Timber Wars
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It’s the 1990s in the Pacific Northwest. A march of chainsaws clear-cuts the country’s last available ancient forests. Protesters bury themselves in front of bulldozers and spend months sitting in the tallest trees in the world. And at the center, the northern spotted owl becomes the most controversial bird in the country. The "Timber Wars" podcast tells the story of how this conflict reshaped the Northwest and the nation as a whole, and transformed the way we see—and fight over—the natural world."Listeners are left with both an appreciation of the magnificence of old growth forests and the toll paid by logging communities when those forests were protected. Environmentalists and loggers don't agree on much, but I think they will concur that 'Timber Wars' is fair and brilliant journalism."—"New York Times" columnist and Oregon-native Nicholas KristofFor more, sign up for OPB’s newsletter that combines the podcast with further reporting to take readers through the history of this epic battle in stories, images, videos and more: www.opb.org/timber-wars-newsletter

Bonus Ep: Wildfire

In 2020, wildfires swept across the West, consuming millions of acres of forest and destroying thousands of homes and even whole communities. And sadl...
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Guest Ep: How to Save a Planet

In the final months of the Trump administration, there were a flurry of environmental rollbacks that hearkened back to the Timber Wars, including chan...
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Guest Ep: Grouse

If you’ve been enjoying Timber Wars, there’s a new show you should check out. It’s about a weird and wonderful bird: the greater sage-grouse. You’ll f...
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Ep 7: A Way Forward

Is the Northwest fatally divided, or can we overcome our differences and work together? We tell the story of one group of loggers and environmentalist...
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Ep 6: The Backlash

Before the Northwest Forest Plan had a chance to succeed, Congress seized upon the threat of wildfires to create a loophole and throw the plan out the...
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Ep 5: The Plan

The Timber Wars grew so hot that one of President Clinton’s first acts in office was to fly half his cabinet to Portland to resolve the conflict. The ...
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Ep 4: Mill City

Mill City was one of dozens of flourishing timber towns, where a job in the woods or at the local sawmill could support a good life. But protests and ...
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Ep 3: The Owl

Throughout the 80s, environmentalists lost in the woods and in the courtrooms. There just weren’t many laws that protected trees. But there were laws ...
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Ep 2: The Ancient Forest

For most of America’s history, trees were seen as crops, and the plan was to log the country’s last virgin forests and make them de facto tree farms. ...
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