Environment
Environment
![Water emerges from the headwaters of Nevada Spring Creek at around 44 degrees year-round. A mitigation bank provided private money to reconnect it to Montana's Blackfoot River and to restore a prized trout fishing habitat. CREDIT: Nick Mott/Montana Public Radio](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/20200128-dsc02212_custom-4c5607d22e3e6716367890575a0136bd6c025de3-500x500.jpg)
Clean Water Protection Businesses Could Dry Up As Trump Administration Rolls Back Regulations
The Trump administration is stripping clean water protections put in place by President Barack Obama, and some in the industry worry that the regulatory changes will threaten their business.
![Map showing snowpack for Washington - Oregon - Idaho as of January 30, 2020](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Snow_Water_Equivalent_Percent_NRCS_1981-2010_Median_January_30_2020-500x500.jpeg)
Low Snow To Snowmageddon: January Dumps Gave Needed Bump To Northwest’s Lagging Snowpack
At the start of 2020, the situation looked dismal. After a dry start to the season, Washington and Oregon had less than half the amount of snow they’d normally see in the mountains. Then came the first few weeks of January.
![Elk graze in Skagit Valley, populated for centuries by Native Americans and, more recently, by farmers. CREDIT: Megan Farmer/KUOW](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/mf_elkskagitvalley01-d53c250d0010f883c0de89b5dfa42c91615b8532-500x500.jpg)
In Washington’s Skagit Valley, Elk Raise Tensions Between Tribal Members And Farmers
In Washington Skagit Valley, a conflict is unfolding between the Upper Skagit Tribe and farmers as elk are making a comeback there.
![The Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River. CREDIT: BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/image-dam-1-500x500.jpg)
New Hydroelectric Turbine Design Aims To Improve Fish Passage At Snake River Dams
For years, engineers with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have worked to design a hydroelectric turbine that’s safer for fish. They’ve recently installed a new design that’s improving energy efficiency and improving fish survival along the Snake River, with plans to upgrade more turbines over the next several years.
![Morning on the Clearwater River near Orofino, Idaho. This past fall, Idaho officials closed the Clearwater to steelhead trout and salmon fishing due to extremely low runs. CREDIT: Kirk Siegler/NPR](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/img_3314-254ef53a27fa332a544511fedd4fedc73889e2c7-500x500.jpg)
Northwest Salmon And Steelhead In Peril, And Efforts To Save Them Scale Up In Idaho
With Northwest salmon and steelhead on the brink, there are new efforts being brokered to save the famed fish.
![Alexandra Sasha Grieb and Kyleigh Dabler, both 19, from Kennewick, waved at passing cars driving by Richland’s John Dam Plaza. Grieb said it will be up to younger generations to fight climate change now with their votes. “The earth will survive climate change. Humans won’t,” she said. CREDIT: Courtney Flatt/NWPB](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/TC1-Alexandra-Sasha-Grieb-and-Kyleigh-Dabler-500x500.jpg)
Youth-Led Climate Lawsuit ‘Reluctantly’ Dismissed By Federal 9th Circuit Appeals Court
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Friday the young plaintiffs had “made a compelling case that action is needed,” but they did not have legal standing to bring the case.
![An unknown male wolverine was spotted at a wildlife monitoring station. Courtesy of the Cascades Carnivore Project](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/male_wolverine_1525387060602-500x500.jpg)
Where Have All The Wolverines Gone? Apparently Not On The Endangered Species List (Yet)
Conservation groups say the animals need to be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Ten groups want to force the federal government to protect the elusive wolverines. The groups estimate there are around 300 wolverines left, sparsely scattered across the Mountain West, including Idaho, Washington and Oregon.
![Washington Gov. Jay Inslee talks to news media Jan. 16, 2020, after a state Supreme Court ruling that reinstated a severely limited version of his plan to cap carbon pollution in the state. He said the ruling just strengthens his commitment to get climate change-related bills through the Legislature this year. CREDIT: Rachel La Corte/AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Jay-Insee-speaks-to-press-after-carbon-cap-ruling-CREDIT-Rachel-La-Corte-AP-500x500.jpeg)
Washington Supreme Court Deals Partial Blow To Jay Inslee’s Carbon Emissions Plan
The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday reinstated a severely limited version of Gov. Jay Inslee’s plan to cap carbon pollution in the state, a decision the Democrat described as a “clarion call” that lawmakers must act on climate change.
![Microsoft sign](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Microsoft-sign-Stephen-Brashear-Getty-Images-500x500.jpg)
Microsoft Pledges To Remove From The Atmosphere All The Carbon It’s Ever Emitted
By 2050, the tech giant pledges it will “remove from the environment all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975.”
![Much of New South Wales, Australia, including the Sydney Opera House, lay under a shroud of smoke Thursday. The state remains under severe or very high fire danger warnings as more than 60 fires continue to burn within its borders. CREDIT: Cassie Trotter/Getty Images](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/gettyimages-1188998056-2-41605a76e54d722eb170f7eb6187f5476650f779-500x500.jpg)
Australia’s Wildfires Are Releasing Vast Amounts Of Carbon
The Australian bushfires are emitting huge amounts of climate warming carbon into the atmosphere. Normally, new vegetation that grows back would recapture it, but that may be changing.
![Rocky reefs off the Oregon coast provide valuable habitat for rockfish and other marine life. Courtesy of Oceana](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Rocky-reeps-off-Oregon-coast-Courtesy-of-Oceana-500x360.jpg)
2020 Brings New Protections For West Coast Seafloor Habitat
Regulations that began Jan. 1 restrict bottom trawl fishing on about 90% of the seafloor off Washington, Oregon and California.
![Palouse Falls State Park is home to Washington's official state waterfall -- and large crowds in the spring runoff season.](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Palouse-Falls-CREDIT-Tom-Banse-N3-500x500.jpg)
Washington Lawmakers Hope To Discover A Way To Pass Free State Parks Entry Bill This Year
Remember back when it didn’t cost anything to visit a state park for the day? A senior Republican in the Washington Legislature says the state’s budget surplus should make it possible for park access to be free again.