Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Conservation Funding For States One Step Closer To Becoming Law

By Courtney Flatt April 7, 2022

A bill moving through Congress could help state wildlife agencies conserve more species, such as the fisher, a member of the weasel family.

A bill that could provide the most significant wildlife funding in 50 years is a little closer to becoming law, according to conservation groups. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act on Thursday passed out of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.Read More

Northwest Bighorn Sheep Could Be In Big Danger — From Close Contact And Respiratory Infection

By Courtney Flatt December 2, 2020

Just outside of Yellowstone National Park a bighorn sheep walks through the snow after nibbling salt from the highway. CREDIT: CLAIRE HARBAGE/NPR

Bighorn sheep in central Washington could be in danger if domestic sheep continue to graze nearby. That’s the concern from two groups suing the U.S. Forest Service. Domestic sheep or goats can pass a deadly bacteria to bighorns. Read More

We Can See Clearly Now The Smoke Is Gone: 2020 Fires Greatly Affected Northwest Wildlife Habitat

By Courtney Flatt November 28, 2020

Workers save adult fish at the Rock Creek Hatchery in Oregon during fires that swept through the region in September 2020. CREDIT: Matt Hill

“In this year of, well, exceptions, we’ve been handed an unprecedented level of damage to our wildlife mitigation program,” a Washington state wildlife biologist recently told the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.Read More

Wolves Will Lose Federal Protections In The Northwest, Conservation Groups Vow A Fight

By Courtney Flatt October 29, 2020

A wolf from the Snake River Pack passes by a remote camera in eastern Wallowa County, Ore. A wolf advocate group in Colorado is challenging the model for U.S. wildlife management. CREDIT: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife via AP

The federal government says it will remove endangered species protections for gray wolves in the Lower 48. The move will reduce protections for the predators in the western two-thirds of Washington and Oregon. Read More

Are There More Cougars In Our Space Or More Of Us In Theirs?

By Erin Ross June 26, 2019

Problem encounters with cougars have increased in Oregon's Willamette Valley. CREDIT: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

It’s hard not to notice that cougars are making it into the news these days. It’s also hard to miss how they’re getting there: by entering neighborhoods and putting residents on edge.Read More

Scent Research Could Help More Salmon Find Their Way Home

By Jes Burns December 6, 2018

OSU's Maryam Kamran is conducting research on salmon olfactory homing in an effort to prevent hatchery fish on the Elk River from straying. CREDIT: JES BURNS/OPB

Apparently, salmon don’t like the smell of watercress. The aroma of shrimp doesn’t pique their interest either. And the fragrance, eu de steelhead? A definite no-go.Read More

Here A Wolf, There A Wolf, Everywhere A Wolf, Wolf. Public Sightings Abound In The Region

By Tom Banse December 4, 2018

Two wolves from the newly discovered Middle Fork Pack on U.S. Forest Service land in the Imnaha WMU in Wallowa County in December 2017. CREDIT: ODWF 2017

An online map of wolf sightings from the public includes unconfirmed reports of wandering wolves from the Idaho border to the Pacific beaches, not to mention inside major cities such as Seattle and Tacoma.Read More

Cougars In The News: Shift In Range Brings More Reported Encounters

By NWPB News July 26, 2018

Northwesterners are hearing a lot about mountain lions lately. Since May, an extremely rare fatal attack in the Washington Cascades, a Willamette Valley pool party interrupted by a wandering cat and a viral Facebook video of a mountain lion lounging in a southern Oregon woman’s living room have made headlines across the region. Are the Northwest’s mountain lions acting Read More