Pacific Northwest

Despite a softening of the party line on environmental issues, Oregon’s returning Congressman, Bob Smith, is giving no ground. He’s back from retirement and heading the House Agriculture Committee. Ley Garnett reports on what may be in store for the nation’s forests under Smith.

Former logger Robert Leo Heilman comments on the trouble he had justifying to himself that his work was ethical. Heilman’s collection of essays, Overstory Zero: Real Life in Timber Country, is published by Sasquatch Books.

Commentator Nancy Lord remarks on the universal myth of “BigFoot” and how old growth woods make sure there is always a habitat for such universally important creatures of the imagination.

With the help of reporters in the Oregon and Washington, Living on Earth producer George Homsy pulled together this small sample of the divergent views from the people who live near, work in and enjoy the Pacific Northwest.

Thirty years ago, Oregon developed the nation’s first blueprint for controlled growth. It was a heated public dialogue, the talk of the state for years. Reporter Robin White looks back at those heady days and at why an increasing number of Oregonians are now dissatisfied with their plan.