A month after a U.S. District Court in Portland issued a partially favorable ruling to plaintiffs on a preliminary injunction directing Columbia and Snake river dam operations designed to aid salmon and steelhead, federal agency defendants challenged the decision at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The defendants notified the District Court of the challenge Friday, March 27.
Of the fish that had passed Bonneville Dam last spring, California and Steller sea lions consumed 3.6 percent of the spring Chinook salmon and 5.5 percent of the steelhead. Some 98 individual sea lions were responsible for this predation, according to a recently-released annual report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Endangered Southern Resident killer whales are known for the tight-knit family structure that isolates them from other killer whale populations. In 2005, NOAA Fisheries listed the whales as a Distinct Population Segment under the Endangered Species Act due to their unique genetic legacy and endangered status. The 74 whales remain at risk from insufficient prey, environmental contaminants, disturbance and inbreeding.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff at the Ashland Boat Inspection Station found quagga mussels on a motorboat that was being transported from Lake Havasu, Arizona into Oregon on March 21.
White-nose syndrome in bats has been detected for the first time in Oregon in Columbia and Benton counties. Also this month, the first cases of the disease in Idaho bats were detected.
Alaska’s glaciers respond to climate change by melting for three additional weeks with every 1 degree Celsius increase in the average summer temperature, data from satellite-mounted radars show.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District, will host two virtual public information sessions on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, to discuss proactive safety measures being implemented at Hills Creek Dam in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
