Matthew Preutsch, formerly of the New York Times in Seattle and now the Oregonian’s Bend correspondent, had a fascinating article yesterday that illustrates the principle of slow news. It describes the gradual die-off of a unique patch of forest among the dunes of central Oregon. Is the cause of this forest plague nearby irrigation? Off-road vehicles? Climate change? As is so often the case in slow news, the story is nuanced.
Elizabeth Bluemink of the Juneau Empire also deserves credit for a fascinating and hopeful piece on the push for small-scale, value-added, sustainable logging in southeast Alaska. The community of Gustavus, for example, is pushing to replace a 10-year plan for clearcutting with a 200-year plan for selective logging. Beneath the headlines of forest buyouts and massive timber deals, Cascadia’s forest economy is transforming itself (something we discussed here). And Bluemink reveals one face of that transformation.
Both articles illustrate the kind of journalism Cascadia deserves more of: thoughtful coverage of the gradual trends that are making our place.
