The Trump administration is proposing key changes to the Endangered Species Act. It’s a move conservation groups say could greatly weaken the way animals and plants are protected.Read More
Environment
The U.S. Forest Service and others have been saying for decades that we need to allow more wildfire on the landscape. But so far, we haven't practiced what we preach.Read More
Federal lawmakers are making a move to change the Endangered Species Act. On Thursday, members of the U.S. House announced legislation they say will “modernize” one of the country’s seminal environmental laws, originally passed in 1973.Read More
Somewhere under the rocks in Hood Canal, neuroscientist Allison Coffin may find the secret to protecting people’s hearing cells or even regenerating the ones we’ve lost.Read More
The agency's next acting chief has drawn praise as a capable administrator. But critics still say the transition from Scott Pruitt is a bit like "going from a train wreck to a house on fire."Read More
The U.S. House approved a bill Jun 26 that makes it easier to kill a limited number of sea lions that threaten imperiled salmon and steelhead populations.Read More
Nearly 100 public water systems around Oregon—including the state’s largest—will be required to begin testing for harmful contaminants from algae blooms under new rules unveiled by the Oregon Health Authority.Read More
On the evening of March 7, a bright flash, a tremendous boom and a rumble like an earthquake alarmed people in coastal Washington state. Next week, scientists will attempt an underwater recovery of the shattered meteorite that caused all that.Read More
Scientists say a starfish populations are recovering from a devastating die-off with help from a massive baby boom.Read More
Federal officials anticipate a big wildfire season in the Northwest throughout July, August and possibly into September.Read More
Pikas like it cold, so, as the climate has warmed, they’ve disappeared from lower elevations where they used to live. For years, scientists thought pikas were adapting to climate change by moving uphill. But new research indicates the news is even worse than that.Read More
Hundreds of millions of beavers used to populate the West but were hunted to near extinction. Turns out, beavers are critical to healthy water ecosystems, so now there are efforts to bring them back. Read More
The call is going out again to the operators and pilots of big ships to slow down in the shared border waters between Washington and British Columbia. The idea is to reduce underwater noise that could bother endangered killer whales.Read More
After extending the advisory over potentially harmful cyanotoxins for two weeks on June 11, Salem, Oregon, officials now say it’s unlikely the warning will be lifted June 25.Read More
After issuing two drinking water advisories for toxins produced by a harmful algae bloom, the city of Salem is testing out a possible solution.Read More
Hundreds of citizen scientists have begun buzzing through locations across the Pacific Northwest seeking a better understanding about nearly 30 bumblebee species.Read More
New genetic research on the Northwest’s wolves finds they descended from a mix of two different types — some from the northern Rocky Mountains and some from coastal rain forests. That means the packs that form in our region have more genetic diversity — a key to survival.Read More
Oregon has already declared drought in several counties, and two more counties are under review by the governor's office. That's a common theme -- drought is stretching across the Western United States.Read More
The federal government is reviewing the endangered species status of gray wolves in the Lower 48 states — a move that could lead to reduced protections. This includes the western parts of Oregon and Washington, where wolves are considered endangered under U.S. law.Read More
As at least half a dozen fires in Colorado force hundreds to evacuate, and have closed a national forest, some residents say they're shocked at how quickly the fire has spread. The speed of wildfires is actually something Colorado ecologists have been studying, and they say history may provide clues on how to slow it down.Read More
Over the past year, more than 10,000 tons of Oregon’s recycling has been dumped in landfills because there was nowhere else for it to go.
It’s one of the consequences of new restrictions on shipping recyclables to China.Read More
Ocean Shores, Washington, has no natural high ground inside its city limits. On Tuesday night, residents will meet with government and university experts to discuss whether to build a tsunami evacuation platform as in a few other Northwest coastal towns.Read More
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission has decided not to elevate the endangered species status of the marbled murrelet after all.Read More
A tie in the U.S. Supreme Court may cost Washington state $2 billion. The court split 4-4 June 11 in a long-running court battle between tribes and the state over salmon-blocking road culverts.Read More
Renewable energy developers are showing interest in converting public grazing lands in sunny central Washington into large solar farms. The state Department of Natural Resources says around 15 companies have expressed interest in long-term leases of public rangeland properties, primarily in Klickitat County but also in Yakima, Grant, Douglas and Kittitas counties.Read More
Since 2008, wildlife biologists in Washington state have worked to reintroduce the fisher, a locally-extinct forest weasel. Read More
One Northwest researcher is focused on the sustainability of creating a little greenery in the great vacuum of the cosmos. Why? Because with long-term space travel becoming more within reach, astronauts will need to grow food to sustain themselves through long-term travel, and on colonies.Read More
People in Montana say what’s happened with grizzlies in their state could be a guide for Washington, where the bears are in big trouble but on the verge of getting reinforcements.Read More
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Two projects that would convert cropland in Oregon and Washington into large solar farms are hitting new bumps. Last week the Oregon Court of Appeals issued a ruling that blocks a planned 80-acre solar project on farmland outside Medford in southern Oregon. Read More
Washington state’s electric vehicle law is being widely ignored, according to a new report. June 1 was the deadline set by a decade-old law that requires vehicles in government fleets to run on electricity or biofuel. But just two percent of the state's motor pool is electric now, and many cities and counties have no electric vehicles at all.Read More
One of the Northwest’s largest dairies has faced some big troubles in its first year of operation. The rise and rapid fall of Lost Valley Farm has deeply frustrated environmentalists and has shocked neighboring farms and fellow dairy operators.Read More
Gov. Kate Brown is declaring an emergency and mobilizing Oregon National Guard soldiers in response to an ongoing water quality situation in and around Salem.Read More
The government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that it is buying the pipeline from Texas-based Kinder Morgan. The pipeline, built in 1953, currently carries 300,000 barrels of heavy tar sands oil daily from Alberta to British Columbia and refineries in Washington state.Read More
Coastal erosion is chewing away at one of the Northwest's most popular recreation areas. It's threatening the main campground and other amenities at Cape Disappointment State Park, which has the second most camper visits in the Washington State Park system.Read More
A small hot spot flared up early Tuesday morning about a half-mile east of the Herman Creek Trailhead. It’s less than a quarter of an acre with little chance that it will spread. Firefighters are using nearby creek water to extinguish it.Read More
The Trump administration has abandoned its bid to sell off the Pacific Northwest’s publicly owned utility transmission lines, according to Republican members of Congress who were briefed on the decision.Read More
The U.S. Forest Service launched a mobile app this week that provides trail maps and updates on wildfires and road conditions for all of the Northwest’s national forests, a national grassland and one scenic area.Read More
There won’t be any cell towers — but there could soon be cell signals at the most popular place at Mount Rainier. The National Park Service has decided limited range cell service can be installed at Paradise.Read More
Aptly nicknamed Washaway Beach in Pacific County, Washington, has long suffered from the most extreme coastal erosion along the whole U.S. West Coast. Now a relatively low cost defense is raising hopes among property owners and nearby cranberry growers.Read More
There’s been a push to create a juniper wood products industry to get some of those trees off the landscape. But western juniper processing and sales is still a fledgling industry in the Pacific Northwest.Read More
The Puyallup Tribe welcomed the first salmon of the year back to the Puyallup River in Tacoma on Tuesday. Strangely, perhaps, that chinook’s epic journey from mid-Pacific Ocean to a Puyallup fishing net begins with a sloshing tanker truck.Read More
Outside of Leavenworth, Washington, crews have been working on a dam in trouble. Now, the irrigation district that owns the dam has installed a new 55-foot spillway of large rocks to reinforce the structure.Read More
Lost Valley Farm, based in Boardman, is Oregon’s second largest dairy. It’s faced opposition from the beginning. Environmental groups worried about the risk of liquid manure and wastewater pollution that leaking out of storage areas.Read More
Emergency management officials are trying to protect drinking water systems throughout the Okanogan Valley from flood water contamination.Read More
The combination of a near-record snowpack in southern British Columbia and temperatures soaring into the upper 80s has caused flood watches starting at the U.S.-Canada border running south along the Okanogan River. Correspondent Emily Schwing is on the scene and sent back these photos.Read More
Washington drivers who are thinking about buying an electric car would be wise to get down to a dealership in the next two weeks. That's because a valuable tax break disappears at month's end.Read More
A group of senators from western states want to expand a national effort to boost timber production and restore natural conditions on overstocked forests using thinning and other restoration work.Read More
Whilst looking at the waste product of the meadowfoam plant, scientists at Oregon State University think they’ve found a potential new ingredient for sunscreen.Read More
Portland may become the first city in the Pacific Northwest to require all owners of old brick buildings to make earthquake safety upgrades. But being on the leading edge is not a comfortable place.Read More
In July, seven Oregon craft breweries will start selling beer in reusable glass bottles in the country’s first statewide refillable beer bottle program.Read More