Northwest (OR WA)

"A pair of dams in Lane County are at the heart of a lawsuit focused on declines of salmon and steelhead in the Willamette River and its tributaries."

"While the orcas of Puget Sound are sliding toward extinction, orcas farther north have been expanding their numbers. Their burgeoning hunger for big fish may be causing the killer whales' main prey, chinook salmon, to shrink up and down the West Coast."

"A measure to tax carbon emissions from fossil fuels to fight climate change has cleared a key fiscal committee in Washington state."

"Unless people intervene, U.S. Pacific Coast marshes could vanish as the ocean rises, eliminating wildlife habitat, storm surge protection and carbon storage."

"After a deadlocked 3-3 vote, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 4-2 Friday to elevate the marbled murrelet from a “threatened” species to “endangered.”"

"Reaction in the Pacific Northwest was swift to President Trump’s proposed cuts to the cleanup budget at the Hanford Site. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, called the proposed $230 million cut “downright dangerous for everyone who lives near the Columbia River.”"

"Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has rejected a permit to build the nation’s largest oil-by-rail terminal in Vancouver."

"The U.S. region most vulnerable to tsunamis - the massive waves of water unleashed by undersea earthquakes - is dangerously under-prepared, experts and officials in Oregon and Washington state said after a magnitude 7.9 earthquake this week."

"OLYMPIA – Local fire departments could be banned from using a group of fire-fighting chemicals that are contaminating some wells in Airway Heights and other water sources near military bases."