Coast Range Radio

Michael Gaskill
  • 4.8 (22)
  • Nature
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At Coast Range Radio, we interview folks who work to build just communities that provide for people and the natural world. We are particularly interested in the connections between Pacific Northwest forests, social justice, and the climate crisis. Coast Range Radio is an independent radio show and podcast hosted by Michael Gaskill.  Michael is a lifelong rural Oregonian and climate justice organizer.

  1. 17h ago

    Poisoning the Well: Understanding Environmental Resentment in Timber Country, Part 2

    Today’s show features the second half of a fascinating conversation I had with Patrick Hunnicutt, Assistant Professor of Environmental Administration at the University of Oregon. Patrick is the co author of a yet to be published research project called Poisoning the Well: Process, recognition, and opposition to environmental policy in rural America. His research argues that grievances rooted in procedural injustice, for instance, the perception of resource extraction dependent communities that they are excluded from meaningful participation in land management decisions affecting them, is a key and overlooked factor in rural resentment and environmental obstructionism. This is one of my favorite conversations I’ve had in a long time, and while Patrick and I disagree in places, I think the arguments he makes are so important for environmentalists to grapple with. Today in part two, we get into lessons the environmental community can learn from the history of the Timber Wars, why supporting rural timber workers is good strategy, and a lot more.  Patrick's Book Recommendations: Rise of the American Conservation Movement: https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-rise-of-the-american-conservation-movement Anatomy of a Conflict: https://www.ubcpress.ca/anatomy-of-a-conflict Strong Winds and Widowmakers: https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p086823 https://www.instagram.com/coastrangeradio/

    44 min

  2. Jun 10

    Poisoning the Well: Understanding Environmental Resentment in Timber Country, Part 1

    My guest today is Patrick Hunnicutt, Assistant Professor of Environmental Administration at the University of Oregon. Patrick is the co author of a yet to be published research project called Poisoning the Well: Process, recognition, and opposition to environmental policy in rural America. His research argues that grievances rooted in procedural injustice, for instance, the perception of resource extraction dependent communities that they are excluded from meaningful participation in land management decisions affecting them, is a key and overlooked factor in rural resentment and environmental obstructionism. This one of my favorite conversations I’ve had in a long time, and went a bit long. So I’m going to share the whole interview, spread out over two episodes. In part 1, we’ll go deep on Patrick’s research, his impression of the fights around Oregon’s State Forests, and how exclusionary public processes foster divides and resentment. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts about the show.  My email is coastrangeradio@gmail.com, please reach out anytime. https://www.instagram.com/coastrangeradio/

    29 min

  3. May 27

    Forest Victory! Plus, Why Does the BLM Keep Lying About Timber Sales?

    Oregon forests recently got a big win in court. Earlier this month, a US District Court Judge ruled that the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, had broken the law during the planning of its so-called “Blue and Gold” timber sale, and threw out the entire project. The “Blue and Gold” is a nearly 3,500 acre tract of mature and old-growth forest on the eastern slopes of the Coast Range between Eugene and Roseburg. I actually visited the Blue and Gold forest a couple years ago. It was immediately clear that it was a special place deserving of protection, and I’m grateful to the organizers, lawyers, and activists who worked for years to do just that. I think it’s always worth taking time to celebrate our victories. But the details of the BLM’s behavior in pushing this timber sale were shocking, and I wanted to make sure that the details of their actions don’t get lost, especially as they prepare to radically change their management plans to maximize industrial timber harvest at the behest of the Trump administration. So I invited Nick Cady, Legal Director for Cascadia Wildlands to talk with me about the lawsuit, why he thinks the BLM is unfit to manage public land, and why he is so optimistic about defeating Trump’s maximum logging agenda. I would love to hear your thoughts, email me anytime at coastrangeradio@gmail.com https://www.instagram.com/coastrangeradio/

    29 min

  4. May 13

    Is the Alaska "Landless Bill" Land Back or Land Grab?! With Wanda Culp and Joshua Wright

    Unless you frequent the same activist email listservs I do, you may have no idea that, completely aside from the Trump administration’s assault on public lands, there is a bill quietly making its way through congress that would privatize and clearcut over one hundred thousand acres Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. Seems like a pretty obvious bill for environmentalists and allied congress people to oppose.  But there’s a twist.   The bill, called the Alaska Native Landless Equity Act, or simply the “Landless Bill”, would transfer the land to Alaska Native Corporations, and is being billed as a form of Land Back by Alaska’s congressional delegation. But is it?  Or is this just a disguised form of extractivist colonialism? I truly did not know what to make of the Landless Bill, so I invited Tlingit elder and activist Wanda Culp and Joshua Wright from the Legacy Forest Defense Coalition to talk me through why they oppose this bill, the short film they made about it, and other attempts to privatize public lands in Alaska. I would love to hear what you think!  The show email is coastrangeradio@gmail.com. https://www.wlfdc.org/land-less-film https://www.wlfdc.org/the-landless-bill https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/target-on-tongass-the-wildest-national-forest-may-soon-lose-its-protections/ https://www.instagram.com/coastrangeradio/

    29 min

  5. May 5

    Upending the Conventional Wisdom on the Role of Fire and Old-Growth in the PNW

    How did the majestic forests of the Pacific Northwest come to be? That may seem like an esoteric question, but if we want to know how to protect and steward them as we enter the chaotic era of the climate crisis, it’s a question worth asking New research by University of Oregon researcher James Johnston is upending a big part of the conventional wisdom around the key role fire plays in the lifecycle of our forests.  James is an Assistant Research Professor in U of O’s Institute for Resilient Organizations, Communities, and Environments. This is a surprisingly fun and fascinating dive into the ecology and politics of forest stewardship on westside forests! Special thanks to Beth Sheppard for co-hosting today's episode. Show Notes: https://www.klcc.org/environment/2026-02-08/university-of-oregon-research-overturns-long-held-ideas-about-forest-fires-in-the-western-cascades https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.70474 https://morethanjustparks.substack.com/p/breaking-trump-administration-orders https://www.instagram.com/coastrangeradio/

    29 min

  6. Apr 15

    Environmentalists Are Losing on Wildfire. Here's How We Win

    As I’m recording this in mid-April, we are coming out of the one of the warmest and driest winters on record in the Pacific northwest, and snowpack is at catastrophically low levels. Add in the Trump administration’s intentional sabotage and decimation of FEMA, the Forest Service, NOAA, and other federal agencies, and it is hard not to think that we are in for an unprecedented fire season. Aside from the threat of homes and communities burning, and smoke potentially blanketing vast swaths of the country for months, we in the conservation and climate communities need to prepare for all out propaganda blitz from the timber industry and their allied politicians as they use people’s fear to open up public lands for industrial extraction. Wildfire is a fact of nature, and we do have to learn again to coexist with it.  But far too often environmentalists focus only on the science, ignoring or downplaying the lived experience and real fears the general public has. It’s not enough to be right.  We need to be more strategic about the stories we tell and what we focus on.  And that is what today’s show is all about. The Pacific Northwest Forest Climate Alliance has just released a new wildfire messaging guide designed to cut through the confusion and misinformation about fire, offering simple and effective messaging to reframe the wildfire narrative in a way that centers forest health and community safety over backcountry logging interventions. Alex Budd is an organizer with the forest climate alliance and one of the main authors of the new guide, and he joined me to talk through it.  Links: https://forestclimatealliance.squarespace.com/wildfire-guide Roads increase risks of wildfires: Home Hardening Tips: https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/hardening-your-home/ https://www.instagram.com/coastrangeradio/

    39 min

  7. Mar 31

    The Fight To Save Roadless Forests, with Len Montgomery of Environment America

    I’m so excited to be back with a new interview after taking a little time off. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of bad news to come back to, but as ever, I am inspired by all the great work being done by activists and organizations to fight for a better world. One of those people is Len Montgomery, Director of Environment America's Great Outdoors Campaign and one of the leaders of the coalition to protect the Roadless Rule. Len has been working tirelessly to hold the line against the Trump administration’s assault on public lands, and one the the most important fights is the campaign to save the Roadless Rule, which protects tens of millions of acres from commercial extraction. Since you are reading this anyway, please consider leaving the show a rating and review so more folks can find the show!  As always, my email is coastrangeradio@gmail.com.  Show Notes: Roadless Area Maps:  - https://oregonwild.org/resource/oregon-inventoried-roadless-areas-interactive-map/  - https://outdooralliance.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=bffb3fe5fdfb43519a84c6a0cf4f8ff5 More roads cause more fires: https://www.wilderness.org/sites/default/files/media/file/Summary%20NFS%20roads%20fire%20paper%20-%202025.pdf Roadless Area Conservation Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3930/text/ih?overview=closed&format=xml https://www.instagram.com/coastrangeradio/

    35 min

  8. Feb 11

    Xerces Society Founder Robert Pyle on Invertebrate Conservation, Resurrection Ecology, and More!

    Dr. Robert Michael Pyle is a pioneer and legend in invertebrate conservation research and advocacy, as well as an accomplished author and poet.  In 1971, he founded the Xerces Society, which has grown into the most influential invertebrate conservation organization in the world. He is also the author of many books of prose and poetry, and a great storyteller.  This is part one of our conversation, part two will be out next week. This episode was researched and co-hosted by Coast Range Radio volunteer, Griffin Reim! Show Notes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Michael_Pyle https://www.xerces.org/ Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide:  https://www.counterpointpress.com/dd-product/where-bigfoot-walks/ The Dark Divide: darkdividefilm.com  https://www.instagram.com/coastrangeradio/

    56 min
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About

At Coast Range Radio, we interview folks who work to build just communities that provide for people and the natural world. We are particularly interested in the connections between Pacific Northwest forests, social justice, and the climate crisis. Coast Range Radio is an independent radio show and podcast hosted by Michael Gaskill.  Michael is a lifelong rural Oregonian and climate justice organizer.

Information

  • Creator
    Michael Gaskill
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    149
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Coast Range Radio
  • Show Website
    Coast Range Radio

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