Environment
Environment
![Smoke-Kittitas-Valley-081718-Esmy-Jimenez](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Smoke-Kittitas-Valley-081718-Esmy-Jimenez-500x500.jpg)
When Will The Smoke Clear Out Of Northwest Skies? Not As Soon As We’d Like
The weather didn’t pan out as forecasters had hoped. That means smoke should stick around until the end of this week. And, it’s not only the skies that are choked with the unhealthy levels of smoke.
![The appointment of a climate change denier to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration comes as Americans face profound threats stoked by climate change, from the vast, deadly wildfires in the West to an unusually active hurricane season in the South and East. CREDIT: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/gettyimages-1164628719_custom-87deeef9290ad17f72e70060881c839861489a63-500x500.jpg)
Professor And Longtime Climate Science Denier Hired In High Position At NOAA
David Legates, a professor whose research has been supported by fossil fuel companies, has been hired for a top position at the federal agency that oversees weather and climate forecasting.
![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: Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review via AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Cold-Springs-Fire-Pearl-Hill-Fire-Sept-7-2020-CREDIT-Tyler-Tjomsland-The-Spokesman-Review-via-AP-500x500.jpeg)
Extreme End To The 2020 Northwest Fire Season Reminds Of The 1910 ‘Big Burn’
Usually, fire season starts to tamp down in September. This year has been anything but normal. In an unprecedented fire event, at least 80 fires started in Washington over Labor Day weekend.
![Hurricane Laura approaches the Gulf Coast of the U.S. on Wednesday. The storm rapidly intensified before it made landfall. NOAA via AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ap_20239697107655-746ac97754e4e6ee5bf4ee7a4aedc0ca8ee66845-500x500.jpg)
Hurricanes Like Laura Are More Likely Because Of Climate Change
Hurricane Laura rapidly intensified before it made landfall. Abnormally hot water in the Gulf of Mexico helped it gain power.
![A mother wolverine and her kits were successfully captured on webcams in Mount Rainier National Park this spring and summer. Hikers in the park confirmed a sighted of their own in August 2020. CREDIT: National Park Service via Flickr](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/wolverines_Mt-Rainier-National-Park_2020_CREDIT-National-Park-Service_Flickr-2-500x500.jpg)
‘It’s Just So Fantastic’: Wolverine Family Seen At Mount Rainier, No Signs Yet Of Cyclops Or Beast
Conservationists are “cautiously optimistic” after discovering a mother wolverine and her kits at Mount Rainier National Park. It’s the first time a family of wolverines has called the park home in more than 100 years.
![Empty western ridged mussel shells from a recent die off found in John Day River in eastern Oregon in August 2020. CREDIT: Teal Waterstrat](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Western-ridged-mussel-shells-John-Day-River-Oregon-CREDIT-Teal-Waterstrat-500x500.jpg)
Endangered Species Act Protection Sought For A Northwest Freshwater Mussel
A 2017 analysis that looked at historic versus recent distributing areas of the species and found that the populations have declined by almost 50% of its historic range and it has been accelerating in recent years.
![Smoky skies in Central Washington this week have made it hard to see distant mountains, and harder for some farmworkers to breathe clean air. CREDIT: ESMY JIMENEZ/NWPB](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Smoke-Kittitas-Valley-081718-Esmy-Jimenez-500x500.jpg)
Wildfires Are Picking Up In Northwest. So Is Possibility Of Smoke Inundating The Region
The air quality around the Northwest is gradually worsening with the increasing number of wildfires burning this week. Health and air quality officials are urging people to be prepared in case the smoke becomes more prominent.
![Most of the wolves in Washington are in the northeastern part of the state. A bill by Republican state Rep. Joel Kretz proposes a wolf sanctuary on Bainbridge Island. CREDIT: WASHINGTON DEPT. OF FISH AND WILDLIFE](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/012313JR_WestsideWolves-500x460.jpg)
State Wildlife Agency Kills Final Two Wolves In Northeastern Washington Wedge Pack
Washington state has killed the last two known wolves in the so-called Wedge pack in Stevens County, which had been preying on livestock, the Department of Fish and Wildlife said Monday.
![A monitoring station at Death Valley National Park measured a temperature of 130 degrees Sunday — likely a record for August in the park, the National Weather Service says. Karla Ann Cote/NurPhoto via Getty Images](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/death-valley-130-degrees_wide-edd003348728b0b90ce072af5a45c0cb32d32f45-500x500.jpg)
130 Degrees: Death Valley Sees What Could Be Record Heat
Any visitors to the national park are getting blunt advice: “Travel prepared to survive.” It’s part of a heat wave that is forcing rolling blackouts in the West.
![Acting BLM Director William Perry Pendley stands in the mostly empty suite of offices at the agency's new planned headquarters in Grand Junction, Colo. Kirk Siegler/NPR](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/William-Perry-Pendley-500x500.jpg)
President Trump To Withdraw Polarizing Nominee To Lead Bureau Of Land Management
The nominee, William Perry Pendley, has been leading the agency since last August through a series of controversial continued appointment extensions. Prior to coming to Washington D.C., the Wyoming native had spent much of his career at the conservative Mountain States Legal Foundation challenging the very agency he now leads.
![An American bald eagle flies over Mill Pond in Centerport, N.Y., in 2018. The bald eagle is one of the birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/gettyimages-1010939994_wide-a1f6439e9a3b482f6fce2dde1032d59f82875bdd-500x500.jpg)
Eagles And Mockingbirds Catch A Break As Judge Strikes Down Federal Migratory Bird Opinion
In 2017, the Trump administration scaled back protections of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. A federal judge has now struck down the rule change — and cited “To Kill a Mockingbird” in so doing.
![Beyond the borders of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness are as much as 200,000 acres of undeveloped forest.](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/opb4-500x434.png)
Rule Protecting The Northwest’s Old-Growth Trees Is Under The Federal Government’s Ax
This latest rollback proposal, issued Tuesday, comes from the Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region. It would end a 25-year-old provision that prevents logging of trees that exceed 21 inches in diameter in six national forests across Eastern Oregon and Washington.