Seven interior Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead species listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act should retain their current listing status, according to five-year status reviews released by NOAA Fisheries. The listed species are in the mid- and upper-Columbia River basin and the Snake River basin.

A federal district court this week restored comprehensive Endangered Species Act regulatory protections to hundreds of species and the places they call home.

Cultural resource specialists with the Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and partners have finalized an agreement that will enhance the protection of historic and cultural resources across the Willamette Valley, where the Corps manages 13 dams and reservoirs in addition thousands of acres of land, while carrying out critical Corps projects.

The Xerces Society and Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice of intent this week to sue the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s secretive Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for failing to properly consider harms to endangered species caused by insecticide spraying across millions of acres of western grasslands.

Columbia Riverkeeper’s Board of Directors unanimously named Lauren Goldberg the organization’s new Executive Director starting August 1, replacing Brett VandenHeuvel.

Contending there is a global extinction crisis, more than 150 groups are urging Congress to significantly increase the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s budget for endangered species conservation from $300 million to $704 million — an increase of more than $400 million over the fiscal year 2022 budget.

Martha Williams has been sworn in as Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. Williams has been serving as Principal Deputy Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service since January 20, 2021, exercising the delegable authority of the Director.