barging grain and electrical generation. For more information, the following links were mentioned in the podcast: * Wild Salmon Center and their work. This is also the center created by Guido Rahr of the book Stronghold. https://wildsalmoncenter.org/strategy/ * Information about the book “Stronghold” by Tucker Malarkey https://wildsalmoncenter.org/stronghold-book/ * Another excellent group working to breach the dams and save the salmon is https://www.wildsalmon.org * Mike Simpson’s proposals for dam breaching. This is not a piece of legislation. It is just a set of ideas. https://simpson.house.gov/uploadedfiles/websiteslides2.4.pdf * Andy Kerr, (Public Lands Lobbyist) thoughts on Simpson’s proposal. http://www.andykerr.net/kerr-public-lands-blog/2019/9/6/a-solomonic-salmonid-solution * A link to Bonnie’s website, with stories and info about the Owyhee, and her book, The Owyhee River Journals. www.owyheemedia.com * Bonnie's letter to the editor: https://www.registerguard.com/story/opinion/columns/2021/03/20/guest-view-plight-salmon-upstream-battle/4740844001/ Walt Pollock, former BPA Administrator, letter to the editor: https://www.registerguard.com/story/opinion/columns/2021/09/02/guest-view-we-can-have-our-salmon-and-eat-it-too-hydro-power-killer-whales-chinook-oregon-idaho/5657156001/ The ending song is “Bound for the Inland Sea”, by Pacific Flyway from their album Over Our Heads, sung by Roseburg’s own Marnie Allbritten. marnie59 at jeffnet dot org

    47 min

About

We interview people in Oregon about our environment. Interviews are played every other Saturday and Sunday morning on the Umpqua Watersheds community radio, KQUA.