Water running off busy roads in California carries the pollutant 6PPD-quinone at levels that could harm two endangered salmonid species Endangered coho salmon and steelhead trout live and spawn in habitats surrounded by human activity, such as the San Francisco Bay area.
There has been much debate regarding the impact that trawling has had on Alaska fisheries, especially given that some of our state’s salmon, crab, and halibut stocks are struggling.
The three agencies that operate 14 federal dams in the Columbia River Basin are seeking comments on the scope of what they should consider when preparing an environmental impact statement of the Federal Columbia River Power System.
A midsummer change to reservoir operations at McNary Dam near the Tri-Cities in Washington was successful at helping western and Clark’s grebes nesting and rearing, according to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.
Above photo: Olive ridley sea turtle near Seal Beach in Orange County, CA. Credit: Huntington Beach Fire Department An olive ridley sea turtle was observed digging a nest and laying eggs on the beach near Seal Beach, in Orange County, California on September 16, 2026. This is the first-ever recorded nest for any sea turtle...
Fueled by record-breaking drought and unusually high temperatures, Canada’s 2023 wildfire season was the worst in the country’s history, with over 15 million hectares charred. Smoke blanketed the eastern seaboard, with health alerts keeping people indoors as skies turned an eerie orange. The fires were voted the Canadian Press news story of the year. The...
Soils are warming quickly and at considerable depth across Alaska, with temperatures rising fastest in the state’s permafrost region, a trend that could accelerate climate change and undermine the stability of roads, buildings and other infrastructure built on the continuously frozen ground. That’s a central finding of new research from Washington State University that provides...
A federal submittal says agencies will do the work necessary to correct “legal deficiencies” in 2005’s biological opinion on the operation of upper Snake River irrigation projects, and offers a brief outline of progress reporting tasks and schedule.
The tributary of the Scott River in Northern California’s Klamath Basin once supported coho salmon, but as it diminished, so did they.
Has El Niño reached the West Coast?
You might think it has. After all, the ocean off Southern and Central California is unusually warm. But that is from a recent marine heatwave that predates the current El Niño. Much of the Pacific Coast is experiencing relatively normal conditions while still awaiting the impacts of what could be a very strong El Niño, says NOAA Fisheries.
As sea levels rise, coastal wetlands around the world are expected to shrink – and researchers at the University of British Columbia have found this could put the world’s shorebirds and their critical habitat at risk.
The first global systematic review 10.1007/s10531-026-03431-8 of its kind, published in Biodiversity and Conservation, examined the impacts of rising sea levels on 29 species of shorebirds, including plovers, sandpipers and oystercatchers. The review found rising seas are expected to have predominantly negative impacts on shorebird habitat and populations, while human infrastructure could make the problem worse by preventing coastal wetlands from moving inland.
Threatened Hood Canal summer-run chum salmon represent a bright spot in Pacific salmon recovery.
According to preliminary data from the Hood Canal Coordinating Council, average annual returns have nearly tripled since 2022. They’ve climbed from about 11,600 fish per year between 2018 and 2021 to roughly 32,600 between 2022 and 2025. That’s up from a low of less than 1,000 spawners in the early 1990s.
A new book of essays from more than 30 salmon scientists, policy analysts and wild salmon advocates suggesting ways to save runs of wild salmon has been published by the American Fisheries Society – and some of the prescriptions are certain to raise a few eyebrows.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recently completed its revised State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) , designed to guide fish, wildlife, and habitat conservation in Washington for the next decade. Last updated in 2015, the plan acts as a roadmap for proactive conservation actions that prevent the need to list species under protective regulations...
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins this week (Aug. 18) announced the U.S. Forest Service has filed a proposed rule to rescind in its entirety the national 2001 Roadless Area Conversation Rule, a tool environmentalists consider crucial in protecting the nation’s national forests.
According to the 36th annual State of the Climate report, greenhouse gas concentrations, global sea level, and ocean heat content all reached record highs in 2025.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Environment and Climate Change Canada have released their joint “The Health of the Salish Sea Report” analyzing 10 indicators of the health of the Salish Sea, the shared estuary that includes the Strait of Juan De Fuca, Puget Sound, and Georgia Basin.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, in coordination with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, U.S. Forest Service, and conservation partners, have reintroduced spring Chinook salmon into the upper North Fork Toutle River watershed within the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument for the first time since the 1980 volcanic eruption. In June, WDFW and project...
A July 21 letter from the Bonneville Power Administration’s CEO Steve Wright reiterates the agency’s intent to defer funding for new Nez Perce tribal hatchery facilities while the project’s full biological benefits are weighed in an ongoing court-ordered process.
Beavers are widespread in estuaries and tidal wetlands in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, demonstrating that they are not restricted to rivers and streams, Gregory Hood at the Skagit River System Cooperative reports in the open access journal PLOS One.
A new study led by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks fisheries biologist Sam Bourret is giving researchers a better understanding of where bull trout in the Swan River basin originate, and which streams are most important to the species’ future.
NOAA Fisheries supports one of the most ambitious salmon restoration projects on Oregon’s coast: the Salmon SuperHwy. This partnership of more than a dozen organizations works across the Tillamook, Nestucca, and Sand Lake watersheds. It works to restore fish passage at dozens of stream barriers, such as failing road culverts and tide gates. When complete, salmon and steelhead will be able to access 180 miles of habitat that had been blocked for decades.
The benefits of the Salmon SuperHwy project and other coastal restoration work are not just theoretical. Threatened Oregon Coast coho salmon have experienced a dramatic rebound in recent years, says NOAA Fisheries.
Efforts to restore fish passage are cropping up across the country, but these projects come with hefty price tags.
A new study of the largest dam removal project in United States history on the Klamath River in Oregon and California offers new insight into a long-running water conflict by finding that farmers and conservation groups share priorities that may help guide decision-making on future river restoration projects. Researchers from Oregon State University found that...
Following three consecutive years of closure, salmon fishing will return to the Klamath River Basin and Sacramento River for the upcoming summer and fall seasons.
More good news comes for inland anglers with a full season on the Feather, American and Mokelumne rivers after a shortened season in 2025.
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