News in brief.
Washington
Posted inArticles
Fishers recolonize Washington, part of a Northwest rewilding
The forest carnivore’s return was helped by human intervention.
Posted inDecember 7, 2015: Good Neighbors
Ending the murrelet malaise
After decades of declines, Washington state finally has a plan to preserve the bird’s habitat.
Posted inArticles
Range riders track wolves in eastern Washington
Wolf-livestock conflicts have increased, and ranchers and environmentalists are gathering data to mitigate the clashes.
Posted inArticles
Among those who fish the polluted Duwamish, a divide between haves and have-nots
We pull off the highway into a gritty-looking industrial park less than 100 yards from the road and snap our rods together. It’s just a few steps down the banks to this Seattle river where we can see the silver bellies of the pink salmon flipping in the current, slinging themselves upstream. We tie lures […]
Posted inArticles
Raw manure, public water and a failed crackdown: the case of Snydar Farm
Washington’s Dept. of Ecology appears hesitant and often barred from regulating agriculture.
Posted inArticles
How do you sex a beaver? Squeeze and sniff
Unlocking the secrets of rodent scent glands could help restore Western watersheds.
Posted inNovember 9, 2015: The Campaign Against Coal
The beaver whisperer
A biologist figures out how to keep beavers alive on Western landscapes.
Posted inArticles
Contaminated soil lingers where apples once grew in Washington
Soil at hundreds of properties contains lead and arsenic that can lower children’s IQs and increase cancer risk.
Posted inOctober 26, 2015: Clean Energy's Dirty Secret
Washington welcomes wolves back — across deep political divides
The state’s emphasis on non-lethal control is saving livestock and wolves, but rural residents are still leery.
Posted inArticles
To save Washington’s Yakima Basin fish, just add water
A drought plan in one of the West’s most forward-thinking watersheds reconciles salmon and agriculture.
Posted inArticles
Why are the feds sticking with a racist name for a Washington lake?
Update from HCN staff, Oct. 23, 2015: Two days after this piece was published, the National Park Service reversed its decision and recommended that the U.S. Board of Geographic Names change the name of Coon Lake to Howard Lake, Glenn Nelson reports. “We recognize that our previous decision on this issue overlooked relevant information, and […]
Posted inArticles
A trail runner defends his right to public lands
One September morning, with huckleberry bushes burning a fierce red against a dusting of snow on the banks of the upper Nisqually River, I left Mount Rainier National Park headquarters on a pilgrimage. Twenty-seven hours later, depleted but filled with a near-religious sense of reverence and elation I’ve rarely felt since, I arrived back where […]
Posted inSeptember 14, 2015: Close Ties in Big Landscapes
Where agriculture and aesthetics go hand-in-glove
Former Seattleite and author Bryce Andrews writes and ranches in Montana.
Posted inArticles
Mapping fish die-offs in warming waters
Help High Country News identify trouble spots for West Coast fish runs.
Posted inArticles
Washington state sues feds over worker safety at Hanford
A watchdog group also filed, citing ‘toxic roulette’ for workers at the former nuclear facility.
Posted inAugust 31, 2015: Unlocking the Methane Mystery
Latest: Environmentalists regroup after Washington’s carbon plan fails
Green groups spent big in the last election in the Northwest.
Posted inAugust 31, 2015: Unlocking the Methane Mystery
Latest: Salmon, coast recovers after Elwha dams come down
Despite recovery, warm temperatures still threaten salmon spawning.
Posted inArticles
Dispatch from a medic on the North Star Fire in Washington
What base camp and wildfire look like from one firefighter’s perspective.
Posted inArticles
What we’ve lost in the Methow Valley wildfires
Three firefighters have died as fires continue to rip through Washington.