El sol apenas comenzaba a salir sobre el río Columbia en Bridgeport, Washington, cuando un pescador Colville capturó el primer salmón de la temporada.Read More
A gray wolf. Credit: William Campbell Listen (Runtime 1:01) Read Northwest wolves could soon be on their way to Colorado. Wildlife managers there say they need to bring wolves to […]Read More
Bighorn sheep are highly susceptible to a pathogen they can catch from domestic sheep. (Credit: Kim Keating, USGS.) Listen (Runtime 1:00) Read Bighorn sheep and domestic sheep love to hang […]Read More
Several low-activity waste containers sit at Hanford, while one high-level waste canister lays in the foreground. [Photo courtesy of Washington Department of Ecology.] Read A massive melter intended to help […]Read More
The Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River. CREDIT: BPA Listen (Runtime 1:02) Read At a Congressional hearing in Richland, Wash., designed to defend the four Lower Snake River dams […]Read More
As the days get hotter and warmer, many Washingtonians are gearing up for the wildfires that will ignite across the region this year, causing smoky skies, evacuations and potentially devastating loss. Read More
Jordan Ashue, 18, says he was surprised by how long it will take to clean up portions of Hanford. Credit: Annie Warren / NWPB Listen (Runtime 4:00) Read On a […]Read More
The Channeled Scablands of Eastern Washington couldn’t be further away from waterfront property. But at the end of the last ice age, the area was, at times, underwater. Torrential flooding cascaded through the area and created the current landscape, including the Grand Coulee.
Some 15,000 years later, that geological gravitas has inspired a composition for guitars. Read More
Ira Stevenson preps salmon filets for the salmon bake after a First Salmon ceremony at Chief Joseph dam in north central Washington. (Credit: Courtney Flatt.) Listen (Runtime 4:04) Read The […]Read More
Casie Davidson, a scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, points out how basalt rocks are layered on top of each other. The rocks formed millions of years ago after volcanic […]Read More
A fire burned an estimated 1,000 acres on the Hanford nuclear reservation this weekend. The fire is now 100 percent contained, according to a Department of Energy spokesperson. (Courtesy: Benton […]Read More
Sunrise over Red Mountain vineyards in central Washington. (Credit: Andrea Johnson Photography/Washington State Wine Commission) Listen (Runtime 1:03) Read It’s been a slower start to spring in the Pacific Northwest, […]Read More
Two Tacoma groups have filed a joint-appeal against the city’s recent decision to issue a land-use permit for a highly controversial warehouse in South Tacoma.
The South Tacoma Neighborhood Council and 350 Tacoma, a grassroots environmental organization, filed the appeal on May 5. Earthjustice, a non-profit, environmental law organization, is representing the groups. Read More
Oregon nonprofit Wallowa Land Trust gave 30 acres of undeveloped land near Wallowa Lake to the Nez Perce Tribe. (Credit: David Jensen) Listen (Runtime 00:53) Read Wildlife will have easier […]Read More
Red Swamp Crayfish have been discovered in the Lewiston Levee ponds, thanks to science students at Lewiston High School. (Credit: istockphoto) Listen (Runtime 00:59) Read Lewiston High School teacher Jamie […]Read More
This photo from a Oregon Department of Agriculture report shows water runoff on a field. Runoff events, along with fertilizer leaks, have incurred violations for Easterday Dairy. (Courtesy: Oregon Department […]Read More
A view from the edge of the cliff where the Goldendale Energy Storage Project could be built. An underground tunnel would carry water from a upper reservoir to a reservoir […]Read More
The City of Tacoma approved land use permits to develop a warehouse in South Tacoma.
The decision came April 21 after over a year of feedback from residents and public agencies expressing environmental equity concerns over the development. Read More
A barn own with her eggs at the Blue Mountain Wildlife center in Benton City, Washington. Many barn owls are rehabbed at the center after building nests in haystacks throughout […]Read More
While hiking, Nancy Lust, with Friends of Rocky Top, watches a truck dump waste into a landfill in Yakima County. Lust lives near the landfill and has fought to learn […]Read More
An illustration of a potential floating wind turbine under the water. Credit: University of Maine Listen (Runtime 1:00) Read With the climate rapidly changing, researchers are trying to find ways […]Read More
A cross country skier follows a trail on the Sunny M Ranch property in the Methow Valley. The Methow Conservancy hopes to purchase the land this summer. Credit: Courtney Flatt […]Read More
Yakima Clean Air Compliance website in Spanish. (Screenshot from the YRCAA website.) Listen (Runtime 1:33) Read A nonprofit organization, Friends of Toppenish Creek, is asking the U.S Environmental Protection Agency […]Read More
File photo of solar panels. Credit: Sarah Swenty, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Listen (Runtime 1:02) Read In the Pacific Northwest, conversations about renewable energy can get pretty heated. Residents […]Read More
WA lawmakers pass housing, firearm bills ahead of cutoff, leave rent control, recycling bills behind
Washington lawmakers are getting back into the swing of working on legislation in committees following a key cutoff deadline. Wednesday marked the final day for legislators to pass bills from the chamber they originated in, meaning most bills that didn't receive a vote on the floor will no longer be considered this session.Read More
The use of aerial fire retardant to fight wildfires could be further restricted to protect the environment.
A handful of groups from western states filed a motion last week to intervene in a lawsuit brought by an Oregon environmental group against the U.S. Forest Service for inadvertently dumping fire retardant into streams. Read More
Electron Hydro dam and its chief operating officer could have to pay the largest fine and restitution for an environmental crime in Washington state history.
COO Thom Fischer and the company, pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor permit violation for allowing the toxic contaminants crumb rubber and artificial turf to flow into the Puyallup River during a construction project. Read More
There's a rallying cry at various bays and beaches up and down the West Coast; it's "Help the kelp!" The towering brown seaweed with the floating bulb on top is in steep decline. That's alarming because underwater kelp forests provide shelter and food for a wide variety of sea life. The crew now answering the call runs the gamut from seaweed farmers to hammer-wielding Read More
A mule deer lying in the grass. (Russ Parman via Flickr) Listen (Runtime 1:03) Read An animal advocacy group alleges Washington State University broke federal law after several animals died […]Read More
Grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Listen (Runtime 1:03) Read Grizzly bears in Washington’s North Cascades could gain habitat as the climate warms, according […]Read More
Forested area in Washington. CREDIT: Connor Henricksen Listen (Runtime 1:07) Read In the eyes of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, one big thing is missing from the state’s […]Read More
Late afternoon light catches smoke from the Cold Springs Fire near a structure that appeared to be empty long before the fire, Monday, Sept. 7, 2020, near Omak, Washington. CREDIT: […]Read More
Photo of Sam Penney recording Traverse Talks at the Nez Perce National Historic Park on March 10, 2022. Imagine a stranger took your family’s heirlooms and then offered you an […]Read More
Everywhere they look, Pacific Northwest scientists find teeny-tiny plastic pollution. Broken down particles are in our water, falling out of the air, in salmon, shellfish and in our own bodies. Scientists, environmental advocates and Democratic lawmakers in Olympia and Salem have seen enough to make them seek more regulations.Read More
Driving a long gravel road on a tour of the Horse Heaven Hills. Fallow fields and wheat with mountains in the distance. (Credit: Dori Luzzo Gilmour / NWPB) Listen (Runtime […]Read More
A combine harvests barley Friday, Aug. 24, 2007, near Moscow, Idaho. Credit: Ted S. Warren/AP READ When you think of heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions, you might picture industrial smoke stacks […]Read More
A view from the edge of the cliff where the Goldendale Energy Storage Project could be built. An underground tunnel would carry water from a upper reservoir to a reservoir […]Read More
There’s a lot of misunderstanding when people talk about wolf management, according to a new study out of the University of Washington.Read More
Elk congregate on the Camp Creek Feed Ground in northwestern Wyoming. (Credit: USGS) Listen (Runtime 00:50) Read Lately, Matthew Kauffman has been thinking a lot about spaghetti – wildlife spaghetti […]Read More
A new project to deepen the Blair Waterway at the Port of Tacoma will allow extra-large container ships to easily travel through the port.
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act, which, in part, authorized the project to deepen Blair waterway in the Port of Tacoma. Read More
Tree climber Phil Chi does one last safety check before he climbs to the top of a whitebark pine tree. Credit: Courtney Flatt Listen (Runtime 0:59) Read The West’s iconic […]Read More
The majority of captains of big commercial ships entering and leaving Puget Sound are cooperating with a request to slow down temporarily to reduce underwater noise impacts to the Pacific Northwest's critically endangered killer whales. The duration of the experimental slowdown – modeled on a similar project in British Columbia – will be extended into the new year, Read More
LISTEN (Runtime: 4:12) READ Music poured out of the small sanctuary at Shalom United Church of Christ in Richland, Washington. Piano keys evoked dripping, melting glaciers. Drum beats became the […]Read More
Photo of Richard Old recording this episode of Traverse Talks across from Sueann Ramella. When you cross paths with a wild animal, oftentimes you notice it and recognize it by […]Read More
An eastern bluebird spotted for the first time on the banks of the Columbia River in Richland, Washington. Credit: Jane Abel Listen (Runtime 1:58) Read Birders from across the state […]Read More
A silhouette of a forest fire. Credit: Egor Vikhrev, Unsplash LISTEN (Runtime: 1:02) READ Many states are failing to adequately budget for wildfire costs before, during and after fires, according […]Read More
Scientists are studying old wildfires to find what forest treatments slowed the flames – and what treatments didn’t work so well. Researchers are looking closely at the Schneider Springs fire, the largest wildfire in Washington in 2021.Read More
Geese congregate along the shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene, Nov. 5, 2022. Credit: Lauren Paterson / NWPB Listen For over 30 years, Native American Heritage Month has been federally-recognized. Northwest […]Read More
Grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service LISTEN (Runtime: 1:11) READ Federal officials are taking another look at bringing grizzly bears into the North Cascades. […]Read More
Cathy McMorris Rodgers gives her victory speech after claiming an eighth term as a US Representative for Washington’s 5th District. Credit Emily Schwing/N3 LISTEN (Runtime: 1:05) READ If U.S. Rep. […]Read More
