The Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded nearly $1.5 million to remove
dams and culverts in the Gales Creek Watershed and reestablish native plants along stream banks to shade threatened fish species and improve water quality.
Environment
Contract awarded to begin dam removal project at Balm Grove
The Washington County Board of Commissioners—who also serve as the Clean Water Services Board of Directors—awarded a $924,950 contract to remove the Balm Grove Dam and do stream restoration work at the site to Biohabitats, Inc. Tuesday evening.
Lawsuit on state’s management of forestland moves to Oregon Supreme Court
Linn and 12 other counties, including Washington, have asked the Oregon Supreme Court to review a ruling reversing a $1.1 billion verdict in a case over the state’s management of forestland and revenue from timber harvests.
One of North America’s most destructive bugs arrives in Oregon
For the first time in Oregon, a grim confirmation came from Ash trees in Forest Grove’s Joseph Gale Elementary School parking lot: Emerald ash borers, responsible for wiping out hundreds of millions of Ash trees in 35 states, are here.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden raises concerns over shortage of firefighters, federal spending on fire prevention
Oregon faces a shortage of wildland firefighters that could be “a recipe for trouble,” according to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden. Wyden wrote to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently with concerns that their agencies weren’t prepared to handle another catastrophic fire season such[Read More…]
New limits coming for Chinook fishing over historically low numbers
Due to years of drought and poor ocean conditions, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will restrict fishing for wild Chinook salmon in parts of the state from late summer through the end of the year. Numbers of wild Chinook in several coastal tributaries are forecast to be at[Read More…]
State advises Oregonians to watch out for snapping turtles
State wildlife officials are on the hunt for invasive snapping turtles. These prehistoric-looking creatures, native to the eastern part of Canada and the U.S. , have settled into the Tualatin River watershed and been spotted elsewhere, including the Clackamas, Willamette, Columbia, Sandy, Molalla, Pudding and Umpqua rivers and the Columbia Slough. [Read More…]
Photos: the landslide muddying local waters
The cause of muddied waters, which could have negative effects on fish, drinking water, and irrigation throughout the Gales Creek area and into other parts of Washington County has been tracked to two large landslides located on the southeast slope of Round Top. There, an unnamed tributary of North Fork[Read More…]
Oregon Appeals Court reverses $1.1 billion verdict over state forest management
The Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed a $1.1 billion verdict against the state for how it manages forests, ruling that the state wasn’t obligated to maximize logging and profits.
Balm Grove Dam removal project receives $270,000 grant approval from state
A significant chunk of funding to remove the Balm Grove Dam on Gales Creek was approved Tuesday after a vote of the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board awarded a $270,000 grant for the project to the Tualatin River Watershed Council.
The groceries your family needs!
New patients only, no cash value, cannot be combined with any other offers