Northwest artists have drawn inspiration from salmon as long as people have walked along the running streams. But, the movement to close four dams on the lower Snake River has some artists, activists and naturalists hopeful that their pieces will not only tug at heartstrings, but also move forward the conversation of salmon conservation and restoration.
Washington Gov. Read More
Oregon nonprofit Wallowa Land Trust gave 30 acres of undeveloped land near Wallowa Lake to the Nez Perce Tribe. (Credit: David Jensen) Listen (Runtime 00:53) Read Wildlife will have easier… Continue Reading Oregon nonprofit returns Wallowa land Read More
Badger Mountain Challenge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQTyTxkMOS0&list=PL6pHcbVJ2q0GlWFInFMhze7AALPhxA-zs&index=42The annual Badger Mountain Challenge brings together an extraordinary community of people who celebrate running and support each other on this unique, treasured and threatened ultramarathon course… Read More
A barn own with her eggs at the Blue Mountain Wildlife center in Benton City, Washington. Many barn owls are rehabbed at the center after building nests in haystacks throughout… Continue Reading More wildlife rehabilitators needed in the Read More
A cross country skier follows a trail on the Sunny M Ranch property in the Methow Valley. The Methow Conservancy hopes to purchase the land this summer. Credit: Courtney Flatt… Continue Reading Conservation Read More
There's a rallying cry at various bays and beaches up and down the West Coast; it's "Help the kelp!" The towering brown seaweed with the floating bulb on top is in steep decline. That's alarming because underwater kelp forests provide shelter and food for a wide variety of sea life. The crew now answering the call runs the gamut from seaweed farmers to hammer-wielding Read More
Grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Listen (Runtime 1:03) Read Grizzly bears in Washington’s North Cascades could gain habitat as the climate warms, according… Continue Reading Read More
The Whatcom County Council made no specific recommendations on which county timberlands to conserve for the next phase of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources’ carbon offset project.
In the letter, the council affirmed its commitment to work with the department, and instead of offering recommendations, asked the DNR to provide more information about the Read More
A combine harvests barley Friday, Aug. 24, 2007, near Moscow, Idaho. Credit: Ted S. Warren/AP READ When you think of heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions, you might picture industrial smoke stacks… Continue Read More
There’s a lot of misunderstanding when people talk about wolf management, according to a new study out of the University of Washington. Continue Reading Study: people mean different things when they talk about managing Read More
Tree climber Phil Chi does one last safety check before he climbs to the top of a whitebark pine tree. Credit: Courtney Flatt Listen (Runtime 0:59) Read The West’s iconic… Continue Reading Whitebark pines – the Read More
A moose was spotted for the first time in Mount Rainier National Park. Credit: Mount Rainier National Park Service LISTEN (Runtime: 1:05) READ For the first time, a moose has… Continue Reading Moose spotted for the first time in Mount Read More
When you cross paths with a wild animal, oftentimes you notice it and recognize it by name. Can you do the same with plants? Rich Old can. He has a… Continue Reading Tales Of A Weed Worker – With Botanist Rich OldRead More
Photo of Richard Old recording this episode of Traverse Talks across from Sueann Ramella. When you cross paths with a wild animal, oftentimes you notice it and recognize it by… Continue Reading Tales Of A Weed Worker – ‘Traverse Talks’ Episode 39 Read More
A growing technology is helping scientists save time and effort when they study rare critters and vast places. Continue Reading With A Few Cups Of Water, Scientists Use eDNA To Study Reclusive, Rare CreaturesRead More
Both the timber industry and environmental groups are celebrating the Washington Supreme Court’s decision on public land management last week. The decision affirms the Department of Natural Resources’ authority to manage the trust lands for public benefit. Read More
In the last of our series, The Fight for Legacy Forests, NWPB’s Lauren Gallup reports on reactions to the carbon project on state lands, which will protect some older forests from harvest. Continue Reading The Fight For Read More
Fewer people in the Northwest are learning to hunt, which causes funding problems for state fish and wildlife departments. To solve the funding problem, experienced hunters are teaching newbies how to get involved in the sport. Read More
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
The Beaver Valley Sorts timber sale in Jefferson County will go to auction this July, months later than expected. Lauren Gallup reports the delay is meant to address environmental concerns of county commissioners and residents. Read More
Johnnie Duguay-Smith, the stewardship associate at Methow Conservancy, in front of the Conservancy’s office / Photo by Connor Henricksen Listen Connor Henricksen reports on how conservation efforts in one Washington town… Continue Reading How Conservation Read More
Concerns about habitat for the Marbled Murrelet may have touched off the current fight for legacy forests / Photo: USFWS Listen NWPB’s Lauren Gallup continues her series “The Fight For… Continue Reading The Fight For Read More
The Washington Department of Natural Resources manages 3 million acres of forest land / Photo by Olena Sergienko, Unsplash In this Facebook Live Reporter Debrief, Northwest Public Broadcasting reporter Lauren… Continue Reading Reporter Debrief: Read More
The Washington Department of Natural Resources manages 3 million acres of forest land / Photo by Olena Sergienko, Unsplash Listen In Part Three of her series on “The Fight For… Continue Reading The Fight For Legacy Forests – Part 3: The Read More
For the first time, a wolf wearing a radio collar traveled south of Interstate-90 into Washington’s Southern Cascade Mountains. Photo Credit: Eric Kilby Flickr – Tinyurl.Com/Gngh5n7 Listen Read For the… Continue Read More
Researchers want you to add green crabs to your menu to help combat this invasive species. Continue Reading Eat Green Crabs, Combat Invasive SpeciesRead More
Dry conditions across Washington have prompted the state’s Department of Ecology to declare a drought emergency. Continue Reading Drought Emergency Declared In All 39 Washington CountiesRead More
Sage grouse in the Columbia Basin are cut off from others in Oregon and southern Idaho, making them unique in their recovery. In 1998, Washington listed its sage grouse as threatened. They now occupy around 8 percent of their historic range in the state. Read More
Peter Lancaster has always had a love for rabbits. But when he first saw a pygmy rabbit – perhaps what would become the most influential animal throughout his life – he didn’t know what it was. That began years of work to try and save the species, now endangered in Washington. Read More
A new survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found there are more than 70,000 breeding pairs of the iconic raptor in the contiguous U.S. In the late 1960s, there were fewer than 500. Continue Reading Once Imperiled, America’s Bald Eagle Read More
Conservation groups are vowing to again challenge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s decision not to add wolverines to the Endangered Species List. There are likely fewer than 300 wolverines across its habitat across the Mountain West, which includes populations in Washington, Idaho and Oregon, where 90 percent of their habitat is on federally managed lands and wilderness areas. Read More
Supporters say the measure, known as the Great American Outdoors Act, would be the most significant conservation legislation enacted in nearly half a century. Continue Reading ‘Most Significant Conservation Read More
The newly completed conservation area in south-central Washington is expected to protect habitat and lead to a more resilient forest. Conservation groups say this is a big step toward connecting important ecosystems in the area. Continue Read More
Conservation groups have said they are “weighing options” about what to do next. Ranching and cattle groups applauded the decision, saying more predators present challenges for their members. Continue Reading Interior Read More
The Great American Outdoors Act would permanently allocate $900 million to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which finally lapsed almost two years ago. Continue Reading U.S. Senate Passes Big Funding Boost To Read More
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. Read More
After years of fear and uncertainty, bottom trawler fishermen — those who use nets to scoop up rockfish, bocaccio, sole, Pacific Ocean perch and other deep-dwelling fish — are making a comeback here, reinventing themselves as a sustainable industry less than two decades after authorities closed huge stretches of the Pacific Ocean because of the species’ depletion. Read More
Pacific Northwesterners are undeniably fond of their endangered resident killer whales. Many locals are also fans of salmon fishing, a hobby that sustains charter fishing fleets in coastal harbors from Neah Bay, Washington, to Brookings, Oregon. But now there is a chance future fishing trips on the ocean could be curtailed to leave more food for the killer whales. Read More
The organization that sets limits for commercial, recreational and tribal salmon fisheries in the Pacific Northwest wrapped up their work Tuesday at a meeting in Northern California. Continue Reading Salmon Fisheries Set As Managers Read More
The state legislature is considering a bill that aims to help southern resident killer whales by protecting shoreline salmon habitat. But soon it might be more difficult to build a seawall on Puget Sound. Continue Reading Tougher Read More
During a testy confirmation hearing on Thursday, President Donald Trump's pick to be the nation's largest land steward told senators that he would take steps to prevent conflicts of interest and to improve ethics guidelines at the Interior Department. Read More
Deep in Oregon’s sagebrush country, there’s one county with an abundance of ravens. Biologists say those ravens like to eat sage grouse eggs, and they’ve come up with plans to take care of the raven problem. That’s got bird advocates questioning whether killing one bird for the sake of another is the right move. Read More
The Natural Resource Management Act includes a little of everything — meant to satisfy public land interests all over the country.
The land-conservation measures have received a lot of attention. But there are other provisions in the bill concerning the Northwest, among them wildfire risk, research and air quality resources, hunting on public lands, water management for Read More
How science and food growers can work together to conserve resources on our planet. That work is being done in eastern Washington, the rolling hills of the Palouse. Continue Reading The Phoenix ConservancyRead More
The U.S. House passed a bill Friday that would end federal protections for gray wolves in the Lower 48 states. For wolves in the Northwest, that would mean protections fall to state agencies. Continue Reading Read More
A Portland-based organization has developed a digital tool called Wildbook that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to expedite wildlife identification. Continue Reading How Conservationists Are Using AI And Big Data To Aid Read More
There’s been a push to create a juniper wood products industry to get some of those trees off the landscape. But western juniper processing and sales is still a fledgling industry in the Pacific Northwest. Continue Reading The Northwest Read More
State wildlife agencies and the country's wildlife conservation system are heavily dependent on sportsmen for funding. Money generated from license fees and excise taxes on guns, ammunition and angling equipment provide about 60 percent of the funding for state wildlife agencies, which manage most of the wildlife in the U.S. Nearly a third of all hunters in the U.S. are Read More