Explore Oregon Podcast: The state's most beautiful places and biggest issues

In this episode, host Zach Urness chats with author Cheryl Hill about her new book "Hiking Oregon's Fire Lookouts." Hill picks 10 of her favorite lookout hikes and all the details needed to visit. She also talks about the history of lookouts, etiquette for visiting lookouts and how to spend a night in one. To buy the book or attend one of Hill's events, visit her website at: https://cherylhill.net.

U.S. Forest Service chief Tom Schultz defends reorganization plans in interview by Zach Urness / Statesman Journal

In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness talks about the popular mini cabins at Detroit Lake State Park and great places to visit nearby during the spring. The cabins were originally intended as staff housing for seasonal employees, but in the off-season, they've becoming popular for visitors that might otherwise not visit. Urness talks to the rangers who made the cabins happen, before highlighting five fun adventures nearby that are good to visit in spring.

In this episode, host Zach Urness talks about an in-depth story that he wrote about the past, present and future of Oregon's timber industry. The story and podcast look at the history of Oregon's most important and influential industry and the current push by the Trump administration to increase logging. Urness also examines the rise of "mass timber," a new style of building that could improve the health of Oregon's forests, boost the rural economy and create cheaper affordable housing in Portland and beyond.

In this episode, host Zach Urness talks with Oregon State Representative Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, about landmark legislation to protect Oregon wildlife and a host of other legislative issues. Helm talked about passage of a bill to rise $38 million for wildlife programs through an increase in the state's transient lodging tax. He also touched on other issues from the recently completed 2026 session including a bill meant to save Oregon's outdoor recreation industry, a bill to halt any sell-off of public lands and the purchase of Abiqua Falls for a new park. Helm also spoke about a controversial bill he authored that requires all non-motorized boats to get a Waterway Access Permit, which cost $20 annually. Previously, it was only required for boats 10 feet and shorter. Money from the program will pay for boat inspection stations to halt spread of invasive mussels, but the bill prompted significant backlash.

In this episode, host Zach Urness reposts a conversation with author Glenn Voelz about the rise of Oregon's search and rescue, from the pioneer age to the modern era. Voelz is author of the book "Oregon Search & Rescue: Answering the Call," which covers the state's best-known searchers, high-profile disasters and how both shaped modern search and rescue. The book and podcast cover famous disasters on Mount Hood, how groups such as the Mazama's began Oregon's early search and rescue tradition and even the state's biggest political crisis.

In this episode, host Zach Urness dives into the sale of 92-foot Abiqua Falls and the effort to preserve it as a new park. Urness talks with outdoors writer and author Adam Sawyer about what makes Abiqua Falls so special and the unique space it's occupied in becoming one of the state's most loved places. They also talk about the waterfall going up for sale and concerns that brings. Then Urness talks with Travis Williams, executive director of the Willamette Preservation Trust, about efforts by the Oregon Legislature to purchase the waterfall and combine it with other nearby land to create a new recreation site.

In this reposted episode, host Zach Urness talks with Randy Dersham, director of the documentary film "Oregon's Boat." The film, which won the award for Best Feature at the Oregon Documentary Film Festival, is now available to watch for free on YouTube or at the film's website. Dersham describes the evolution of one of the world's most famous boats — the McKenzie River Drift Boat — that took place in Eugene and on the McKenzie River. The boat evolved under a series of colorful fishing guides, woodworkers and adventurers to become the ideal boat for navigating whitewater rivers across the West.

In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness previews the upcoming Oregon legislative session and outdoor-related bills that will be considered this February. Topics include: - A potential legal fix to the lawsuit and affordability crisis facing ski areas and outfitters and guides. Pete Wallstorm with the Oregon Outfitters and Guides Association details why the issue has become such a big deal. - An increase to the Oregon hotel tax to fund wildlife conservation — the so-called 1.25% for wildlife. - The practice of "corner crossing" to access public lands sometimes cut off by private land - An effort to reduce the number of people who need to purchase Waterway Access Permits to float small boats on rivers and lakes - Gov. Tina Kotek nominated Kacey KC to become lead the embattled Oregon Department of Forestry. She'll need to be confirmed by the Oregon Senate this February. - Oregon's ski areas are struggling to stay open amid the worst snow season in Oregon since 2015, and it's not expected to get any easier.

In this episode, host Zach Urness talks with Oregon state climatologist Larry O'Neill about the state's lack of mountain snow and whether it's going to rally this winter. Then, they talk about where 2025 ranked in terms of heat, rainfall and other factors from this past year. The year 2025 was the third-warmest in records that date back to 1895 and O'Nell talks about why that was the case and other temperature trends seen in Oregon in recent years.

In this episode, host Zach Urness talks about: The delayed start of winter recreation season, but the encouraging opening of Hoodoo Ski Area Storm damage and the closures of numerous popular outdoor recreation sites The most interesting people and places that we covered in 2025

In this reposted episode, host Zach Urness talks about the mythic Grove of Titans, a collection of the largest redwood trees on earth, located just south of the Oregon and California state line. This podcast, which originally published in 2021, focuses on a recently completed trail system that provides access to the Grove inside northern California's Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. Previously, the grove was closed after overuse and crowding brought damage to the trees and surrounding forest. Zach details what makes the Titans, which rise 320 feet and are 1,500 years old, so unique and special. He also details the history of how the grove was discovered by scientists and big tree hunters in the 1990s and then subsequently damaged by overuse and internet fame.

In this episode, host Zach Urness goes fishing in an unusual place — the bottom of an empty reservoir on a stream that only appears for a few weeks every year. The place in question is Lookout Point Lake, a reservoir southeast of Eugene just off Highway 58. The reservoir undergoes a deep drawdown each year to help endangered fish, and in the process exposes reservoir bed — and a river — that's been submerged for almost 70 years. Zach and fish biologist Greg Taylor headed out to fish this "new river" for trout last weekend, in the process hiking past ancient ruins and sweeping mudflats. They talk about where to go, what you can catch and what fishing the "deep drawdown" is all about.

In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness talks with Debbie Colbert, director of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Colbert became the first female director of ODFW, an agency tracing its history back to the 1800s, in May of 2024. In the podcast, she talked about her background as a field scientist and her first year as director, before jumping into hot-button topics like fee increases for fishing and hunting licenses, the future of Oregon's hatcheries and wild fish, wolf management, whale entanglement and some big wins for like the coastal coho salmon recovery.

In this episode, host Zach Urness reposts his tips and tricks to finding the perfect Christmas tree in Oregon's national forests. With a $5 permit, you can travel far and wide in the national forests to find a tree to bring home — whether you live in Portland, Salem, Eugene or elsewhere. It's not always as easy as it seems, however. The podcast breaks down where to get a permit, which forest to target, what elevation to find success and other tips on exploring in the snow.

In this episode, host Zach Urness talks with author Dan Shryock about his book on Oregon's Scenic Bikeways. Shryock, who wrote "Cycling Across Oregon" in 2024, talks about what inspired the book, his eight favorite rides and what he discovered along the way. The routes Shryock rode took him through deep forest, over the Cascade Mountains, onto the Oregon Coast and into eastern Oregon canyons.

In this episode, host Zach Urness looks at the curious case of how a non-native fish, walleye, showed up at Lookout Point Reservoir and was then flushed into the Upper Willamette River Basin. Urness interviews two fish biologists about how walleye, a tasty but controversial fish, were discovered at the reservoir east of Eugene and spawned to become a fishery popular with anglers. In 2023 and 2024, the walleye were pushed downstream by deep reservoir drawdowns and have been getting caught in new places. Biologists are waiting to see if walleye will establish a new population — which could be bad for endangered salmon and steelhead.

In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness brings back a second volume of his favorite weird, wild and quirky stories from the first 70 episodes of the podcast. This edition features: - Why Hood River was once called "Dog River" - A ghost wagon rising from the Detroit Lake - A major drug bust on the Oregon Coast that led to a beautiful collection of trails - The history of Hoodoo Ski Area - Why it's dangerous to visit Proposal Rock with a significant other - Valley of the Giants and the Grove of Titans

Favorite podcast tales volume 1: Betrayal in Grants Pass, a nuke at Cape Kiwanda, D River showdown by Zach Urness / Statesman Journal

Host Zach Urness breaks down how the government shutdown is impacting Oregon's public lands and three other news stories focusing on wildfires, salmon and Douglas fir trees. Urness talks about the status of national parks and monuments such as Crater Lake and the Painted Hills during the closure, before talking about how bad the 2025 wildfire season was compared to recent years. Finally, he talks about the rebound of coho salmon on the Oregon Coast and the historic "dieback" of Oregon's Douglas fir trees in southwest Oregon and in the Willamette Valley.