Environment
Environment
![The gray whale known as Dubknuck has been coming to Puget Sound since 1991. Scientists believe a small pod of these whales has survived several die off events by developing a new feeding strategy. Parker Miles Blohm/KNKX](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/greywhale_pmb_20210428_287_wide-35179dd3ce4bb3233c367896731c0d7149e33412-500x500.jpg)
A Group Of Gray Whales Survives Die-Off With An Annual Detour To Puget Sound
If you take a beach walk in springtime around Whidbey or Camano Island, north of Seattle, there’s a good chance you could spot a 40-foot-long gray whale, feeding in the shallows just offshore. Or you might just see a fin or part of one’s tail bobbing along the waterline.
![A couple embrace Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020, while touring an area devastated by the Almeda Fire in Phoenix, Ore. John Locher/AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ap_20255126343359-6c3621ef394728fb4c7dd5bbb84263acae4f6139-500x500.jpg)
‘Nothing Looks Good.’ Across The West, Firefighters Prepare For A Potentially Bad Fire Season
Severe drought has turned forests and grasslands into dry fuels, ready to ignite from a careless camper or a lightning strike. More people are building in areas bordering wildlands, expanding the so-called wildland-urban interface, an area where wildfires impact people the most. Invasive, highly flammable vegetation is spreading uncontrolled across the West.
![An artist’s rendition of the NuScale nuclear power project planned for construction in Idaho. Courtesy of NuScale Power](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/NuScale-Nuclear-plant-Idaho-artist-rendition-NUSCALE-POWER-500x500.jpg)
More Nuclear Energy Could Be Coming To Central Washington, As Grant County Explores Small-Scale
Washington’s Grant County is exploring nuclear generation in an effort to generate more carbon-free electricity. The county’s Public Utility District recently signed a deal with Oregon-based NuScale Power to figure out if a partnership might work.
![Wheat at the farm of Nicole Berg in Washington's Horse Heaven Hills shows signs of a drought so far in 2021, with a damaged curled head.](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/dryland-wheat-crops-drought-2021-500x500.jpg)
‘Somber Harvest’: Crops May Fail, Cattle Sold As The Northwest Descends Into Drought
Some stunted wheat fields won’t see the combine this summer. Cattle operators are severely cutting back their herds for lack of grass. Little moisture since February in wide swaths of the Northwest is to blame. And drought is deepening across the West, with federal drought maps showing massive and growing areas of red.
![In this Feb. 1, 2017 image provided the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, a wolf pack is captured by a remote camera in Hells Canyon National Recreation Area in northeast Oregon near the Idaho border. Wildlife advocates pressed the Biden administration on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, to revive federal protections for gray wolves across the Northern Rockies after Republican lawmakers in Idaho and Montana made it much easier to kill the predators. CREDIT: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife via AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/wolves-wolf-hells-canyon-Oregon-Idaho-CREDIT-Oregon-Department-of-Fish-and-Wildlife-via-AP-500x500.jpeg)
A Push To Revive Federal Protections For Wolves After New State Laws Allow More Killing
Wildlife advocates are pressing the Biden administration to revive federal protections for gray wolves across the Northern Rockies after Republican lawmakers in Idaho and Montana made it much easier to kill the predators.
![The National Western Center negotiated rights "in perpetuity" to the thermal energy from sewers under its construction site. It expects to save energy costs and avoid climate-warming emissions. CREDIT: Hart Van Denburg/CPR News](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/blue-tube-sewer-9cf3c9161fd8e3f9ffaa975899e967d012876b3c-500x500.jpg)
How Your Hot Showers And Toilet Flushes Can Help The Climate
A secret cache of clean energy is lurking in sewers, and there are growing efforts to put it to work in the battle against climate change.
![Sometimes Alana McGee has to help Lolo find truffles buried under sticks and logs. McGee always repacks the dirt after they find a truffle. CREDIT: Courtney Flatt/NWPB](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Lolo-digging-500x500.jpg)
Every Day I’m Truffling: Shuffling Into The Woods, Dogs In Tow, To Hunt A Northwest Delicacy
Northwest truffles – the fungi, not the chocolate – are becoming more popular. One reason people are finding new uses for the local delicacies is a growing trend in how they’re harvested: with dogs.
![A worker operates a forklift to move household waste at a facility that stores recyclable materials in Seoul, South Korea. In 2019, more than 130 million metric tons of single-use plastics were thrown away, according to a new report. CREDIT: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/gettyimages-1302396554-8bf0fbcf5824d7a4776807ac6ad206dd75421df6.jpg)
Half Of The World’s Single-Use Plastic Waste Is From Just 20 Companies, Says A Study
In 2019, more than 130 million metric tons of single-use plastics were thrown away, with most of that waste burned, buried in a landfill or dumped directly into the ocean or onto land. Now, a new report finds that just 20 companies account for more than half of all single-use plastic waste generated worldwide.
![File photo, March 2, 2020: Farmer Ben DuVal with his wife, Erika, and their daughters, Hannah, third from left, and Helena, fourth from left, stand near a canal for collecting run-off water near their property in Tulelake, Calif. Federal officials announced in April 2021 that farmers who rely on a massive irrigation project spanning the Oregon-California border will get 8% of the deliveries they need amid a severe drought. CREDIT: Gillian Flaccus/AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Farmers-Klamath-Basin-Oregon-drought-Ben-Duval-Erika-Duval-030220-CREDIT-Gillian-Flaccus-AP-500x500.jpeg)
A Dangerous Fire Season Is Looming As The Drought-Stricken West Heads Toward Water Crisis
Just about every indicator of drought is flashing red across the western U.S. after a dry winter and warm early spring. The snowpack is at less than half of normal in much of the region. Reservoirs are being drawn down, river levels are dropping and soils are drying out.
![Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed the Billy Frank Jr. statue bill into law at Wa He Lut Indian School on Wednesday. Looking on, from left, were Nisqually Tribal Chairman Ken Choke, Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, state Rep. Debra Lekanoff and tribal councilman Willie Frank III. CREDIT: Tom Banse/N3](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Jay-Inslee-signs-Billy-Frank-Jr-statue-swap-Marcus-Whitman-statue-041421-CREDIT-Tom-Banse-N3-500x500.jpg)
Governor Signs And Partially Vetoes Ambitious Washington Environmental Laws, Drawing Criticism
Gov. Jay Inslee signed the Climate Commitment Act, environmental justice legislation, a clean fuels standard and bills related to reducing Washington’s single-use plastic waste and hydrofluorocarbon pollution.
![In this Sept. 26, 2018 photo, provided by the National Park Service, a 4-year-old female gray wolf emerges from her cage as it is released at Isle Royale National Park in Michigan. A group of scientists urged the Biden administration Thursday, May 13, 2021, to restore legal protections for gray wolves, saying their removal earlier in the year was premature and states were allowing too many of the animals to be killed. CREDIT: National Park Service via AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Wolf-wolves-gray-wolves-Michigan-CREDIT-National-Park-Service-via-AP-file-500x500.jpeg)
Scientists Urge Federal Government To Restore Protections For Gray Wolves
A group of scientists urged the Biden administration Thursday to restore legal protections for gray wolves, saying their removal earlier this year was premature and that states are allowing too many of the animals to be killed.
![Tribal canoeists on the Memorial Bridge in Lewiston, Idaho, on the Clearwater River just before the confluence with the Snake River. The group joined the larger Free the Snake "flotilla" demonstration, Sept. 7-8, 2018. CREDIT: MIKE BEISER](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/tribal_canoes_-_free_the_snake_-_flotilla_-_credit_mike_beiser-500x500.jpg)
One Idea To Remove Snake River Dams May Be Dead In The Water. Inslee And Murray Oppose It
A wide-ranging proposal to save wild salmon by removing the four Lower Snake River dams may be dead in the water. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray say any proposal for the controversial dams needs a “science-based,” “community-driven” approach.