New research from wildlife biologists shows that poachers play a bigger role in the deaths of eagles, hawks, and other birds of prey in the West than previously thought.

Two recent University of Montana studies are demystifying how increasing wildfires and hotter annual temperatures limit forest regeneration in the Western U.S., revealing that our capacity to plant trees can’t keep pace with reforestation needs.

Fishery managers with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have scheduled opportunities for the public to provide input in 2025-2026 state-managed salmon seasons, beginning with a hybrid statewide forecast meeting on Friday, Feb. 28 in Olympia.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it could make hydroelectric dams on Oregon’s Willamette River safe for endangered salmon by building gigantic mechanical traps and hauling baby fish downstream in tanker trucks. The Corps started pressing forward over objections from fish advocates and power users who said the plan was costly and untested.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has denied petitions to remove Endangered Species Act protections from grizzly bears, finding that the imperiled animals still need federal protection.

The U.S. Department of Energy, Washington State Department of Ecology, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have finalized an agreement that outlines a course for cleaning up millions of gallons of radioactive and chemical waste from large, underground tanks at the Hanford Site near the Columbia River.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a $10,000 cash reward for information regarding a wolf poaching incident on private property in eastern Oregon’s Morrow County. The Oregon Wildlife Coalition has a standing reward of $10,000 for wolf poaching in that area, raising the reward total to $20,000.

The Great Salt Lake has lost more than 15 billion cubic yards of water over the past three decades, is getting shallower at the rate of 4 inches a year, and an analysis of its water budget suggests reducing irrigation is necessary for saving it.

On Oct. 17 the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife was alerted by Oregon State Police that a young adult male cougar was on a dock at the Embarcadero Resort in Newport. ODFW staff immediately responded and assessed the scene with local law enforcement.

The National Veterinary Services Laboratories has confirmed Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in 1 of 5 pigs living on a small farm in central Oregon’s Crook County.

In response to a legal petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced this week that the Crater Lake newt (also known as the Mazama newt) may qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

A draft report to Congress briefly outlines progress the Northwest Power and Conservation Council made in fiscal year 2023 on its Power Plan and Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. The draft report was approved to go out for public comment until Dec. 10 by the Council last week at its meeting in Portland.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has published a new long-term management plan for invasive European green crabs (EGC). This harmful shore crab species is a threat to native shellfish, estuary habitats, eelgrass, Washington’s aquaculture industry, and other tribal, cultural, and environmental values.

The Center for Biological Diversity has reached an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that puts the agency on the path to protecting imperiled fish and southern resident killer whales from toxic cyanide in Washington state’s waters.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has completed the 5-year status review and a Species Status Assessment for bull trout in the lower 48 states, recommending no change to the current threatened listing status of the bull trout under the Endangered Species Act.

Greenhouse gas concentrations, the global temperature across land and oceans, global sea level and ocean heat content all reached record highs in 2023, according to an international State of the Climate report led by NOAA scientists.

The Colorado River and its tributaries provide water for hydropower, irrigation and drinking water in seven U.S. states and Mexico. Much of this water comes from the snowpack that builds up over the winter and then melts each spring. Every year in early April, water managers use the snowpack to predict how much water will be available for the upcoming year.

Oregon State University researchers are part of a team looking at reducing bird collision risks with wind turbines by painting a single blade of the turbine black.

The Center for Biological Diversity this week petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the highly imperiled Alvord chub under the Endangered Species Act.

New research from the U.S. Geological Survey links wildfires to increased mercury concentrations in Pacific Northwest headwater streams.

Idaho Fish and Game recently received test results confirming a positive case of chronic wasting disease in an adult female white-tailed deer roughly 3 miles outside of Bonners Ferry in hunting Unit 1. The deer was reported to Fish and Game by a landowner who found the dead deer in early July.

Yakama tribal leader Jeremy Takala was sworn in as the 2024-2025 Chair of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission at its July meeting, being hosted by the Warm Springs Tribe in Madras, Oregon. This is the second time Takala has served as the CRITFC Chair, previously occupying this position in 2020-2021.

As the world’s largest unfrozen freshwater resource, groundwater is crucial for life on Earth. Researchers at Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have investigated how global warming is affecting groundwater temperatures and what that means for humanity and the environment.

Since 2006, a fast-moving disease known as white-nose syndrome has killed an estimated 6.7 million bats, wiping out entire colonies and decimating creatures that provide an integral means of pest control.

A bird that spends its entire life near mountaintops in the Pacific Northwest is likely to become in danger of extinction as a result of climate change, the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service has announced.

The 1.1 mile long North Cove beach is located along the north entrance to Willapa Bay in Pacific County and was once the fastest eroding ocean beach on the U.S. West Coast.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week affirmed a lower court ruling that prevents Scott Timber from clearcutting old growth trees within Oregon’s Elliott State Forest. The decision will protect marbled murrelets, which are a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

Oregon State University researchers found that U.S. adults are fairly confident in linking wildfires and heat to climate change, but less confident when it comes to other extreme weather events like hurricanes, flooding or tornadoes.

A new West Coast collaboration for offshore wind science was announced last month. The Pacific Offshore Wind Consortium is a joint effort between three research centers: the Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt, the Pacific Marine Energy Center at Oregon State University, and the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Trail camera footage provided to Idaho Fish and Game staff confirms for the first time the presence of a grizzly bear west of Interstate 15 (in Game Management Unit 59).

Oregon investigators found a cow carcass laced with poison in a creek in the Imnaha River drainage. The target was likely a wolf, the latest poisoning in a disturbing trend that has killed 19 wolves in Oregon since 2015. Whatever the target, the collateral damage in northeast Oregon’s ongoing poisoning cases now includes golden eagles, dogs, and other carnivores.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission last week voted unanimously to select Debbie Colbert as the new ODFW Director.

Approximately 1 million young Chinook salmon have died at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Samish Hatchery near Burlington after a mechanical failure at 1 a.m. on Monday morning, April 29. 

Nearly 18,000 young salmon died after a vandal poured bleach into a southern Oregon Coast fish hatchery tank last week, according to law enforcement authorities.

FISH WAR, a documentary film produced by Northwest Treaty Tribes Media and North Forty Productions, will have its world premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 11, with an additional matinee screening at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 12.

2023 was a year of accelerated activity in the ongoing process of modernizing the Columbia River Treaty.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council acted unanimously to recommend closure of California’s commercial and recreational ocean salmon fisheries through the end of the year, mirroring recommendations made last year to close the fisheries in 2023.

The Center for Biological Diversity this week filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeking Endangered Species Act protections for the ashy pebblesnail and shortface lanx.

The Department of the Interior announced a $19 million investment to install solar panels over irrigation canals in California, Oregon and Utah, simultaneously decreasing evaporation of critical water supplies and advancing clean energy goals. 

Four conservation and animal protection groups have sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for denying their petition to protect gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains under the Endangered Species Act.

On March 29 near Lookingglass Hatchery in northeast Oregon, a fish tanker truck was involved in an accident while transporting approximately 102,000 spring Chinook smolts for release in the Imnaha River.

The famous work ethic of honey bees might spell disaster for these busy crop pollinators as the climate warms, new research indicates.

The escalation of extreme wildfires globally has prompted a critical examination of wildfire management strategies. A new study from the University of Montana reveals how fire suppression ensures that wildfires will burn under extreme conditions at high severity, exacerbating the impacts of climate change and fuel accumulation.

New research indicates that lynx might do well in the future in parts of Utah, central Idaho and the Yellowstone National Park region, even considering climate change and the lack of lynx in those areas now.

A very mild February wrapped up a record-warm winter for the U.S., according to experts from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has released a draft Interagency Northern Pike Rapid Response Plan that guides coordination and resources to prevent the spread of northern pike to new areas in Washington and develop long-term management plans for the voracious predator. The draft plan is undergoing a State Environmental Policy Act review. As part of that process, WDFW is asking members of the public for input.

Montana’s first mussel-fouled watercraft of the year was intercepted at the Anaconda watercraft inspection station on March 10. 

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s fish health lab has detected a novel parasite in sick rainbow trout that were raised at Klamath Falls, Rock Creek and Elk River hatcheries. The detection marks the first time this parasite has been associated with disease symptoms in Oregon’s fish.