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Good morning, Northwest.

President Donald Trump has called for an increase in logging public lands. His spending plan requires all money from timber sales to go in federal coffers instead of sharing revenue with counties where those forests are located.

Another key source of funding for rural Oregon counties meant to replace declining timber revenue has not yet been renewed.

OPB’s April Ehrlich leads off today’s newsletter explaining how this paradigm shift will affect crucial public services like law enforcement, road maintenance and libraries in timber country.

In other news, nurses at Legacy Health in Gresham have authorized a strike. And fewer Canadians are visiting the U.S. Our partners at Northwest Public Broadcasting have a dispatch from the border in Blaine, Washington.

Here’s your First Look at Monday’s news.

— Bradley W. Parks

Oregon counties are ‘sinking’ waiting for Congress to renew funding

A budget crisis a century in the making is coming to a head as Oregon’s rural counties wait on Congress to approve funding they’ve long relied on.

The crisis originates with a compromise from the era of President Teddy Roosevelt and was prolonged by piecemeal solutions made during the Timber Wars of the 1990s.

Now, as lawmakers delay another potential stopgap, President Donald Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill removes a key funding source for Oregon’s timber counties. (April Ehrlich)

Learn more

3 things to know this morning

• Parole and probation departments across Oregon say they are facing financial strains and possible cuts to programs that monitor people released from jail and prison. They are pointing the finger at the recently passed state budget. (Bryce Dole and Troy Brynelson)

• Nurses at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham voted Friday to authorize a strike, following 21 months of negotiations. The vote could affect 400 registered nurses working at the hospital. (Joni Auden Land)

• Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson has authorized an investigation into the conduct of members of the Washington State Fish and Wildlife Commission after recently revealed public records raised questions about their actions. (Emily Fitzgerald)

In Portland, romance is more than a summer fling

On this week’s episode of “The Evergreen” podcast, OPB’s Crystal Ligori and Sukhjot Sal warm our hearts by telling us how the romance genre got so popular and why they love it. Also, we get book recommendations!

Listen

Headlines from around the Northwest

• 4 things you may have missed about the Blazers’ next owner (OPB staff)

• Grants Pass to provide 150 camping spaces, $60K in services after disability rights suit (Shaanth Nanguneri)

• Fewer Canadians are visiting the US. Here’s how business owners in one border town are reacting (Jenna Dennison)

• Pro-Palestinian activists protest Jerry Seinfeld show in Eugene (Nathan Wilk)

Listen in on OPB’s daily conversation

“Think Out Loud” airs at noon and 8 p.m. weekdays on OPB Radio, opb.org and the OPB News app. Today’s planned topics (subject to change):

• Development of male contraceptive pill​​​​​​​ should be a priority, argues Washington State University scientist

🍷 The pinot noir dream in the Willamette Valley

In the 1960s, a new breed of pioneers began arriving in Oregon’s Willamette Valley determined to grow Vitis vinifera, the fine wine grapes of Europe.

They were told it couldn’t be done and were amply warned that Western Oregon was too cold and wet for vinifera to flourish.

But they came anyway with a dream of producing fine premium wines — in particular pinot noir, made from the delicate red grape of Burgundy, France.

The pioneers’ risky experiment would create a new industry in Oregon and change the world of wine forever. (Nadine Jelsing)

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/08/18/timber-funding-oregon-newsletter-first-look/