Liam Moriarty

Oregon’s Third Senate District encompasses roughly the southern half of Jackson County, from Medford to the California line. It’s also a district that could determine whether the state’s Democratic legislators get the super-majority that would enable them to pass spending measures without Republican votes.

The two candidates for the seat met in a town hall-style forum Thursday night sponsored by Southern Oregon University and Jefferson Public Radio.

An “on-again-off-again” proposal for a nickel mine in southwest Oregon is on again. And members of both Oregon’s and California’s congressional delegations have written to federal officials to demand the lawmakers be kept in the loop.

Increasingly, wildfires and the smoke they cause are becoming the daily reality of summer in southern Oregon and northern California. On Saturday, several hundred people gathered at Southern Oregon University to hear a series of panel discussions on how local communities could respond.

In late July, the Carr fire swept through parts of Redding, California and the surrounding area. Now, residents are faced with burned hillsides and more than a thousand home sites contaminated with toxic ash. What are the potential environmental impacts? JPR’s Liam Moriarty went to find out.

Many residents of southern Oregon and northern California are into their seventh week of poor air quality. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is proposing a bill that would help people pay for temporary housing to escape unhealthy air from wildfire smoke. 

Last month, the Carr Fire forced nearly 40,000 people to flee their homes in Redding and the surrounding area. More than a thousand homes were destroyed and many businesses took a major hit. Now, as the smoke literally begins to clear, residents are dealing with the economic fallout of the disaster.

Oregon is considering changes to how it regulates smoke. The idea is to make it easier to use intentionally-set wildland fires – called “prescribed fires.”  

By burning off brush and woody debris at times of the year when fire danger is low, land managers hope to reduce the dry fuels that can stoke large wildfires. It’s those fires that have been causing most of the smoke we’ve been choking on for weeks now.

JPR’s Liam Moriarty spoke EarthFix reporter Jes Burns, who’s been covering the story.  

The Carr Fire in northern California has slowed, as it moves past the city of Redding into rural areas to the north and west. As some evacuated residents are allowed back into their neighborhoods, they tell harrowing stories of panicked escapes, homes lost and lives changed forever.

When disasters strike, access to food is a top priority. With thousands still displaced by the Carr fire near Redding, the volunteer chefs of World Central Kitchen believe canned soup and bologna sandwiches aren’t enough.

In a commercial kitchen in downtown Redding, volunteers are slicing up pans of fresh herbed focaccia bread. Chef Jason Collis is overseeing today’s lunch:

"We’re doing Italian sausage and pepper pasta, with a sun-dried tomato pesto sauce."

Crews have largely tamed the Klamathon fire, which burned 36,500 acres in northern California and southern Oregon over the past week. The fire is 65 percent contained and the area has seen minimal fire behavior since Tuesday.

The fire perimeter hasn’t grown for three days and only a relatively small area of rugged terrain remains without containment lines. Mark Brown is Chief of Operations for CalFire Team 4. At what was described as the final public briefing on the Klamathon fire, Brown said the incident is winding down.

Fire managers have expressed cautious optimism that they will be able to continue making progress against the Klamathon fire in the coming days.

Updated July 6, 9:11 a.m. Pacific Time

One person has died in Siskiyou County during the Klamathon Fire, reports CalFire. The agency has not released a name as it investigates the incident and notifies the person's relatives.  

Just when you think Washington, DC can't get any more exciting, a Supreme Court justice retires and roils the town. 

Anthony Kennedy's departure and replacement is the hot topic in the Senate, which will confirm the replacement. 

Democrats have little say in the process, but they do have opinions.  Both of Oregon's senators (and California's) are Democrats; Sen. Ron Wyden offers his perspective in a swing through Southern Oregon. 

One point: Wyden says not all power resides in Washington. 

The US Forest Service has just released a new science report that will guide how National Forests are managed in the Pacific Northwest.

Managers at the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest are weighing how much of the area burned in Oregon’s largest fire last year should be salvage logged.

But while harvesting partially burned trees will put cash in local pockets, the forest health and fire safety benefits that proponents claim are more elusive.

This was aired on NPR's All Things Considered on May 27, 2018

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Now we're going to hear how parts of the West are preparing for wildfire season. Fire managers have already started to set what are called prescribed burns - fires that are set intentionally in a controlled area. The idea is to clear the forest so that if fires spark up over the summer, there's less fuel to burn.