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Stories from the EarthFix team at OPB, KUOW, KCTS 9, Northwest Public Radio and Idaho Public Television.
EarthFix is an innovative partnership of the largest public media institutions in the Pacific Northwest established to expand environmental news coverage in the region. With journalists based in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, EarthFix creates media across multiple platforms, helping citizens examine environmental issues unfolding in their own backyards and to explore how local actions intersect with national issues. All content copyright EarthFix and its stations.
The Trump administration decided not to ban the toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos. Records show it continues to sicken people.
The Trump administration decided not to ban the toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos. Records show it continues to sicken people.
If you’ve ever slammed on your brakes for a deer in the road, you know the heart-pumping feeling of a near-miss. Northwest drivers are getting help navigating without putting wildlife at risk.
A hiker's death led to calls for a cougar cull. But a growing body of research suggests that aggressive killing can lead to more problem encounters with humans, not less.
A hiker's death lead to calls for a cougar cull. But a growing body of research suggests that aggressive killing can lead to more problem encounters with humans, not less.
Every year, volunteers snorkel the entire Salmon River to count every single Spring Chinook and Steelhead in the name of science
The Oregon Bee Atlas is training volunteers to collect and identify hundreds of native bees — an important step in learning which species live here and if their numbers are declining.
Not all wildfire is a force of destruction. Many of our favorite NW plants and animals have evolved to depend on it.
Over the years, small communities in Washington have learned to live with the threat, tragedy — even the good sides — that come from fire on the land.
Our continued drive to suppress wildfire doesn’t just come at the cost of an unhealthy forest. It puts firefighters in harm’s way.
And the Forest Service has begun to question whether that’s happening more than necessary.
On a handful of fires this summer, the Forest Service is testing out a new approach to try and keep its firefighters safe.
It’s a team of risk management experts that pours over maps and data to figure out where firefighting efforts are actually necessary, and where they’re likely to succeed. Its goal is to minimize unnecessary risk to firefighters.
On a handful of fires this summer, the Forest Service is testing out a new approach to try and keep its firefighters safe.
It’s a team of risk management experts that pours over maps and data to figure out where firefighting efforts are actually necessary, and where they’re likely to succeed. Its goal is to minimize unnecessary risk to firefighters.
New smoke management rules aim to increase amount of prescribed burns in fire-prone forests.
Keep an eye out for beer bottles with the word "refillable" stamped into the glass. They're popping up on store shelves across Oregon as the state brings back a more sustainable way of drinking beer.
Air quality is bad in the West when wildfires burn - cancelling out all our gains in reducing air pollution from cars and industry.
For people living in the “wildland-urban interface,” wildfire risk is the new normal, and the risk is increasing as more people move into places where cul-de-sac meets forest or sagebrush.
Learn about selective eating and food phobias, two lesser-known eating disorders afflicting children. Next, discover Little Sous, a new concept for turning kids into confident cooks. And finally, a cookbook author and food blogger fills us in on raisin...
The cause of the Substation Fire remains under investigation. Here’s what we know about it and how wildland fire investigations occur.
Is the Forest Service practicing what it preaches about allowing more fire on the land?
Scientists are studying midshipman fish in Hood Canal for clues to improving human hearing.
People in Montana say what’s happened with grizzlies in their state could be a guide for Washington, where the bears are in big trouble but on the verge of getting reinforcements.
One of the Northwest’s largest dairies has faced some big troubles in its first year of operation. The rise and rapid fall of Lost Valley Farm has alarmed environmentalists and shocked neighboring farms.
Rural kids are just as likely to have asthma as children growing up in congested cities.
One of the Northwest's biggest egg producers decided to take extra care with its land and water. But will people pay more for eggs certified 'salmon safe?'
The West's greater sage grouse are in trouble for all kinds of reasons. Researchers are starting to look into an unusual threat: predatory ravens.
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether treaties between tribes and the federal government require state taxpayers to dish out billions to dig up roads for salmon.
Legend Solar co-founder Shaun Alldredge speaking by telephone with OPB/EarthFix reporter Tony Schick on Feb. 26, 2018.
Legend Solar co-founder Shaun Alldredge speaking by telephone with OPB/EarthFix reporter Tony Schick on Feb. 26, 2018.
Scientists are experimenting with musical notes in place of datasets to analyze the movement of salmon in Northwest rivers.
Residents of Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood are demanding the federal government do more to address the problem of airplane noise.
Residents of Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood are demanding the federal government do more to address the problem of airplane noise.
An endangered flower grows in the swampy terrain of Oregon's south coast. Scientists are trying to figure out how to keep it from vanishing.completely
Researchers go to great lengths to understand the link between vessel noise and whale health.
The Trump administration has plans to reopen the Pacific Northwest to offshore oil and gas leasing, but is anyone actually looking to drill in the waters off the coasts of Oregon and Washington?
The Trump administration has plans to reopen the Pacific Northwest to offshore oil and gas leasing, but is anyone actually looking to drill in the waters off the coasts of Oregon and Washington?
Biologist Jeff Lewis released a handful of weasel-like animals called fishers into the Washington Cascades in 2015. Two years later, he returned to see if any of them survived and reproduced.
As the Pacific Northwest booms, it’s using a lot of concrete to build buildings, roads and other infrastructure — and making all that concrete is a big part of our carbon footprint.
The administration eases a law's penalties when power lines and wind turbines kill birds.
The administration eases a law's penalties when power lines and wind turbines kill birds.
The administration eases a law's penalties when power lines and wind turbines kill birds.
Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality wrote a report that identified logging as a contributor to known risks for drinking water quality in communities up and down the Oregon coast. But the report has never been published.
Oregon lawmakers are considering a cap and trade program to reduce the state's contributions to climate change. How would that work?
Even before last summer's farmed fish escape in Puget Sound, A First Nations tribe in British Columbia has have been trying to grow fish in tanks.
A development in two climate activists' trial could set a new precedent for cases of climate change-related civil disobedience.
A development in two climate activists' trial could set a new precedent for cases of climate change-related civil disobedience.
Interior's steep proposed fee increases are being tied to badly needed maintenance work.
Proposed tariffs could help U.S. manufacturers but others in the industry fear a slowdown.
Car-sharing services like Car2Go and Getaround are offering new transportation options for people without cars.
But these services don’t cover low-income neighborhoods.
Scientists predict that plastic in the ocean will eventually outweigh fish in the ocean. But how many of those plastics are ending up in our seafood, and where are they coming from?
OPB's Kate Davidson and Jes Burns talk about the latest developments with Oregon's Chetco Bar wildfire.
OPB's Kate Davidson and Jes Burns talk about the latest developments with Oregon's Chetco Bar wildfire.
Anticipating up to a million eclipse visitors, public land managers in Oregon prepared for the worst.
In a run-down shed in Oregon’s coast range, Carol Van Strum spent the past 40 years amassing a trove of documents about the chemicals industry.
In a run-down shed in Oregon’s coast range, Carol Van Strum spent the past 40 years amassing a trove of documents about the chemicals industry.
Intential forest fires used to create ideal habitat for huckleberries. Northwest tribes would like to revive the practice.
A glacier-fed stream winds through Central Washington’s Goat Rocks Wilderness It makes for some great bull trout habitat. But one thing stands in the way: an impassable dam. Biologists have spent many summer days catching the trout and carrying them around the dam.
A glacier-fed stream winds through Central Washington’s Goat Rocks Wilderness It makes for some great bull trout habitat. But one thing stands in the way: an impassable dam. Biologists have spent many summer days catching the trout and carrying them around the dam.
The forest plants can live for centuries. But once a forest loses them, they don't come back.
The Northwest Native mud shrimp has been in oyster growers' crosshairs. But now that it faces extinction, they may want to save it.
A million birds spend time annually in the Klamath Basin's six wildlife refuges.But that's only a fraction of the number that thrived here when they had year-round water.
There’s always a bird – or 20 – in sight at Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. But really, there should be many, many more.
Amid efforts to pass revenue and transportation packages.
many environmental bills fell by the wayside
As a 20-year lawsuit drags on, federal agencies need to prove that habitat restoration is actually saving salmon. That's no easy task.
As a 20-year lawsuit drags on, federal agencies need to prove that habitat restoration is actually saving salmon. That's no easy task.
A family of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems has shown up in waterways and wildlife in the Pacific Northwest. Washington state’s plan to deal with that problem is six years behind schedule.
With the way the planet is changing, are you questioning whether having kids is the right choice? You're not alone.
A cluster of fatal birth defects has left several families in Eastern Washington frustrated by years of unanswered questions.
A tree disease that's decimated forests in California has made its way north to western Oregon and Washington.
Butte Falls Charter School is hoping to turn a shuttered trout and salmon hatchery into a natural resource education center.
King County is updating the mantra, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” with the addition of a fourth R: Repair.
As scientists take to the streets in the March for Science, many have jobs that are now in limbo as they wait for the federal budget ax to fall.
A group of environmentalists and small farmers is promoting legislation — spurred on by the development of Lost Valley Farms — that would require large-scale dairies to follow certain air regulations.
For fruit growers in the Pacific Northwest, spring is the time for the annual struggle between keeping their trees alive, and keeping bees alive to pollinate those trees.
A controversial logging project is moving forward near a popular entrance to the Eagle Cap Wilderness. It’s igniting a debate over what constitutes forest thinning for wildfire prevention and forest health. Critics see it as exploitation of a loophole — and perhaps the start of a trend in increased logging in the name of forest health across the West.
More and more people are using publicly owned lands for recreation. Public agencies are struggling to keep up with the demand for rangers, trail maintenance – even the need to restock toilet paper in outhouses. The problem could get worse under President Trump’s hiring freeze. Reporting for EarthFix, Eilís (eye-LEASH) O’Neill headed to [Western Washington’s] Middle Fork Valley to find out more…
Hunters, fishermen and environmental activists. It’s not often these group are mentioned in the same breath. But recently they’re finding themselves standing shoulder to shoulder over the issue of public lands.
Sportsmen and women consider hunting and fishing in these wild places to be their right. And they’re nervous that calls to sell off or transfer public lands are gaining traction. Now, they’re crossing political lines to protect what they love.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
The Pacific chorus frogs’ call is ubiquitous in the Northwest. But the amphibians are having more and more trouble hearing themselves. Traffic is drowning them out. Audio courtesy of Danielle Nelson.
Seattle residents were horrified when King County dumped millions of gallons of raw sewage into Puget Sound. Officials blamed it on a malfunction at a waste treatment plant. But raw sewage dumps aren’t as rare as we’d like to think. Even when no disasters happen, cities with combined sewers for their stormwater and sewage have to dump untreated wastewater into rivers, lakes and bays during heavy rainstorms.
Proposed budget cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency would scale back many programs and grants that American Indian tribes depend on to ensure their land has clean air and water.
A decade ago bats in the Northeast started dying by the millions. The culprit was a disease that for years, stayed largely confined to the eastern U.S. and Canada.
But in 2016, the disease suddenly and mysteriously appeared in the Pacific Northwest.
Ever since researchers have been racing to find out what bats here are in for.
As you motor down the highway, you could be driving over dozens of underground passages -- called culverts. Those are metal pipes or concrete boxes that carry streams beneath the roadbed. In the Northwest, thousands of these culverts are poorly designed and maintained -- blocking the way for endangered salmon. That’s why Native American tribes have sued Washington State.
Reporting for EarthFix, Eilis (eye-LEASH) O’Neill headed out to look at some culverts…
At the Oregon State Land Board meeting on Tuesday morning, we'll learn more about the fate of the Elliott State Forest.
Grizzly bears have been stirring up debate for decades in North-Central Washington communities. Most people love them or hate them -- they argue the bears are a necessary part of the ecosystem or a threat to their way of life. The public is getting a new chance to share their opinions at open houses throughout Washington. EarthFix reporter Courtney Flatt has more about the controversy
California condors once filled the skies from Baja to British Columbia. The giant scavenging bird had a wingspan of 10 feet.
But with European settlement, the population crashed. Condors were victims of poisoning that targeted large predators like wolves.
Now, the greatest known killer of these highly endangered birds is a different kind of poisoning – it comes from ingesting lead bullet fragments in dead animals.
For our EarthFix series about birds and lead hunting ammunition, Jes Burns reports that an effort to reintroduce the condor in the Pacific Northwest would place them right in harm’s way.
For decades, environmental laws have protected North America’s trumpeter swan from sport hunting, but every year swans in the Pacific Northwest fall victim to one of hunting’s toxic legacies.
For now, a small group of scientists and volunteers may be their only chance of survival.
Reporting for our EarthFix team, Ken Christensen has the final story in our series on the effects of lead ammunition on wildlife. .
Every year, wheat dies, and wheat farmers have to till the soil and plant new seeds. That causes erosion, which is hard on the land, hard on the water, and hard on farmers. That’s why researchers in Mount Vernon, Washington, are trying to develop a grain that’s like wheat--but keeps growing back.
Occasionally a big idea comes along that promises revolutionize the world – think about things like self-driving cars.
For biologists – especially those who work with fish – the big idea involves something called “environmental DNA.” The technology could revolutionize how we protect native animals and ensure invasive species don’t take hold.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
Harvesting clams is part of the Lummi people's cultural heritage and an income source. Both are threatened by pollution. Nearby dairy farmers are taking steps so they won't be part of the problem.
Tens of thousands of birders all over North and Central America are participating right now in the Christmas Bird Count.
This annual survey in the last weeks of December and first week of January documents what birds are where and how many of them there are.
The count’s been running for over one hundred years.
It’s given scientists loads of data about how birds’ ranges and populations are changing.
Reporting for EarthFix, Eilís [(eye-LEASH)] O’Neill headed out with some birders north of Everett, Washington…
Salmon need cool, shady streams to thrive. Oregon was once at the forefront in protecting these waters, but these days, the state lags far behind Washington and California.
Now, Oregon is updating how its rivers and streams are protected.
Jes Burns of EarthFix partnered with Liam Moriarty of Jefferson Public Radio to find out if these new rules will cool down Oregon’s streams enough to help its salmon make a comeback.
Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered a sound coming from one of the deepest spots in the ocean. They believe it’s the song of a Minke whale, but it’s not like any they’ve identified before.
Oregon is offering a state forest for sale for a flat $220 million, but is requiring the purchaser to guarantee public access and some environmental protections.
A one hour podcast special that explores the U.S. military's environmental legacy in the Pacific Northwest - from making thousands of planes and ships on the rivers to chopping down forests to building the nuclear bomb that would bring Japan to its knees. What was the environmental cost of winning WWII and how are we balancing military preparedness and environmental concerns today?
Hanford Nuclear Site cleanup workers must fight for acknowledgement their illnesses stem from on-the-job exposures. From our series Battle Ready: The Military’s Environmental Legacy In The Northwest.
Listen to the a research scientist's "Phantom Road" audio used to discover how manmade noise impacts wildlife.
Washington’s Olympic Peninsula is known as one of the quietest, most remote places in the United States. But that is changing.
The Navy is ramping up troops and training in the Northwest - and the Olympic Peninsula is the epicenter of those activities.
Ashley Ahearn brings us the next installment in our EarthFix series on the military’s relationship with the environment
This month [December 7th] will mark the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It’s what drew the United States into World War II. During that war, President Roosevelt called on America to be the “Arsenal of Democracy.”
In Seattle, people did their part by building B-17 bombers.
Thousands of these ‘Flying Fortresses’ blackened the skies over Europe. And thousands of young men risked their lives in these planes..
The B17 changed history - but it also changed Seattle. EarthFix reporter Ashley Ahearn has the story -- It’s the first in our series on the military’s environmental legacy in the Pacific Northwest.
After the Great Depression, the Northwest’s faltering timber industry got its second wind. The comeback started with World War II.
The war effort created a huge demand for lumber. It also spurred advancements in technology, setting the region up for one of the largest timber harvests in U-S history.
As part of our EarthFix series exploring at the impact of the military on the environment of the Northwest, Jes Burns looks at the connections between World War II and the development of the most iconic symbol of modern logging - the chainsaw.
If you were to guess who is responsible for looking out for wildlife, you probably wouldn’t think of the army. Well, it turns out, more than 400 threatened or endangered species live on U.S. military land -- almost four times more than in our national parks. So how do we protect animals in dangerous places? EarthFix reporter Katie Campbell has the next story in our series on the relationship between the military and the environment.
A longstanding debate — removing or altering the four lower Snake River dams — is back in the discussion about protect fish while still doing what’s best for all interests along the Columbia and Snake rivers.
The Northwest timber industry has changed dramatically over the past few decades. In the wake of environmental regulations and lawsuits, logging has declined on federal lands. Automation has reduced the number of jobs in the mills and forests. And the economy and trade deals haven't always been favorable.
But Donald Trump’s election win has communities in the Northwest Timber Belt cheering, and hoping better times are ahead.
Jes Burns of EarthFix takes us to Oregon’s Douglas County, where Trump won with 64-percent of the vote.
A solution to Northwest guitar makers' need for ethically and sustainably sourced hardwood may be growing in their own backyard. But can science help give them more beautiful maple wood?
An EarthFix analysis reveals efforts to preserve nongame wildlife have repeatedly faltered at Oregon Fish and Wildlife, in part because management let its conservation program fall into disarray.
Oregon’s wildlife agency has cut conservation programs and neglected hundreds of sensitive species to the point that biologists now worry some populations will go extinct within Oregon’s borders before the agency ever realizes.
Vaux’s swifts are known for the dazzling display they create as they funnel into chimneys to roost for the night. But these migratory birds are losing their roosting habitat as old chimneys get demolished. EarthFix reporter Cassandra Profita takes us to a homemade replacement bird advocates are testing out in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
If you could make energy companies pay $25 for every ton of CO2 they emitted, would you?
What if that tax increased your electric bill and the cost of gasoline by 25 cents per gallon – but the revenue from that tax cut sales taxes and gave money back to low-income families in the form of a rebate?
Oregon and Washington are among the nation’s renewable energy leaders. Solar and wind are an expanding part of the mix.
But there’s a problem: people need electricity even when the sun’s not shining and the wind isn’t blowing.
A project in Oregon’s Klamath County is aimed at solving this problem -- by using water as a giant battery. It’s an idea from the 1960s that fell out of favor. But like typewriters and record players, Northwesterners are hoping to make this technology cool once again.
Over the last few decades, an invasive crab native to Europe has been making it’s way up the West Coast.
Earlier this month, one of the crabs was found for the first time in Washington’s Puget Sound.
University of Washington researchers went out to find out how many more of these destructive invaders are lurking in the Northwest’s inland sea.
EarthFix reporter Katie Campbell joined them and has this report.
Over the last few decades, an invasive crab native to Europe has been making it’s way up the West Coast.
Earlier this month, one of the crabs was found for the first time in Washington’s Puget Sound.
University of Washington researchers went out to find out how many more of these destructive invaders are lurking in the Northwest’s inland sea.
EarthFix reporter Katie Campbell joined them and has this report.
Young children today recognize hundreds of corporate logos, but few can identify more than a handful of plants and animals in their own backyard.
You’re about to meet a group of preschoolers who are quite different.
That’s because they go to school outside.
EarthFix reporter Katie Campbell has the story.
Home demolitions are on the rise in Northwest cities like Seattle and Portland. Hundreds of old homes coated in lead paint are torn down every year. When heavy equipment breaks apart old siding and walls, lead particles are released into the air. Yet there are few rules in place to prevent neighbors being exposed to lead dust from home demolitions. EarthFix reporter Tony Schick takes us to a neighborhood in Southeast Portland that’s fighting to get a developer to take extra precautions.
Cats may be cute, but they can also be dangerous. Research suggests house cats and strays together kill billions of birds every year.
With that in mind, bird and wildlife conservationists and feral cat advocates have teamed up to host an annual tour of Portland catios. That's catio with a "c." It's an enclosed outdoor patio for cats.
A young Ugandan scientist talks about life on her family farm and what she's learned about wolves and ranchers in Washington state.
This summer one of the largest birds in North America suddenly showed up in Washington’s Puget Sound.
Squadrons of white pelicans have set area birders atwitter.
They’re trying to figure out where they came from and what it means.
While their arrival has been fun for bird watchers, it may not be a good thing for the pelicans.
EarthFix reporter Katie Campbell has the story.
There’s a large sign at the turn-off to Steamboat Creek on Oregon’s North Umpqua River near Roseburg. It’s worn and dirty and reads, “No angling or mining.”
These rules are in place because Steamboat Creek supports one of the last runs of wild summer steelhead in the Northwest. Fishermen and conservationists want to keep it that way.
They’re backing a bill in Congress that would ensure protections for these fish going forward, as Jes Burns of EarthFix explains.
Simple steps could have prevented last month’s fiery derailment of an oil train in the Columbia River Gorge. Had inspectors from Union Pacific railroad or government regulators walked the stretch of track in the weeks or months prior, they might have spotted broken bolts. But no one did. As Tony Schick of our EarthFix team reports, those missed bolts in Mosier expose the flaws in the current system for railroad inspections.
The United States welcomed its newest citizens at Crater Lake National Park. Immigrants from all over the world took the Oath of Citizenship at the July 4th ceremony on a ridge high above the lake.
Jes Burns of our EarthFix team was there and files this report.
At one time, a network of wetlands and marshes surrounded Southern Oregon’s Upper Klamath Lake. These were the hunting and gathering grounds of Native Americans. One of their major subsistence foods was an abundant water lily they called the wocus.
But then came dam-building and the conversion of the fertile wetlands for agriculture. The wocus began to disappear.
Jes Burns of our EarthFix team reports on an effort underway to bring the plant back.
About 15 years ago, scuba divers began encountering one of the world’s largest predatory sharks -- the sixgill --- lurking in the waters around Seattle.
For a time, Puget Sound was a mecca for the sharks -- until they suddenly disappeared. What happened to the sixgills became one of Seattle’s great marine mysteries.
Now some wonder if the sharks might be back.
Reporting for EarthFix, Michael Werner has the story.
Southern Oregon’s Diamond Lake has a long and frustrating history. It’s alternated between begin one of the best trout fishing spots in the Pacific Northwest to being overrun with an invasive bait fish called the tui chub.
Twice now, the chub have moved in, caused toxic algae blooms and pushed out sport fish. Both times, state wildlife officials have taken the extreme and expensive measure of poisoning the entire lake. This last happened just 10 years ago.
But now the tui chub have appeared again, and Oregon is trying a new tactic, as Jes Burns of our EarthFix team explains.
Southern Oregon’s Diamond Lake has a long and frustrating history. It’s alternated between begin one of the best trout fishing spots in the Pacific Northwest to being overrun with an invasive bait fish called the tui chub.
Twice now, the chub have moved in, caused toxic algae blooms and pushed out sport fish. Both times, state wildlife officials have taken the extreme and expensive measure of poisoning the entire lake. This last happened just 10 years ago.
But now the tui chub have appeared again, and Oregon is trying a new tactic, as Jes Burns of our EarthFix team explains.
In the Pacific Northwest, coastal areas have been attractive places to live for more than 10-thousand years. Native American villages dotted the coastline until the early 1900s, leaving a rich archeological record of the people and cultures that lived there.
But now many of those sites are eroding away – a process that is being accelerated by climate change. This is raising questions about how to protect these sites from the ravages of the ocean, and people illegally hunting newly-exposed artifacts.
Jes Burns of our EarthFix team reports.
Feds reject proposal to build America's biggest coal-exporting port in Washington state.
If you were driving along logging roads outside of Corvallis/[in Oregon’s Coast Range] this spring, you might have come across a strange sight: eight college students with shovels digging large, perfectly rectangular holes in the forest.
Those are the Northwest’s next generation of forensic anthropologists – taking advantage of a rare opportunity to get their hands in the dirt.
EarthFix reporter Jes Burns joined their hunt for bone, and files this report.
Old growth forests in the Northwest have the potential to make the extremes of climate change less damaging for wildlife. New research out of Oregon State University shows complex forests do a surprisingly good job of regulating temperatures on the ground.
Jes Burns of our EarthFix team explains.
There won’t be much of a salmon season this year off the coasts of Oregon, Washington and California. Commercial and recreational fishermen are coming to terms with lower catch limits set Thursday by fishery managers.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
A few new policy steps could help Oregon catch up with neighboring Washington and other states in bringing solar power to more homes, businesses and utility customers. An April 14, 2016 conversation with EarthFix reporter Jes Burns and OPB anchor Kate Davidson
KUOW's Jeannie Yandel talks with EarthFix reporter Jes Burns about a deadly fungus called white nose syndrome that's killed millions of bats on the East coast. In March, a single bat with white nose syndrome was discovered in Washington state. Burns talks about what the spread of this syndrome could do to the state's ecosystem and agriculture.
A bat suffering from white nose syndrome has been found in the Pacific Northwest. It’s the first time the devastating disease has popped up west of the Rockies.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
Regional fishery managers are considering a rare total closure of ocean salmon fisheries in Washington and northern Oregon. They say they have to consider the option to protect fragile runs of coho salmon. For EarthFix, Cassandra Profita reports:
The no fishing option is only being considered in the ocean north of Cape Falcon, near Manzanita on Oregon’s North Coast.
But that means it could close all the recreational and commercial salmon fishing off of Washington.
Butch Smith runs a recreational fishing charter in Ilwaco, Washington. He says about 85 percent of his business depends on ocean salmon fisheries. And a total closure would hurt his business and many others.
Smith: “It’ll be devastating to our coastal communities up and down the coast. Fishing is our lifeblood. Fishing is our Boeing and our Microsoft.”
Smith sits on an advisory panel that helps set salmon seasons coast-wide. He says there are two other options that would allow some ocean salmon fishing.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council will make the final decision next month.
I’m Cassandra Profita reporting
Studies estimate the impacts of climate change will curtail spending on winter recreation by billions of dollars in the coming decades.
And that spells trouble for the businesses and communities that depend on snow sports.
But a new winter activity is gaining traction.
EarthFix reporter Katie Campbell went to Winthrop, Washington to learn about fat bikes.
Revelations about arsenic and cadmium air pollution in Portland have residents asking why state environmental officials didn’t tell them about the toxics earlier.
To prevent similar problems going forward, some Portland officials have floated the idea of creating a regional air quality agency that could better address local concerns. California and Washington use this system extensively.
Earthfix reporter Jes Burns examines the potential pros and cons, by looking at the only regional air agency operating in Oregon.
The Clean Electricity and Coal Transition Bill lays out a timeline for Oregonians to stop paying for electricity from coal-fired power plants through its two largest utilities, PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric.
Wolf advocates are watching to see if Governor Kate Brown will sign a bill they say slams the door on legal challenges to Oregon’s delisting of the gray wolf.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports:
We sent Ashley Ahearn to a little city on the Columbia River that is welcoming a new methanol plant.
The conflicts around grazing on public lands were shoved into the spotlight during the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon. The Bureau of Land Management allows livestock grazing on more than 20-thousand square miles in Oregon and Washington - an area 4-times the size of the Willamette Valley.
Ranchers have been frustrated by environmental regulations they see as a threat to their livelihoods. But the fact is, many of those regulations only exist on paper -- they’re not fully enforced by federal land managers.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports from Oregon’s Harney County.
A city at a crossroads: Tacoma, Washington, considers a proposal to build the largest methanol plant in the world.
There are no cows left on Oregon’s Pine Creek Ranch, but there is barbed wire fence. Later this spring, a federal land swap is expected to be finalized, and part of the historic ranch land will become federally protected Wilderness.
Backcountry volunteers have been working against that deadline to remove the derelict fence left behind - before Wilderness restrictions make an arduous task even more difficult.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
Coal usage in the U.S. has been declining for years. That's prompted coal companies to try to export their coal to Asia via West Coast ports But that's not looking like such a good bet for the coal industry anymore.
Oregon conservation groups say volunteers are lining up to help reverse damage done to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge during the continuing occupation.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
There’s not much of the Earth’s landmass that hasn’t been explored: the continents have been mapped, the poles conquered and the mountains climbed. But what if we were to tell you there’s a natural wonder about 60 miles from Portland that had never been documented - until now.
Its unofficial name is Valhalla, a deep and narrow slot canyon in the wilderness.
Jes Burns of EarthFix has the story.
One of the most distinctive sounds in Northwest mountains is the honk of the American pika. Climate change has long been considered a threat to the small mammal. But new research shows the outlook for survival in some areas to be more positive.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
California has started looking at the environmental effects of dams on the Klamath River. It’s the first official move since the Klamath Basin Water Agreements fell apart at the end of the year.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
For federal wildlife enforcement officers, time on the job means a lot of time alone, wandering remote areas. But one wildlife officer now has a new companion to keep him company on the trails: the Pacific Region’s very first enforcement dog.
A lot of big, anti-government rhetoric has come out of the armed occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge headquarters.
While most ranchers aren’t as extreme, their feelings of dissatisfaction and distrust of federal land managers can be very real.
And as Jes Burns of EarthFix reports, a closer look shows some of this links back to a simple lack of reliable information.
There's a new rule on the books to limit carbon emissions in Washington State. The State Department of Ecology released the draft rule today (Wednesday). Businesses that emit more than 100,000 tons of carbon pollution each year will have to start to cut back.
A lot of big, anti-government rhetoric has come out of the armed occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge headquarters.
While most ranchers aren’t as extreme, their feelings of dissatisfaction and distrust of federal land managers can be very real.
[And as Jes Burns of EarthFix reports,] A closer look shows some of this links back to a simple lack of reliable information.
It’s been one of the wettest Decembers in recent memory in the Northwest. The weather has put much needed snow in the mountains, but the lower elevation rainfall has caused landslides and flooding. That rain has also put stress on the infrastructure that keeps raw sewage out of the environment.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
2016 could bring a major shift in how scientists think about the history of our planet. An international committee is expected to announce whether Earth has entered a new geologic epoch – one that puts humans front-and-center.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
Congress has adjourned for the year with no authorization of the Klamath water agreements. And now the locally-negotiated compromises will expire unless signees decide to extend at a meeting Monday [Dec 28] afternoon.
Jes Burns of EarthFix has more.
The state of Oregon is looking for a buyer for the Elliott State Forest in Southern Oregon. More than 40 groups have come forward saying they want to be part of a deal.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
For the first time, scientists have brought together a comprehensive data set from 235 lakes around the world showing that globally, lake temperatures are rising more rapidly than ocean or air temperatures.
Officials with the Oregon Department of Forestry knew Applebee Aviation had lost its pesticide license before they let the company spray weed killer over 800 acres of state and private land.
Northern spotted owl numbers are declining across the Northwest. The primary reason is the spread of the invasive barred owl. This, according to a new analysis published Wednesday [today].
Jes Burns of EarthFix has the details.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee is in Paris right now for the global climate negotiations.
But the governor is also making some new moves to cut emissions back home in Washington.
Farmers challenging Jackson County’s voter-approved ban on genetically engineered crops have agreed to settle. If approved by the court, Oregon’s first countywide ban will have cleared a final legal hurdle.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
Oregon Representative Greg Walden on Thursday released draft legislation he says will help solve long-standing water conflicts in the Klamath Basin. The bill is drastically different from what tribes, farmers and others negotiated as part of the Klamath restoration agreements.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
The climate is changing in the Pacific Northwest, and the consequences are playing out in some surprising ways.
At Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, the surface water temperature is on the rise. This may not seem to be cause for alarm, but there’s an invasive crayfish in the lake that is loving the new warmer waters - putting the lake’s clarity and native creatures in jeopardy.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
The commercial Dungeness crab season is supposed to start Tuesday, Dec. 1 in Oregon and parts of Washington. But concerns about marine toxins have pushed that opening back to at least the middle of the month.
On Monday, crab from Southern Oregon tested safe for human consumption – a positive sign for the state’s most valuable fishery.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
A huge mass of warm water in the Pacific Ocean is causing problems off the coast of Oregon and Washington. The so-called “blob” is being blamed for toxic algae blooms, which have caused marine mammal deaths and crabbing closures.
New evidence shows this isn’t the first time the blob has appeared off the Northwest coast.
Jes Burns of EarthFix explains.
KUOW Listener Lauren Linscheid of Seattle sees crows flying every day toward Lake City Way. “I want to know where they’re going and why,” Lauren told KUOW’s Local Wonder team. Reporter Ashley Ahearn was dispatched to investigate.
A conversation with William Ruckelshaus, one of two Washington’s environmental leaders who will be honored Tuesday by President Barack Obama. The late Billy Frank, Jr. will be honored posthumously.
Bill Ruckelshaus, the first administrator of the EPA back when it was created in 1970, talks about pollution - then and now, what he'll do with his Medal of Freedom.
Washington is taking legal action against Volkswagen in the wake of a diesel vehicle scandal. The state says the automaker exposed residents to harmful air pollution by intentionally cheating on federal emissions tests.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.
In the wake of the Oso Landslide, which killed 43 people last year, Washington is revisiting the way logging is done on slopes.
President Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline last week, but oil from Canada’s tar sands may find another way out of the ground. Ken Christensen from our EarthFix team explains what that could mean for the Pacific Northwest.
Reporter Ashley Ahearn heads to the Quinault Indian Reservation, where the tribe is planning to move inland to avoid rising seas.
Scientists have found dozens of poisoned dolphins, whales and sea lions off the coast of Washington, Oregon and California this year. They tested positive for a toxin caused by a massive algae bloom this summer in the Pacific Ocean.
As cooler, wetter weather comes to the Northwest, wildfire season is rapidly coming to a close.
This year’s fires are leaving behind more than just charred forests and blackened ground. They’re setting the stage for what’s expected to be a fundamental shift in the landscape.
Because of a changing climate, what grows back on some of these burns could permanently look very different than what was there before.
Jes Burns of EarthFix explains.
In south-central Montana, plans are underway to get more coal out of the ground and onto ships headed to Asia. The Crow Tribe of Montana and Cloud Peak Energy of Wyoming are partnering to develop a new coal mine on the reservation and to open a new export terminal in Washington’s Puget Sound. Although coal prices are in decline and a protest movement is growing, the Crow are undeterred. For them, coal equals survival. Amy Martin visited the Crow reservation and has this report.
Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush announced his plan for managing public lands and natural resources today in Reno. His suggestions ranged from giving states more control over federal lands within their borders to moving the main office of the Interior Department to a Western state.
The announcement could be a sign that natural resource issues will play a more prominent role in the 2016 election than they have in the past.
Lead and arsenic used decades ago in pesticides are still lingering in the topsoil of Pacific Northwest apple country. That poses a health risk for children who come in close contact with dirt -- in the backyards and playgrounds developed from former orchards. In this second and final part of our series, EarthFix reporters Courtney Flatt and Tony Schick traveled to some of those places to find out what’s being done to keep kids safe from contaminated soil.
For decades, apple growers in Central Washington sprayed their trees with a misty brew of lead and arsenic to keep pests away. The practice stopped in the mid-20th century. Since then, many of those orchards have been redeveloped -- some as housing subdivisions, schools, and daycare centers. Even though the orchards are long gone, those toxic chemicals remain in the soil.
In October, the Environmental Protection Agency took steps to protect public health by tightening restrictions on smog. The new clean air standard is not as far-reaching as health and environmental advocates were calling for. But it’s more strict than many industry representatives wanted to see.
Jes Burns of EarthFix explains what the new rules mean for the Northwest.
Reporter Ashley Ahearn traces her family connection to the plane that helped win World War II and changed the economy, environment and racial makeup of the city of Seattle.
The city of Ashland has a deer problem. At least that’s what some residents are saying after being intimidated, chased and occasionally attacked by the city’s resident deer.
Jes Burns of EarthFix reports from Wednesdaynight’s standing-room-only “Deer Summit,” where local leaders heard suggestions on what to do.
Opponents of a natural gas export project in Southern Oregon are on a month-long protest hike along the route of a proposed pipeline. This weekend, the hikers neared the halfway point in Jackson County.
The 230-mile Pacific Connector Pipeline would supply the Jordan Cover liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal, proposed for Coos Bay on the Oregon coast.
A drought plan for Washington’s Yakima basin calls for a mountain lake to be partially drained to provide more water for agriculture. That’s struck a nerve with some conservation groups and homeowners.
It’s been a smoky summer in the Pacific Northwest. Wildfires have communities from Eastern Washington to Northern California gasping through days and weeks of poor air quality.
In Ashland, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the “show-must-go-on” mantra of the theater has given way to continuous air quality checks and tough show-time decisions.
The State of Oregon is now looking for a buyer willing to take the Elliott State Forest off its hands, following Thursday’s vote by the Land Board to move ahead with plans to sell the public forest located near Coos Bay.
Groundwater levels in Oregon’s Klamath Basin have dropped as much as 25-feet in the past fifteen years. A new report shows there is a relationship between the declines and pumping by farmers in the region.
There have been several reports of new wolf activity in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. 2008 was the first year Oregon documented a successful wolf breeding pair. Now the state has eight pairs and has begun talks to delist gray wolves as a part of its management plan.
It can be a tough journey for salmon and steelhead returning to spawn in Northwest rivers and streams. High water temperatures, parasites, and predators all pose natural threats.
But the fish also encounter unnatural obstacles – like dams and culverts - that make getting to the best spawning habitat difficult.
Southern Oregon is beginning to get a reputation as a place where efforts to improve fish passage are succeeding. And two significant dams in the Rogue watershed are coming down this summer.
Some good news for anglers in Central Oregon: The state department of Fish and Wildlife has lifted fishing restrictions on the Lower Deschutes River.
This year was supposed to be one of the biggest returns in 40 years for the endangered Idaho sockeye salmon. But it’s not turning out that way. Only a fraction of of these fish have survived their journey up the Columbia and Snake rivers. The biggest problems: warm waters. Now dam and fish managers and tribes are in a race against time to save the few remaining fish.
Southeastern Oregon is filled with the kind of wide open rangeland where an iconic bird is struggling to survive: the greater sage grouse. Eleven states in the West are working out strategies for the survival of the sage grouse. In Oregon’s Harney Countyranchers are eager for solutions that will avoid more government restrictions.
Oregon is one step closer to putting together a plan to protect greater sage grouse. The state passed new rules today [Monday] to help guide large scale development near important habitat in Eastern Oregon. The turkey-sized bird is uniting ranchers and conservationists in an effort to keep it off the Endangered Species List.
A fire ecologist who studies rainforest fires in the Olympic Mountains rediscovers a research site he hasn't seen in 35 years. The forest there burned in 1870, and recovery has been really slow.
Unusually warm waters in the Columbia River Basin have prompted federal officials to invoke measures to help migrating fish survive the hostile conditions.
A warming climate is making water more scarce in places that rely on runoff from mountain snowpack — places like the Yakima River basin in Central Washington. A Senate panel took up a plan on Tuesday that would ensure plenty of water for decades to come in this agricultural hub.
A federal jury in Washington says railroad company BNSF retaliated against a whistleblower who brought safety concerns to light. This week the court awarded the former employee $1.25 million in damages.
Puget Sound steelhead will be heading to an inland Washington lake again this summer. That’s because federal officials are conducting a review of those hatchery programs. The controversy is bringing up a lot of debate about hatchery science in the Northwest.
It’s been a one-two- punch of low snowpack and not enough rain this spring for many Northwest rivers. Hot temperatures and low river flows are causing problems for salmon making the return migration.
Washington state lawmakers have until next week to pin down a budget. If they don’t, parts of state government will shut down. In the midst of a drought, that could have ramifications for farmers and for fish.
Exploring the Pacific Northwest’s natural wonders is getting a little bit easier. Google reconfigured its car-mounted Street View cameras for the hiking trail.
One Oregon conservation group is hoping to use a new technology to inspire more people to visit and protect public lands.
Jes Burns of EarthFix took a walk in the woods to see how the technology works.
"There are cases of sea lions going up on the beaches, sitting on tops of police cars, being completely disoriented," NOAA toxic algae expert, Vera Trainer tells EarthFix's Ashley Ahearn.
Native grasses once blanketed the Palouse country of southeastern Washington. Today, much of this hilly terrain has been converted to wheat fields.
In one such grassland botanists have discovered several new flowering plants. But an invasive grass is making scientists worried that these rare plants could be in big trouble soon.
Drought is creating problems in river systems all around the Northwest. Nowhere is this more evident than on the Klamath River in Southern Oregon and Northern California.
Scientists there say there’s not enough cool water flowing, and a fish kill of young Chinook salmon is likely.
Releasing more water from upstream reservoirs could help the fish stay healthy. But as Jes Burns of EarthFix reports, water managers have decided not to increase the flow.
After failing to follow through on a statutory mandate, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife now has no mechanism for suspending licenses after commercial fishing violations — one of its most powerful tools against repeat poachers depleting local fisheries.
You’ve probably heard by now that reservoirs in the Northwest are low on water, but you may be surprised just how dry they are.
Many lakes levels are lower this spring than they’ve been in 30 years. This is especially true at some of the most popular recreation lakes.
Jes Burns of EarthFix visited one of these spots in Southern Oregon going into Memorial Day weekend.
A federal judge heard testimony today [Wednesday] in a case challenging an Oregon county’s voter-approved ban on growing genetically engineered crops.
Several dairies accused of polluting the groundwater in Washington’s Yakima Valley will now start handling their waste more carefully. That’s because a federal judge has approved an order between environmental groups and dairies. Environmental groups had sued the dairies because they worried about pollution leaking into water supplies.
While federal authorities have turned their attention to global wildlife trafficking, resources have diminished for catching poachers in the Northwest.
The common carp has overrun the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Southeast Oregon, severely degrading one of the most productive migratory bird habitats in the Northwest.
Now, a new project aims to turn today’s invasive fish into tomorrow’s organic fertilizer.
Before you can prosecute a thief, you have to know what he stole. This holds true for crimes against people - and crimes against nature.
Southern Oregon is home to the world’s only criminal forensics lab dedicated to this kind of evidence. Its traditional focus has been on endangered animal cases.
But that’s changing, thanks to an international push to stem the trafficking of hardwood from illegally logged forests.
As part of our EarthFix series on wildlife crimes, Jes Burns reports.
Growing marijuana indoors requires a lot of energy -- lights to speed up plant growth, dehumidifiers, heating and cooling equipment. Could sustainable outdoor farms be a more environmentally responsible alternative? A group of Washington marijuana growers say yes.
Air pollution caused by wood stoves in Washington is in line with federal clean air requirements for the first time in seven years.
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission has begun the process of removing gray wolves from the state’s endangered species list.
JPR's Liam Moriarty explores the impact illegal pot growing has on limited water resources.
Federal wildlife officials have agreed to consider upgrading the conservation status of the Northern Spotted Owl from threatened to endangered. Such a change would raise the profile of the owl in the public eye, but may have little impact on how forests are managed.
It’s been more than twenty years since the Northwest Forest Plan set out to ease tensions in the “Timber Wars” of Oregon, Washington and Northern California. The plan signaled a historic shift in how public lands were managed – focusing efforts on maintaining biodiversity instead of keeping timber production high.
Now the Forest Plan is up for revision, a process Northwesterners will be hearing about often in the coming years. But how did we get here?
Hardly any coal gets burned in the Northwest. Soon, Oregon and Washington will burn any of it, once two coal-fired plants are shut down as scheduled. But coal will still power the region unless utilities or their regulators put an end to 'coal by wire.'
Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct Tunnel project is more than a year behind schedule. As local frustration mounts, one engineering firm has a fresh idea that could mean good news for urban salmon recovery. EarthFix's April Fool's Day Special.
Few people come into contact with farm chemicals the way agricultural workers do. That's why a new health report on a commonly used herbicide is raising special concerns about farmworkers and cancer.
Oregon State University professor Jane Lubchenco has been given the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, a major international environmental science award.
The award, announced Tuesday, honored Lubchenco for her long career building and promoting lines of connections between ocean health and community health.
Lubchenco’s work has carried her from the laboratory and classroom to the highest levels of public policy administration.
Oregon State University professor Jane Lubchenco has had a long career building and promoting lines of connections between ocean health and community health.
She served as head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, from 2009 to 2013 and was recently named a US Science Envoy for the Ocean by the State Department.
On Tuesday, Dr. Lubchenco was given the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, a major international environmental science award.
EarthFix's Jes Burns caught up with the former administrator to talk about ocean health and science policy.
A grain handling facility in Eastern Washington has been leaking chemicals into the only source of drinking water for a local school district. The Environmental Protection Agency now wants to add it to the Superfund list of hazardous waste cleanup projects.
“I myself have stolen enough abalone in Puget Sound to buy this commercial boat that I own, and to buy my Jeep Cherokee." Craig Welch, author of "Shell Games," talks about one of the biggest abalone poachers in Puget Sound history.
The ocean is going to be unusually warm this year off of Oregon and Washington. The temperature increase could spell trouble for salmon and other marine life.
In the world of nuclear power, one technology is generating debate: factory-produced reactors that are no bigger than a house. A bill to help bring smaller reactors to Washington is working its way through the state Legislature. At the same time, work is underway in Oregon to bring these small-scale reactors to market.
Arsenic in drinking water supplies is a worldwide problem. A discovery by scientists at the University of Oregon could lead to a new way to remove the toxic chemical, making groundwater supplies safer for communities.
Would you like to see more grizzly bears in Washington’s North Cascades? That’s what the federal government is asking during informational meetings across the state. A plan is in the works to consider adding more grizzlies to Washington’s dwindling population.
Fish Ecologist Jeremiah Osbourne-Gowey talks about the challenges of balancing values in the suction dredge mining debate.
Southern Oregon miner Tom Kitchar explains his theory of why humans are driven to mine minerals from the earth.
The legislatures of Washington and Oregon both have bills in front of them that could limit suction dredge mining. The gold mining technique uses large floating vacuums to suck up rocky streambeds and sift out precious metals. If Oregon lawmakers don’t act this session, miners will be forced to pack up their dredges and go elsewhere.
Keeping cool may soon take a lot less energy. Northwest researchers have developed a new air cooling system that could be used in cars, buildings, and on the Navy’s frontlines.
Warming temperatures and snow-free terrain might have you itching to hike your favorite trail. But make sure the trail isn't closed this time of year to protect wintering animals.
The EPA has yet to declare an “endangerment finding” for leaded aviation fuel, meaning it hasn’t said whether aircraft emissions are endangering public health or welfare.
Tracking salmon as they move past Columbia River dams just got a little easier. Scientists are using a new tag so small that researchers can inject it with a syringe into the fishes' bellies.
Now that growing pot is legal in Oregon and Washington, can it also be more energy efficient?
Migration Brewing in Portland designed a new red beer with half the carbon footprint of its traditional red brew.
Two leading Washington state senators - a Republican and a Democrat - sit down to talk climate change, baby goats and Santa Claus.
Hear what happens when two state senators, who don't agree on much, sit down for a beer with EarthFix's Ashley Ahearn and talk about climate change...with some detours in the conversation to discuss baby goats and Santa Claus, too, of course.
ODFW's Brandon Reishus explains how wildlife officials count migratory Canada geese populations.