Developers are thinking about building a new transmission line to help meet the Northwest’s energy needs. But this one would be different from what you’re imagining. This high-voltage transmission line would run under the Columbia River.

For around 15 years, people have slowly dug up mammoth bones near the Tri-Cities. Along the way, people have made a lot of other discoveries.

For decades, Yakama Nation gatherers say it’s been really hard to find huckleberries in a southwest Washington national forest. But tribal gatherers say things are changing.

When beavers build dams, they help create habitat for other species. But when they build near humans, those dams aren’t always appreciated. Some humans are trying to strike a balance between their needs and the beavers’.

For years, the Yakama Nation has fought to protect a sacred area in southcentral Washington from development. They say a proposed energy storage project will destroy this area, known as “mother of all roots.”

Down between the train tracks along Ruston Way and the shoreline of Commencement Bay in Tacoma stand small, cedar-clad boxes. These tiny dwellings, hoisted about 16 feet above the ground, aren’t suitable for humans. These are new nesting boxes for birds, specifically purple martins.

An old aluminum smelter has sat abandoned on the Columbia River’s banks for two decades. Now, energy developers could help fast-track part of the cleanup.

Bobbing their heads in the blustery spring breeze, balsamroot looks a bit like a posy of shrunken sunflowers. Wildflowers across the Northwest are blooming right now, and the display won’t last long.

It’s been a couple of months since construction crews in the Tri-Cities removed an earthen land bridge. It blocked water at the mouth of the Yakima River. Now, people are celebrating the free flow of the river through its delta.

A new project is trying to tag Northwest butterflies with high-tech electronic tags to learn more about their migration.