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
Jennifer Garcia with her daughter, Hannah, 2. Garcia found out the soil in her yard tested high for arsenic. It’s left over from pesticides sprayed before the 1950s on this […]Read More
Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often in the Pacific Northwest that ships collide with whales. But when it does, it's upsetting, tragic and the whale probably dies. Three separate teams have developed smartphone-based systems that can alert commercial mariners to watch out, slow down or change course when whales have been sighted nearby. A recent ride-along on a big Read More
Part of the Box of Rain timber sale that the Washington State Department of Natural Resources approved to go to auction in December. Photo courtesy of the Center for Responsible […]Read More
Jevencia Marshall, 2, peers into a tank of juvenile lamprey at the Screech at the REACH event Friday. CREDIT: Courtney Flatt, Northwest News Network. LISTEN (RUNTIME: 1:00) READ As a […]Read More
For 90 days, an oil leak went undetected by the Army Corps of Engineers at Little Goose Dam in southeastern Washington. CREDIT: Northwest Power and Conservation Council, Flickr Creative Commons […]Read More
Emerald LaFortune recording Traverse Talks at the NWPB studios on March 8th, 2022. Emerald LaFortune grew up being lured into the wilderness by her parents, who placed little pieces of […]Read More
Emerald LaFortune grew up being lured into the wilderness by her parents who placed little pieces of candy in the middle of a hiking trail to guide her along. Now, […]Read More
A drone image of salmon during spawning season in Alaska. CREDIT: Daniel Auerbach LISTEN READ Searching for the places where salmon lay eggs, known as redds, is getting a boost […]Read More
Swarms of aphids pulse the air in Moscow, Idaho, during a late-October afternoon. CREDIT: Linda Weiford, WSU News Listen (Runtime 1:01) Read No, that’s not snowflakes you’re seeing on these […]Read More
The shore of Soap Lake is gray and gritty Listen Soap Lake’s unique healing properties can be explained by it’s even more unique ecology (Runtime 4:39) Read The recognition of […]Read More
This particular adventure begins with the search for a bird. However, like many discoveries that venture a bit off course, birder Chris Lindsey found something much more interesting: a Western blue pygmy butterfly. The smallest butterfly in North America.Read More
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is asking for the public’s help to find who poisoned six wolves in northeastern Washington.Read More
This year’s fire season has been the mildest year for Washington in a decade. But, the season isn’t over yet.Read More
Salmon advocates want negotiators to consider salmon and the Columbia River’s ecosystem as a part of an agreement between the U.S. and Canada.Read More
Breaching the Snake River dams is one major way to protect salmon, according to a final federal report announced Friday on salmon and steelhead recovery in the Columbia River Basin.Read More
A growing technology is helping scientists save time and effort when they study rare critters and vast places.Read More
A demolition contractor on Thursday imploded the towering smokestack and 19-story boiler building at Portland General Electric’s shuttered coal-fired power plant near Boardman, bringing a symbolic close to the era of coal-fired power generation in Oregon. Imported electricity generated from coal still flows through transmission wires across the Pacific Northwest, but that Read More
