Mount Rainier

(Runtime :53) Editor's Note: This story has been updated with new information. The two dead crew members of a missing US Navy plane - the EA-18G Growler -…

After about five years in the works, the Pierce County Council adopted a new Comprehensive Flood Hazard Management Plan that broadens the scope of what kinds of flooding the county will plan for – from coastal to urban flooding. Angela Angove is the floodplain and watershed services manager with Pierce County Planning and Public Works. She said different types of flooding are top of mind for people in the county, recalling the King Tides that caused tidal flooding last December.

Indigenous peoples have an enduring relationship with the mountain we call Rainier, but that history is often erased. Rachel Heaton, a member of the Muckleshoot Tribe and a descendant of the Duwamish people, wants that history to be told. NWPB’s Lauren Gallup spoke with Heaton about her efforts to engage more Native people in outdoor recreation.

There are thread-like worms on Mount Rainier that reserachers are looking at live at 32 degrees or they die... called ice worms.

It’s been a rough couple of months for outdoor recreation businesses – from mountaineering and rock climbing guides to river rafting, sea kayaking, mountain biking guides and private campgrounds. Outdoor recreation brings in big bucks to the Northwest — especially to many of the rural communities that act as gateways to the great outdoors.

The wildflower season at Mount Rainier National Park was short in 2015. Some of the lupines stopped flowering and didn’t make seeds like they normally do. The shorter season also meant fewer people saw peak blooms. A new study looks at how winter changes may affect tourist season at Washington's iconic park.

Eighteen volcanoes are classified as “very high threat” in the United States; eight of them are located in the Pacific Northwest. And right now only Mount St. Helens is considered well-monitored. The National Volcanic Early Warning and Monitoring Systems Act, passed in February, sets out to change that.

When the government shutdown began on December 22, National Park Service higher-ups aspired to maintain access to Western parks—to the extent it was possible with a skeleton staff. But that quickly became untenable at Crater Lake National Park due to lack of snow plowing and sewer maintenance.

National parks would be affected. The contingency plan for the National Park Service says to stop plowing roads. Given the current wintry weather, that would close Crater Lake and Mount Rainier National Parks in short order. Fort Clatsop would be likely to close too.

There won’t be any cell towers — but there could soon be cell signals at the most popular place at Mount Rainier. The National Park Service has decided limited range cell service can be installed at Paradise.