Environment
Environment
Mt. Rainier Ptarmigans Are ‘Cute, Funny Little Birds.’ And They May Get More Federal Protection
If you’ve ever been hiking in the Cascades, high up in the alpine meadows, and were spooked by a streak of a bird, a plume of feathers that darted right in front of your face, you may have come across the Mount Rainier white-tailed ptarmigan.
Coming Soon To An Atlas Near You: A Fifth Ocean
BY KAREN ZAMORA, JUSTINE KENIN & EMMA BOWMAN Most of us learned about the world’s oceans in elementary school. There’s the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian and the Arctic. Now,
Colville Tribes Encouraged By Young Salmon Spawning Behind Grand Coulee Dam
The Colville Tribes Fish and Wildlife Department have found several chinook salmon under 1-year-old. Biologists had transported 100 fish above Grand Coulee Dam to see if the habitat made for good spawning spots.
Developer Abandons Keystone XL Pipeline Project, Ending Decade-Long Battle
The company behind the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline said Wednesday it’s officially terminating the project. TC Energy already had suspended construction in January when President Biden revoked a key cross-border presidential permit. The announcement ends a more than decade-long battle that came to signify the debate over whether fossil fuels should be left in the ground to address climate change.
A Group Of Gray Whales Survives Die-Off With An Annual Detour To Puget Sound
If you take a beach walk in springtime around Whidbey or Camano Island, north of Seattle, there’s a good chance you could spot a 40-foot-long gray whale, feeding in the shallows just offshore. Or you might just see a fin or part of one’s tail bobbing along the waterline.
‘Nothing Looks Good.’ Across The West, Firefighters Prepare For A Potentially Bad Fire Season
Severe drought has turned forests and grasslands into dry fuels, ready to ignite from a careless camper or a lightning strike. More people are building in areas bordering wildlands, expanding the so-called wildland-urban interface, an area where wildfires impact people the most. Invasive, highly flammable vegetation is spreading uncontrolled across the West.
More Nuclear Energy Could Be Coming To Central Washington, As Grant County Explores Small-Scale
Washington’s Grant County is exploring nuclear generation in an effort to generate more carbon-free electricity. The county’s Public Utility District recently signed a deal with Oregon-based NuScale Power to figure out if a partnership might work.
‘Somber Harvest’: Crops May Fail, Cattle Sold As The Northwest Descends Into Drought
Some stunted wheat fields won’t see the combine this summer. Cattle operators are severely cutting back their herds for lack of grass. Little moisture since February in wide swaths of the Northwest is to blame. And drought is deepening across the West, with federal drought maps showing massive and growing areas of red.
A Push To Revive Federal Protections For Wolves After New State Laws Allow More Killing
Wildlife advocates are pressing the Biden administration to revive federal protections for gray wolves across the Northern Rockies after Republican lawmakers in Idaho and Montana made it much easier to kill the predators.
How Your Hot Showers And Toilet Flushes Can Help The Climate
A secret cache of clean energy is lurking in sewers, and there are growing efforts to put it to work in the battle against climate change.
Every Day I’m Truffling: Shuffling Into The Woods, Dogs In Tow, To Hunt A Northwest Delicacy
Northwest truffles – the fungi, not the chocolate – are becoming more popular. One reason people are finding new uses for the local delicacies is a growing trend in how they’re harvested: with dogs.
Half Of The World’s Single-Use Plastic Waste Is From Just 20 Companies, Says A Study
In 2019, more than 130 million metric tons of single-use plastics were thrown away, with most of that waste burned, buried in a landfill or dumped directly into the ocean or onto land. Now, a new report finds that just 20 companies account for more than half of all single-use plastic waste generated worldwide.
