Removal of two dams on the Elwha River on Washington's Olympic Peninsula is allowing years of sediment and debris to make its way downstream and salmon to make their way upstream. Here's a stunning firsthand look at the river then and now.
"Nearly four decades after grizzly bears were declared threatened in the Lower 48 states, long-stalled efforts to bring the species back to Washington's North Cascades are rolling again."
"Oregon's Department of State Lands on Monday dealt a serious blow to Ambre Energy's proposed coal export project, denying a key permit needed for construction in the Columbia River."
"ASTORIA, Ore. — The salmon here in the Columbia River, nearly driven to extinction by hydroelectric dams a quarter century ago, have been increasing in number — a fact not lost on the birds that like to eat them. These now flock by the thousands each spring to the river’s mouth, where the salmon have their young, and gorge at leisure."
"The ancestral connections of tribal coastal communities to the ocean’s natural resources stretch back thousands of years. But growing acidification is changing oceanic conditions, putting the cultural and economic reliance of coastal tribes—a critical definition of who they are—at risk."
"New testing shows low levels of a banned toxic chemical are still showing up in a variety of everyday products including paints, newspapers, magazines and cardboard food packaging."
"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced in a legal settlement Monday that it will immediately notify the conservation group Columbia Riverkeeper, which filed the lawsuit, of any oil spills among its eight dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers in Oregon and Washington."
"Billions of baby oysters in the Pacific inlets here are dying and Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington is busy spreading the bad news."
"Firefighters gained ground on Tuesday against the largest wildfire in Washington state's history but the massive blaze that has destroyed 200 homes continued to threaten some communities and forced a fresh round of evacuations."
"Federal wildlife refuges in the Northwest and Hawaii will phase out a class of pesticides that are chemically similar to nicotine because they pose a threat to bees and other pollinators key to crop growth."
