Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Oregon
Posted inArticles
The Klamath Tribes couldn’t get federal dollars for salmon. Then the Yurok stepped in
For more than 100 years, salmon had been absent from the Klamath Tribes’ lands — a fact that cut them off from funding sources to fix that.
Posted inArticles
The Deschutes River goes to the water-rich few during drought. Farmers are paying the price
A century-old Oregon water law lets one wealthy region turn the desert green while water-starved ag fallows commercial crops.
Posted inArticles
White Salmon has been fighting for free mail for decades
The small Washington town exemplifies a broader problem across the West, where some pay for a service others get for free.
Posted inArticles
Heat waves increase the West’s wildfire risk
A new study found that 42% all the area burned by Western fires had occurred during or right after a heat wave.
Posted inJune 2026: River Revival
The electrifying allure of a tide pool creature
The moon, the stars and the sea anemone.
Posted inJune 2026: River Revival
On Oregon’s McKenzie River, an unprecedented approach to restoration takes shape
A bold process aims to repair the damaged watershed.
Posted inJune 2026: River Revival
Dredging the Columbia River at the expense of tribal and aquatic communities
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has transformed the estuary and robbed the river of sediment over the last century.
Posted inArticles
How wildfire smoke affects fertility
A growing body of research is examining the impact of wildfire smoke on the ability to conceive.
Posted inMay 2026: Pinecone Cowboys
Get to know the Pacific newt
From Vancouver Island newts to California’s high country newts, the toxic Taricha genus includes some unique and deadly Western species.
Posted inMay 2026: Pinecone Cowboys
Sam the Toucan, capybaras over coffee, Vellela vellela and a mechanical rhino
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
Wildfires are torching state budgets
Oregon allocated $10 million for the 2024 wildfire season. It cost more than $350 million.
Posted inArticles
As Roadless Rule rollback looms, grassroots hearings take root
In absence of federal meetings, nonprofits step up to hold public comment on Forest Service plan to lift protections from roadless areas.
Posted inArticles
Tribal leaders reflect on a year of uncertainty — and possibility
Federal turnover and policy shifts have forced Indigenous communities to adapt.
Posted inIssues
Trotting tortoises, juggling unicyclists, ancient clothing and bear poop beer
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inApril 2026: Inside the Attack on Public Lands
What a bombing in Nevada reveals about the nation’s appetite for violence
The rise of domestic terrorism in the West.
Posted inArticles
The BLM wants to ramp up logging. Oregonians aren’t so sure.
People are grappling with the agency’s notice that signals a significant increase in timber harvesting across 2.5 million acres.
Posted inArticles
Trump’s BLM is going all-in on resource extraction
The agency’s new plan for ecologically significant areas of western Oregon is not responsible forest management.
Posted inMarch 2026: The Uncertainty of Farming in the Colorado River Basin
How people are helping breeding frogs dodge cars
Meet the volunteers shuttling northern red-legged frogs across a 4-lane highway in Oregon to lay eggs.
Posted inFebruary 2026: The Recording Artists
How community organizers are amplifying Oregon’s Black music history
“The place just embraced me. Everybody was singing the same song.”