For people living in the “wildland-urban interface,” wildfire risk is the new normal, and the risk is increasing as more people move into places where cul-de-sac meets forest or sagebrush. Read More
A Portland-based organization has developed a digital tool called Wildbook that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to expedite wildlife identification.Read More
The West is in the midst of another intense fire season. Fires in California and Oregon have claimed lives and homes and burned up farmland. As part of EarthFix’s ongoing series on wildfire, reporter Tony Schick spoke with interim Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen about what her agency is doing to reform fire management and reverse the fire problem.Read More
A warming climate is knocking nature's rhythms out of sync. High in the Rocky Mountains, scientists have been tracking the impact for decades.Read More
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
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
Our region’s booming growth is also part of the problem. More overuse of fertilizers, pet waste, leaky septic tanks, people feeding ducks and geese — all give cyanobacteria the nutrients it needs to grow.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
Scientists say a starfish populations are recovering from a devastating die-off with help from a massive baby boom.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
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
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
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
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
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
Researchers at Oregon State University have worked out a way to detect and identify whales long after they move on — just by sampling the water.Read More
In congressional testimony Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said he has heard the strong opposition from the West Coast to the Trump administration's plan for offshore oil and gas drilling. He expressed doubt drilling would ever happen along the Pacific Northwest coast.Read More
Emergency managers from Washington coastal counties and tribes practiced tsunami alert communication and coordination with state and federal partners Thursday. They're trying to smooth out glitches revealed after an undersea earthquake in Alaska in January.Read More
Seventeen years ago, 21 tribes sued Washington state to fix road culverts. On April 18, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to take on the case. The question is whether state taxpayers should have to dish out billions to dig up roads so salmon can get through. The court’s decision will have repercussions for tribes all over the West.Read More
One of the most ideal places in the world to bring back gray wolves is right here in the Northwest, according to a new study. Researchers have found bringing the large carnivores back to the Olympic National Park could greatly help the ecosystem — and the predators.Read More
The Northwest’s beloved orcas will not survive unless humans do more to ensure adequate food and cleaner, quieter waters. That was one of the messages at a crowded signing ceremony in Seattle convened by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. The population of genetically-distinct resident orcas has dwindled to a critically low level. Only 76 remain as of the last count.Read More
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell that his proposal for offshore oil and gas drilling will reflect the “interests of Washington.” “You should know off the coast of Oregon, Washington, most of California, there are no known resources of any weight,” Zinke said. Read More
Oysters are a cornerstone of Pacific Northwest cuisine. But there was a time when our region’s oysters were in trouble, all but obliterated by over-harvesting and pollution. Then a Japanese immigrant helped turn things around.Read More
If you're thinking about buying an electric car in Washington, you might want to act fast. That's because the state Legislature is on the verge of letting a hefty sales tax break expire. In Oregon, an electric car rebate faces a challenge in court next week.Read More
Washington lawmakers have agreed to ban firefighting foam that contains harmful chemicals. Perfluorinated chemicals are used in firefighting foam to help contain petroleum fires. Firefighters have sprayed the foam around Washington’s military airstrips and fire-training facilities.Read More
The long-proposed Vancouver Energy oil terminal project officially died Tuesday. Vancouver, Washington, port commissioners made it official by unanimously voting to cancel the lease.Read More
About 100 activists gathered Wednesday, Feb. 21 to protest Puget Sound Energy’s plan to keep producing electricity from coal until 2035. PSE is the company that likely keeps your lights and Wifi on if you live in the Puget Sound area but not in Seattle. Their main concern was climate change.Read More
Salmon researchers in the Northwest are turning to sound to learn more about the fish they’re trying to understand.Read More
Early this year, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said no to a massive oil-by-rail terminal proposed in Vancouver, Wash. The $210 million Vancouver Energy project, a joint venture from Tesoro and Savage, would have brought up to 360,000 gallons of crude oil a day on trains traveling along the Columbia River.Read More
The Trump administration wants to sell off publicly-owned utility transmission lines. The most recent budget proposal also suggests a move that could raise rates for Bonneville Power Administration customers.Read More
Each time it rained during an eight-week period in the winter of 2015, someone from Jenifer McIntyre’s team drove up to Seattle and collected stormwater near the Highway 520 bridge across Lake Washington.Read More
Reaction in the Northwest was swift to President Trump’s proposed cuts to the cleanup budget at the Hanford Site. The budget request cuts $61 million from the budget for Hanford's Office of River Protection, and $169 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Richland Operations Office.Read More
The whales off the West Coast depend on sound to communicate, navigate and find food. So, what happens to their health when we fill their habitat with noisy ship traffic?Read More
A Washington climate activist is the first “valve turner” to go to prison for shutting off the flow of oil from Canada’s tar sands region into the U.S.Read More
Washington doesn’t want your offshore drilling. That was Gov. Jay Inslee’s resounding message at a press conference Monday, where he spoke out against a federal plan for offshore oil and gas drilling.Read More
Portland City Council closed a major loophole in regulations protecting children from exposure to lead in paint. Lead-based paint in homes is the leading cause of lead poising in the nation.Read More
The oceans off Oregon and Washington are ground zero for acidification, and Northwest scientists are working on new ways to adapt.Read More
Washington Governor Jay Inslee has rejected a permit to build the nation’s largest oil-by-rail terminal in Vancouver. Inslee sided with state regulators, who unanimously voted late last year to reject the project, citing significant and unavoidable risks. Read More
Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced plans to reopen the West Coast to offshore oil and gas leasing. But with strong opposition and unproven oil and gas reserves, it’s unclear whether anyone will take that chance.Read More
As the Pacific Northwest economy booms, it’s using a lot of concrete to build buildings, roads, and other infrastructure. Making all that concrete is a big part of our carbon footprint, and it all comes from one plant: Ash Grove in south Seattle. Read More
The last herd of caribou found anywhere in the lower 48 states is in the Pacific Northwest. To be clear, this caribou herd is tiny.Read More
Northwest farmers, cities and conservationists rely on melting snow to water their crops, feed their aquifers, and fill streams and rivers for fish. But, usually, no one has any idea how much snowpack—and, thus, snowmelt—to expect until it’s too late.Read More
In the wake of the Oso landslide and the current situation unfolding at Rattlesnake Ridge near Yakima, Washington state public lands commissioner Hilary Franz is asking the Legislature for more time to review proposals from timber companies to log potentially unstable slopes.Read More
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MTBA) is the primary federal law protecting birds in the U.S. It initially targeted poaching and a feather-obsessed fashion industry that was laying waste to migratory birds across the continent.Read More
A new study claims government killing of wolves can increase the risk to nearby farms, providing further evidence for the ineffectiveness of the so-called “lethal control” policy approach. The report also casts doubt on an earlier research paper, which government agencies often use to support the practice.Read More
For more than 10 years, Seattle leaders have said the city will lead the nation in fighting climate change. But the lofty words have been matched by continuing clouds of carbon emissions. Seattle dumps as much carbon dioxide into the sky as it did 25 years ago.Read More
Climate activists rallied today at the state capitol, the first day of the legislative session. They want Washington state to be powered exclusively by renewable energy within 10 years. Read More
By: Teresa Carey, PBS Newshour A migratory bird can predict its own future, and this crystal ball-like indicator can be found in its genes. In a study published Thursday in Science, biologists […]Read More
Washington’s commissioner of public lands is calling on the state legislature to put a price on carbon to try to curb emissions in the state. But Hilary Franz differs with Gov. Jay Inslee about how to use the money.Read More
Oregon is suing the agro-chemical company Monsanto to help clean up toxic chemicals in the environment. The Attorney General’s Office filed suit last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court.Read More
