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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.

As of Jan. 1, 2025, boaters in Washington waters must stay 1,000 yards away from Southern Resident killer whales (SRKW) at all times. 

The new year came with both joy and sadness for endangered Southern Resident killer whales. Researchers first spotted J35, also known as Tahlequah, carrying her deceased calf off Alki Point in West Seattle on December 31. Tahlequah is the same whale that garnered international headlines and concern in 2018 when she carried another deceased newborn calf for 17 days.

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.

In early 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will decide whether to delist some populations of grizzly bears in the U.S. Northern Rockies. As Montanans consider their future with grizzly bears, University of Montana scientists are helping inform the social, ecological and policy aspects of the dialogue.  

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.

The Department of Commerce and NOAA Fisheries has announced up to $99 million in funding through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund for conservation and recovery projects focusing on Pacific salmon and steelhead. The funding — which includes $34.4 million from the Infrastructure Law — is aimed at advancing state and tribal efforts to restore salmon populations and habitats.

Emissions of carbon caused by fossil fuel pollution continued to grow slightly in 2023 to 36.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, setting yet another new record despite increasingly urgent warnings from scientists about the need for steep and immediate decreases.

Reservoirs, a major component of California’s water storage system, are a significant source of climate-warming emissions, releasing more greenhouse gases across the state than 300,000 gas-powered cars in a year, says a report by the Center for Biological Diversity.

The U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week announced nearly $46 million in investments from President Biden’s Infrastructure Law for ecosystem restoration activities that “address high-priority Klamath Basin water-related challenges in southern Oregon and northern California.”

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 Center for Biological Diversity has filed a petition urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the Cascade red fox under the Endangered Species Act. The Washington state foxes are threatened by climate change, small population size and a host of other threats.

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.

New research from University of Montana underscores the critical role of genetic variation in the conservation of threatened fish species.

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.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation added an additional 1,073 acres to the Minam River Wildlife Area in northeast Oregon, expanding the protected acreage to 16,646. This collaborative effort, finalized last month, builds upon significant land acquisitions from 2021 and 2023.

The Biden Administration has announced that NOAA is designating 4,543 square miles of coastal and offshore waters along 116 miles of California’s central coast as America’s 17th national marine sanctuary.

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.

Worried about invasive, destructive zebra mussels coming into the state, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is asking aquarium and pet store shoppers in North Bend and Stayton areas who may have purchased marimo moss ball products in the last six months to contact the agency.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs last week announced a nearly $10 million investment to provide critical rehabilitation at Tribal fishing sites along the Columbia River.

Dwindling snowpack, rising sea levels and dangerous heat events are among climate change challenges Washington state agencies are planning for under the guidance of a new “climate response” strategy.

Harbor seals consume as many as a third of young steelhead smolts migrating out of the Nisqually River’s delta in southern Puget Sound, new research shows.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has finalized a drone use plan that authorizes staff to conduct pinniped research and management surveys in the state’s coastal and inland waters. Department staff and researchers will use drones to survey for seals and sea lions in the Department’s Southwest, Coastal, and North Puget Sound regions.

NOAA scientists have upgraded a crucial genetic reference tool for Chinook salmon conservation that allows researchers to pinpoint the river system individual fish come from, enabling more precise management and protection of threatened and endangered populations.

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.

Scientists studied two populations of fish-eating killer whales — the Southern Residents and the southern Alaska residents – to find out if these two populations different things and how their diets change throughout the year.

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.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officers earlier this month received a report of a human-river otter incident that occurred at the Bremerton Marina in Kitsap County.

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.

Forests in the coolest, wettest parts of the western Pacific Northwest are likely to see the biggest increases in burn probability, fire size and number of blazes as the climate continues to get warmer and drier, according to new modeling led by an Oregon State University scientist.

On a research cruise focused on marine mammals and seabirds, Oregon State University scientists earned an unexpected bonus: The first-ever documented sighting of a hoary bat flying over the open ocean.

The Department of Commerce and NOAA has announced plans for $27 million to recover threatened and endangered Pacific salmon in the face of climate change.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a public scoping period to consider options for restoring grizzly bears to the Bitterroot ecosystem.

Oregon State University researchers have discovered vitamin B1 produced by microbes in rivers, findings that may offer hope for vitamin-deficient salmon populations.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff at the Ashland Boat Inspection Station found quagga mussels on a pontoon boat that was being transported from Lake Mead, Nev., into Oregon on Jan. 4.

Nearly 75 percent of the U.S. could experience damaging earthquake shaking, according to a recent U.S. Geological Survey-led team of over scientists and engineers.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, at a workshop last month, determined that revision of the Wolf Plan was not needed at this time, while directing staff to focus on addressing key challenges including wolf-livestock conflict, reducing illegal take, and population monitoring.

Last month, the Canadian Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard, Diane Lebouthillier, and the British Columbia Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Nathan Cullen, announced $86,119,340 for 58 projects receiving funding under the second phase of the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF).

Biden administration officials bound by court-ordered confidentiality declined to participate in a congressional oversight hearing Tuesday focused on a leaked draft settlement of the long-running salmon and dams litigation in the Columbia River basin.

The final winner in the Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery Program this year received a whopping $107,800 for their efforts to catch the aggressive predator of juvenile salmon and steelhead. Even the second-place angler received nearly $100,000 in winnings with a total catch of 9,786 pikeminnow.

In response to a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Rivers, the National Marine Fisheries Service has made an initial finding that Endangered Species Act protections may be warranted for Washington coast Chinook salmon. The agency will initiate a status review for Washington coast spring-run and fall-run salmon populations.

NOAA this month announced the availability of up to $106 million in funding through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund for Pacific salmon and steelhead recovery and conservation projects. This funding — which includes funding from the Infrastructure Law — will support state and tribal salmon restoration projects and activities to protect, conserve and restore these fish populations and their habitats.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking public input on a draft recovery plan for the lower 48 distinct population segment of Canada lynx, informed by an updated species status assessment.

The Bonneville Power Administration says it ended fiscal year 2023 on solid financial footing, exceeding expectations of previous quarterly forecasts that indicated the agency would miss net revenues and expense targets. The agency’s annual report describes how the agency bounced back in the fourth quarter, offsetting cost pressures primarily from the 13th driest year on record.

A Pacific County judge has sentenced a recreational fisherman to 50 days in jail, fined him $1,500, and imposed a five-year fishing license suspension for repeat salmon snagging violations, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced.   

More than 15 Northwest Tribal Nations gathered in early November to share stories about salmon, orca, water, and the land — and to demand the federal government uphold Tribal treaty obligations to recover and restore salmon in the Snake River and Columbia River Basin.

When bottlenose dolphins nurse their young, they transfer toxic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and DDT to their calves through their milk. New research shows that the calves end up with higher concentrations of the toxins than their mothers.

The Biden Administration says $60 million will be available for NOAA Fisheries to invest in upgrades identified as tribal priorities for Columbia River Basin hatchery facilities that produce Pacific salmon through the Mitchell Act.

The Portland District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will gather the public’s perspective and opinions on the future of hydropower across the Corps’ Willamette Valley system of dams during three listening sessions – one in-person and two virtual.

In the early morning of October 6th, Kyriacos Panayiotou of McCall waded into the cool waters of the Clearwater River, Idaho’s legendary steelhead mecca. Using a two-handed spey rod, he began searching the water, hoping a steelhead would grab the fly.

This year, El Nino is in place heading into winter for the first time in four years, driving the outlook for warmer-than-average temperatures for the northern tier of the continental United States, according to NOAA’s U.S. Winter Outlook released this week by the Climate Prediction Center — a division of the National Weather Service.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s recent count of spring-run Chinook salmon returning to the South Umpqua River showed just 17 wild adult fish detected during snorkel surveys. This dismal return is 12% of the 10-year average of 139 fish returning to the river and “signals an urgent need for federal Endangered Species Act protections,” says the Center for Biological Diversity.

NOAA Fisheries says the agency and its fishery management partners reached a major milestone this summer – the rebuilding of a 50th fish stock. The Snohomish coho salmon stock was declared overfished in 2018 and has now rebuilt to its sustainable level.

Matt Hosking of Lewiston, Idaho caught a colossal coho in the Clearwater River in on October 13th, setting a new state record for coho salmon.

On Oct. 3, the Bonneville Power Administration made its annual payment to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for the 40th consecutive year on time and in full, bringing cumulative payments to approximately $34.6 billion over this period. The total payment for fiscal year 2023 was $1.02 billion.

With the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference just a few weeks away, countries will soon take stock of their progress in the worldwide effort to slow and adapt to global warming. Better known as COP28, the conference offers the chance for countries to meet and coordinate their climate-mitigating pledges, like achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 or peak emissions by 2030.

The U.S. National Science Foundation has awarded a coalition of academic and oceanographic research organizations including Oregon State University a five-year, $220 million cooperative agreement to continue operating and maintaining the Ocean Observatories Initiative.

This is what we believe is wrong with the dam breaching concept.  There were far more fish that returned in the first 15 years of the 21st century than ever did in the 20th century, fully 25 years after construction of the last dam on the lower Snake River.  That is the case for both steelhead and spring and summer chinook. 

If you live or recreate close to a river or stream in the Willamette Valley, you might come across salmon carcasses or see Oregon Department Fish and Wildlife staff and volunteers slinging carcasses into the water during September and October.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories has confirmed that three adult harbor seals in Puget Sound have tested positive for the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 strain. The seals stranded on Marrowstone Island on August 18 and 25. This confirms initial testing by the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, which indicated the presence of H5N1 in these seals. No seal pups have tested positive.

The Department of Commerce and NOAA announced $24 million for projects that will address climate change by researching marine carbon dioxide removal strategies, with $14 million going toward 10 projects that examine how effectively and safely strategies like enhancing ocean alkalinity or sinking seaweed remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Forest thinning is improving the robustness of older trees and enhancing native biodiversity on federal lands in eastern Oregon, evidence that collaborative efforts to restore forests are working, research by Oregon State University shows.

At the Aug. 4 meeting of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, not an empty seat could be found. Members of tribes in Oregon, Washington and Idaho filled the 150 chairs set out at the department headquarters in Salem. Dozens more crowded around the edges of the room.

The effects of a dry, cold winter and higher-than-expected supplemental power purchase expenses continue to weigh on the Bonneville Power Administration’s finances three-quarters of the way through the fiscal year. Agency net revenue is now forecast to be negative $382 million, which is $56 million below this year’s performance target.

California has a new gray wolf pack in Tulare County, says the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. This is the Golden State’s southernmost pack and it is at least 200 air miles from the nearest known pack in northeastern California.

A large marine heatwave that developed offshore has reached the coast of Oregon and Washington. It increases the potential for harmful algal blooms and other impacts on the coastal ecosystem and marine life in the coming weeks and months.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public input on a draft periodic status review for northern spotted owl that includes a recommendation to keep the owl on the state’s endangered species list. The public comment period is open from Aug. 1 through Oct. 29.

Conditions are ripe for an accelerated transition to electric vehicle use in the United States. The Biden-Harris administration has set a target that 50 percent of newly purchased cars in 2030 be electric. In addition, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides significant tax incentives for purchasing electric vehicles and for companies that produce them.

Four decades of conservation spending totaling more than $9 billion in inflation-adjusted tax dollars has failed to improve stocks of wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin, according to Oregon State University research.

The popular Lower Deschutes River will remain open by permanent rule for steelhead fishing through at least Sept. 14 after meeting a key threshold in its fish management framework.

Last year, the Flathead Watershed and its five tributaries were so choked with snowmelt and spring moisture that Flathead Lake overfilled naturally for the first time since 1964, when historic floods devastated local communities and reset the record books. This year, dam operators responsible for controlling the outflow of Flathead Lake began refilling the basin a full six weeks early, desperately trying to capture the region’s scant mountain runoff as forecasts showed lake levels dropping to historic lows.

In the Columbia River Basin, where dramatic and extensive alterations to habitat for fish and wildlife have occurred, the Columbia Basin Partnership Taskforce estimated that 35% of historical populations of anadromous salmon and steelhead have been extirpated.

The Department of the Interior has announced significant action to better facilitate species recovery by providing more flexibility for the introduction of threatened and endangered species to suitable habitats outside their historical ranges.

Oregon State University researchers estimate that gray whales feeding off the Oregon Coast consume up to 21 million microparticles per day, a finding informed in part by poop from the whales.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries are proposing regulations the agencies say will restore protections for species, strengthen consultation and listing processes, and “reaffirm the central role science plays” in decisions that guide the protection and recovery of endangered and threatened wildlife.

The Ktunaxa, Secwépemc and Syilx Okanagan Nations and their members will benefit from new interim agreements that share revenue generated from the Columbia River Treaty.

In a settlement agreement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to reconsider whether West Coast fishers in northern California and southern Oregon warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The rapid growth of harmful algae along parts of the Southern California Coast is believed to have killed hundreds of California sea lions and close to 60 dolphins in the first weeks of June.

Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Troopers discovered fish with embedded hooks, sliced fins, circular scabs, and other evidence of illegal tactics, while assisting ODFW hatchery staff during the spring salmon spawning season.

An Oregon State University researcher has been awarded a three-year, $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to lead a study about the movement of fish stocks due to changing climate conditions and the potential geopolitical tensions that could result from that shift.

The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s authorization of the killing of up to 72 grizzly bears on public land just outside of Yellowstone National Park violated federal law.

Fishery managers from Washington and Oregon added eleven recreational fishing days (Thursday, May 25-Sunday, June 4) to the ongoing spring Chinook fishery downstream of Bonneville Dam during a joint state hearing Wednesday.

In 1957 Celilo Falls, a fishery that was pivotal to the lives of many Native Americans along the Columbia River, was lost when it was flooded and destroyed by the construction of The Dalles Dam.

Negotiating teams for Canada and the United States met in Kelowna, British Columbia for the 17th round of negotiations toward a modernized Columbia River Treaty.

The Yaqan Nukiy Lower Kootenay Band will release more than one million burbot in a restored wetland in the Creston Valley this year.

The Bonneville Power Administration’s Columbia Generating Station is shutting down this spring, as it does every two years, to replace about a third of the fuel from the nuclear plant’s core.

Increasing caribou populations in northeastern British Columbia demonstrate that partnerships between Indigenous and colonial governments can reverse prolonged declines, yet the emphasis must now be placed on establishing culturally significant restoration objectives, assert a collective of scholars and community members in a recent publication featured in Science this week.

Feeling crowded out of the prime fishing spots in the Clearwater Basin, the Nez Perce Tribe will experiment with gill nets and drift nets during the spring chinook fishing season.

Oregon and Washington fishery managers recently finalized seasons and regulations for 2023 Columbia River summer and fall recreational salmon and steelhead fisheries. The harvest would come amidst the potentially lowest return of upriver summer steelhead to the Columbia since 1938.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has appointed Thomas L. (Les) Purce to serve on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information that leads to a civil penalty or criminal conviction of the boater observed driving through resting California sea lions in the Columbia River on April 3, 2023, near Hayden Island, Oregon.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission accepted a petition to list the Southern Resident killer whale Distinct Population Segment as endangered under the Oregon Endangered Species Act.

The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Olympic National Park, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that the Tribal Ceremonial and Subsistence fishery for coho salmon on the Elwha River will be open for a limited time during fall 2023. Additionally, the Tribe, ONP, and WDFW agreed to extend the closure of other recreational and commercial fisheries in the Elwha River for another year.

One hunter-harvested mule deer, a buck from El Dorado County, was confirmed to be infected with SARS-CoV-2. The deer was harvested in 2021 and sampled by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for chronic wasting disease surveillance. It was negative for CWD and did not show any outward signs of illness.

Earlier this month, Ryan Mejaski and Joe Wilhite were fishing for kokanee on the Deschutes arm of central Oregon’s Lake Billy Chinook without much luck when they decided to move spots. After casting into a group of small kokanee that were jumping to the surface, his secret lure sank to about five feet when he got a big strike that took off screaming.

Video of a wolverine crossing Hwy 20 east of Santiam Pass on April 6 was confirmed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. ODFW Deschutes District staff confirmed tracks near the video location on the day of the sighting.

To address the continued potential for low run-off conditions and unprecedented water shortages in the Colorado River Basin, the Bureau of Reclamation this week released a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to potentially revise the current interim operating guidelines for the near-term operation of Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams.

Work has officially begun on removing the four dams that comprise the Lower Klamath Hydropower Project.

Oregon’s Marine Reserves Program will take part in a groundbreaking new study designed to estimate how Oregonians assign value to the reserves beyond traditional economic impacts.

Jennifer Quan is the new Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region. She will assume her new duties on April 23, 2023.

The Eurasian strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI H5N1) was detected in two mountain lions in Mono County in December 2022 and January 2023, according to wildlife health experts with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. While additional disease testing is being conducted to rule out the possibility of co-infections, HPAI H5N1 is suspected to be the cause of the death for both mountain lions.

A wolverine was sighted by two people who were fishing on the Columbia River near Portland on the morning of Monday, March 20. Wolverine, rare and listed as threatened in Oregon, are the largest member of the weasel family and resemble a small bear. This is the first confirmed report of a wolverine outside of the Wallowa Mountains in over 30 years.

On March 21, Hayden Lake in North Idaho produced a new certified state record northern pike. The record fish weighed a whopping 40.76 pounds, was 49 inches in length and 26.5 inches in girth – a true monster of a fish.

One hunter-harvested mule deer, a buck from El Dorado County, was confirmed to be infected with SARS-CoV-2. The deer was harvested in 2021 and sampled by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for chronic wasting disease surveillance. It was negative for CWD and did not show any outward signs of illness.

Anticipating good conditions for the survival of hatchery-produced Chinook salmon throughout the Sacramento River and tributaries, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife will release both spring and fall-run Chinook during the historic rain and snowfall the state is experiencing. Several releases have already happened, and others are planned over the next few weeks to utilize good in-river habitat conditions for these young salmon.

Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels will require severely cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. Doing so calls for the immediate, large-scale adoption of renewable energy like solar and wind, electrified transportation, energy-efficient systems, alternative fuels, and carbon capture and storage technologies across all sectors globally.

The 2013-2016 marine heat wave known as “The Blob”  warmed a vast expanse of surface waters across the northeastern Pacific, disrupting West Coast marine ecosystems, depressing salmon returns, and damaging commercial fisheries. It also prompted a wave of research on extreme warming of ocean surface waters.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little has appointed Ed Schriever, retired executive director of Idaho Fish and Game, to a seat on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, replacing longtime Council member Jim Yost.

All but the most resilient marine species off the West Coast are likely to be vulnerable to climate change, according to a new NOAA Fisheries assessment. It will help inform fisheries management and species protections as the climate changes in the coming decades.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, and Whale and Dolphin Conservation have filed a petition to protect Southern Resident orcas under the Oregon Endangered Species Act. As of the most recent census, just 73 Southern Resident orcas remain, divided among three family groups.

Recent reports (Columbia Basin Bulletin, February 2 and Eric Barker, Lewiston Tribune, February 5) claim that overall upriver returns to the Columbia basin are “on an upward swing.” Such a claim ignores context and perspective.

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has extended an offer to Jim Fredericks to serve as the new director of Idaho Fish and Game. Fredericks has been a deputy director for Fish and Game since 2021 and is a former fisheries bureau chief.

A new report on the status of U.S. wildlife conservation reveals that 40% of animals, 34% of plants and 40% of ecosystems nationwide are at risk. The analysis — Biodiversity in Focus: United States Edition — was compiled by NatureServe, a nonprofit organization that assembles conservation data from a national network of scientists and organizations.

Talk to people who knew Larry Cassidy and the accolades run as thick as the Columbia River’s famed salmon and steelhead runs in the days before hydroelectric dams forever changed the system.

Fleeing isn’t the only way by which songbirds can protect themselves against predators. Many songbird species are known to engage in mobbing, where they gather aggressively around a bird of prey, flying rapidly while making stereotypic movements and loud vocalizations. Mobbing is risky for both parties: birds of preys have been observed to attack their mobbers, while cases are known of birds of prey getting injured by mobbing songbirds.

The American Fisheries Society Governing Board issued a policy statement this month calling for breaching the lower Snake River dams to “safeguard” Snake River basin salmon and steelhead from going extinct.

Even without hunting rifles, humans appear to have a strong negative influence on the movement of wildlife. A study of Glacier National Park hiking trails during and after a COVID-19 closure adds evidence to the theory that humans can create a “landscape of fear” like other apex predators, changing how species use an area simply with their presence.

Three Montana juvenile grizzly bears tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus this fall.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack this week announced expanded efforts to reduce wildfire risk across the western U.S. aimed at protecting at-risk communities and critical infrastructure across 11 landscapes in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

Fishery managers from Oregon and Washington today closed sturgeon retention in Bonneville Pool as of Jan. 12.

Hugh Morrison has been selected to serve as Regional Director of the Pacific Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Morrison, who has been the acting regional director since May 2022, will begin effective immediately. In this role, Morrison will administer conservation efforts spanning one ocean, four states and multiple territories and time zones.

It was a typical cold, December day in central Idaho with rain down low and snow in the mountains. While many anglers might have been thinking about ice-fishing, winter steelhead, or even putting a fresh coat of wax on their skis and hitting the slopes, Joey Walton had other plans: big Smallmouth bass.  Knowing he had to make the long run across the reservoir, he set out early in search of a trophy.

The recent article in the CBB about NPDES permits for the four lower Snake River dams includes a proposal to draw the reservoirs down to reduce heating of the water. This is a fool’s errand based on widespread misinformation.

On Dec. 7, I was sworn in as B.C.’s new Minister of Finance. I was also honoured to retain my role as minister responsible for the Columbia Basin Trust, Columbia Power Corporation and the Columbia River Treaty. As 2022 comes to a close, it’s worth reflecting on this year’s progress towards a modernized Columbia River Treaty.

National and community-based environmental groups filed a legal challenge today to stop the Department of the Interior’s lease sale in Cook Inlet, Alaska. Lease sale 258, scheduled for Dec. 30, would auction off nearly a million acres of federal waters in southcentral Alaska, opening the door to decades of future oil and gas drilling.

The owner of a wholesale fish processor, Native American Fisheries, was sentenced this week in U.S. District Court in Seattle to three years of probation for violating the Lacey Act by taking more than 7,000 pounds of illegally caught Columbia River salmon and selling it commercially.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is listing whitebark pine, a high elevation tree across the West, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

Leaders of Northwest tribes on Wednesday welcomed new commitments from President Joe Biden and members of his administration at the first in-person Tribal Nations Summit held by the White House in six years.

The Biden Administration Wednesday issued new guidance for federal agencies regarding the use of Indigenous Knowledge in decision-making and issued new policies and procedures to fulfill the federal government’s responsibility for meaningful consultation with American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes.

NOAA has partnered with McKenzie River Trust to increase natural floodplain connectivity along Finn Rock Reach in Oregon’s McKenzie River. The project is restoring important habitat for threatened Upper Willamette River Chinook salmon.

Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden have announced a total of $5,041,495 million from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will be awarded to the Nez Perce Tribe, in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and other partners, to restore sockeye salmon habitat connectivity at the Wallowa Lake Dam in northeast Oregon.

There is an increase in the number of stranded California sea lions along the entire Oregon coast due to leptospirosis, a naturally-occurring bacteria that can also sicken dogs, people, other wildlife, and livestock.

Washington U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray announced $36 million in grant funds to state, local, Tribal and federal partners to support the continued conservation and restoration of Puget Sound.

This year La Niña returns for the third consecutive winter, and starting in December 2022 through February 2023, NOAA predicts drier-than-average conditions across the South with wetter-than-average conditions for areas of the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes, northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest, according to NOAA’s U.S. Winter Outlook released today by the Climate Prediction Center — a division of the National Weather Service.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is asking for public feedback to inform the development of proposed fish passage and screening rules intended to support salmon and orca recovery.

Conservation and animal-protection groups are offering an increased reward of $51,400 for information leading to a conviction in the illegal poisoning deaths of six wolves in northeastern Washington earlier this year.

The Oregon Health Authority is issuing recommendations on the amount of lamprey from the Columbia River and its Oregon tributaries that people should eat after data showing high levels of contaminants in the fish.

Idaho’s Stanley Basin has long been one of the West’s most iconic roundup arenas. For 160 years, cowboys and their hooved counterparts have comingled out in the vast valley beneath the towering Sawtooth Mountains where they come together each fall to round up the herds.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week removed the snail darter from the endangered species list because the fish has recovered. Thanks to collaborative conservation efforts since it was protected in 1975, says USFWS, the little fish is no longer in danger of extinction.

Among the first cases to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court for the October 2022 term is Sackett v. EPA, No. 24-454 (2022). At stake is the definition of “waters of the United States” and the area of land that is subject to Clean Water Act wetlands protection or land available to be developed – an issue of enormous environmental and economic consequence.

The use of virtual fencing to manage cattle grazing on sagebrush rangelands has the potential to create fuel breaks needed to help fight wildfires, a recent Oregon State University and U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service study found.

Walleye have spread throughout the Columbia River basin following an unauthorized introduction to Lake Roosevelt in the mid-20th century. These fish have remained downstream of Idaho’s salmon and steelhead rivers until recently.

The lower Columbia River below Bonneville Dam will open additional areas for recreational salmon fishing beginning Oct. 1, fishery managers from Washington and Oregon announced Wednesday.

Starting Saturday, Sept. 24, anglers will be able to harvest coho salmon in the Grande Ronde River for the third time since they were reintroduced in 2017.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife researchers wrapped up a project this summer that could have important implications for how fishery managers design future coastal steelhead fisheries and prioritize habitat restoration projects.

The Department of the Interior this week released new guidance to improve federal stewardship of public lands, waters and wildlife by strengthening the role of Tribal governments in federal land management.

The U.S. effort to build a domestic supply of clean energy often begins with critical materials produced in far-off — and geopolitically sensitive — countries. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory recently contributed to a series of reports aimed at securing America’s clean energy supply chain and minimizing potential disruptions. 

Leadership from the Ports of Longview and Kalama, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have agreed to fund an estimated $2.1 million study that will investigate what changes or improvements engineers can make to turning basins in the Columbia River to help larger, deeper-drafting vessels, safely navigate when turning.

Well, it’s happened again. C.J. Strike Reservoir in southwestern Idaho – typically known for abundant crappie and smallmouth bass – has once again produced an eye-popping state record fish.

Wind energy continues to see strong growth, solid performance, and attractive prices in the U.S., according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Energy  and prepared by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. With levelized costs of just over $30 per megawatt-hour for newly built projects, the cost of wind is well below its grid-system, health, and climate benefits.

The Center for Biological Diversity notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week that it intends “to sue over the agency’s failure to develop a national wolf recovery plan as required by the Endangered Species Act.” The planned lawsuit would seek to require the Service to draft a recovery plan that includes all populations of wolves in the contiguous United States.

Oregon State University scientists are proposing management changes on western federal lands that they say would result in more wolves and beavers and would re-establish ecological processes. They suggest reducing by 29 percent the amount of western public lands allotted annually for livestock grazing.

Hundreds of endangered northern leopard frogs will leap back into the wild at the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge in Washington’s Grant County this month.

The states of Washington and Oregon, and a coalition of organizations, joined together to send a letter to President Joe Biden Tuesday calling for increased funding at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

Columbia Riverkeeper is a non-profit organization that for many years has been involved in key legislation regarding efforts to protect and restore the water quality of the Columbia River and its tributaries. It focuses on environmental laws to stop illegal pollution, protect salmon habitat, and challenge fossil fuel terminals.

A team of scientists concluded in a recent paper that breaching four dams in the Lower Snake River Basin in Washington provides the best and only reasonable opportunity to promote recovery of key fish species, including salmon and steelhead.

Though 100 degree-plus weather is on its way next week, unanticipated cool, wet weather in May and June prompted the Washington Department of Ecology to cancel the drought declaration for Central and Eastern Washington.

ODFW marine biologists and fishery managers continue their work to decrease whale entanglements in crabbing gear with good success. The frequency of entanglements has lessened over the last few years across the West Coast.

The ill-fated “Into the Wild” adventurer chronicled by author Jon Krakauer and film director Sean Penn may have been able to cross the river that turned him back had he tried a day earlier or later, research by Oregon State University suggests.

NOAA Fisheries is recommending more than $95 million in funding for 19 new and continuing programs and projects to support West Coast salmon and steelhead populations, ranging from funds for efforts to reintroduce salmon and steelhead above Grand Coulee Dam, $24 million for habitat restoration in Washington and $7.2 million to Idaho Governor’s Office of Species Conservation to “fund projects that are compatible with the Columbia Basin Collaborative sustainability goals.”

The latest technology to study glaciers fits in a backpack and can be carried up steep mountains.

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

Idaho Fish and Game staff have confirmed three separate incidents of bears attacking and killing livestock in the Panhandle’s Bonner and Boundary counties.

With numerous whales in poor body condition and several pregnancies reported, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Thursday issued an emergency order requiring commercial whale-watching vessels to keep at least one-half nautical mile away from endangered Southern Resident killer whales this summer, and all boaters are urged to Be Whale Wise and do the same.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has issued a revised penalty to the Port of Morrow for additional violations involving overapplication of wastewater containing nitrogen to agricultural fields in the Lower Umatilla Basin, an area with longstanding groundwater contamination.

At a signing ceremony on Saturday, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and the five Tribes of the Bears Ears Commission formalized and celebrated their partnership for co-management of the Bears Ears National Monument.

Last week, an angler reported to Idaho Fish and Game that he had recently caught a walleye on the Snake River below Swan Falls Dam in Southwest Idaho. The angler provided photos, allowing fisheries biologists to confirm that it was a walleye. The angler will also provide the carcass to IDFG.

The Department of the Interior today transferred fish production at Dworshak National Fish Hatchery to the Nez Perce Tribe, which the agency says is “an important move underscoring the Biden Administration’s commitment to empowering Indigenous communities and supporting Tribal trust responsibility.”

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.

Last summer was particularly dry and hot in much of Idaho, renewing concerns among some trout anglers about fishing when water temperatures climb. Anglers are often concerned that maybe they shouldn’t be fishing on the hottest days for fear that they might be reducing trout populations, but a recent study on Idaho rivers during a hot summer showed catch-and-release angling did not harm the trout population.

Idaho Fish and Game has received confirmation that six bats tested positive for a fungus that leads to a deadly disease known as “white-nose syndrome.” The bats were located in Minnetonka Cave in Bear Lake County, and it’s the first case of the fungus ever being detected in Idaho after a decade of testing.

With another low run of summer steelhead forecast, angling closures for steelhead, bass and salmon will be in effect for parts of the Deschutes River this summer starting as early as June 1.

The U.S. government promised Native tribes in the Pacific Northwest that they could keep fishing as they’d always done. But instead of preserving wild salmon, it propped up a failing system of hatcheries. Now, that system is falling apart.

Travis Wendt of Lewiston, Idaho hooked a massive 23.5-inch smallmouth bass while fishing Dworshak Reservoir on May 10th. After a quick photo, Travis released the bass back into the lake, and secured a new catch-and-release state record.

Northern crayfish were found in the Ashland canal, marking the first documented existence of this non-native species in Oregon.

Columbia Riverkeeper and Weyerhaeuser Company reached an agreement this week settling Riverkeeper’s Clean Water Act lawsuit against the timber giant at its Longview mill. The consent decree must undergo a 45-day review period for the U.S. Department of Justice and then be approved by a federal district court judge before it can go into effect.

On Saturday, May 7, off-duty Regional Fisheries Biologist Mike Thomas was fishing the Boulder Creek arm of Lake Cascade with local angler Chris Weber, when Weber landed an illegally stocked, 20-inch, nearly 3-pound mature male walleye. This is the second report of walleye in Lake Cascade in the past four years – with the first report back in 2018, when an angler reported catching a 19-inch walleye near Crown Point.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public input on its draft periodic status review for snowy plover.

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

The Hood River Canal Bridge is a major source of mortality for migrating steelhead smolts, according to new research by NOAA Fisheries Northwest Fisheries Science Center scientists and the non-profit Long Live the Kings. Approximately half the smolts tracked by researchers died attempting to get past the bridge or soon after.

In 2021, an angler brought in a cool $61,409 for hooking 7,185 salmon-eating northern pikeminnows from the Columbia River. That guy or gal could make even more this year.

Last week, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, joined with science leaders to help break ground on a $75 million facility that will boost clean energy adoption and make the nation’s power grid more resilient, secure and flexible.

This note responds to John McKern’s letter printed in the latest CBB.

Growing up in a Northern Californian fishing town, NOAA Fisheries scientist Nate Mantua’s family owned a business connected to the local salmon fishing industry. When one of the worst El Niño events ever recorded hit the West Coast in 1982 and 1983, the salmon fishery his family relied on suffered. Mantua would go on to study how to predict El Niño events in graduate school. Now he works to understand the impacts of climate change.

The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit this week to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine whether Suckley’s cuckoo bumblebees warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act.

In the late 90s when we at the Walla Walla District, Corps of Engineers, came up with the concept for making spill safer for fish, our first idea was to dedicate one spill bay for overflow for juvenile fish passage. 

Anglers in Washington can expect similar salmon fishing opportunities this year compared to 2021, with some improved opportunities in the ocean driven by strong expected coho returns, state fishery managers have announced.

Spring Chinook fishing will open under normal permanent regulations on Oregon’s Umatilla River this year for the first time since 2018.

Following a thorough review of the best available science, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reaffirmed the listing of the streaked horned lark as threatened under the Endangered Species Act with a revised 4(d) rule.

As a Fish and Wildlife Biologist for the Walla Walla District, Corps of Engineers from 1971 to 2000, I was there when disinformation and misinformation began to spread and hints of breaching the four lower Snake River dams started. 

Fishery managers from Washington and Oregon last week approved an opportunity to catch and retain legal-size white sturgeon in the lower 40 miles of the Columbia River beginning May 11.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks fisheries biologists began tagging northern pike in portions of the Bitterroot, Clark Fork, and Clearwater rivers this week as part of a new study on pike movement in the Missoula area. The success of the study depends on reports from anglers who catch tagged fish.

The Oregon Ocean Science Trust has awarded $1.1 million in state funding to ocean researchers to help Oregon better understand and monitor and ocean changes.

Traces of DNA that fish species leave behind in the water can reveal the abundance and distribution of fish over large areas of the ocean as accurately as conventional fisheries survey methods, new research shows.

Dworshak Reservoir is expected to be teeming with kokanee in 2022 based on annual surveys conducted in late summer 2021 that revealed record-high kokanee abundance in the reservoir, says Idaho Fish and Game.

An angler caught a smallmouth bass on Feb. 19 while fishing on the Gardner River at its confluence with the Yellowstone River, just outside of Yellowstone National Park.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine takes center stage, remote areas of the Arctic are thrust to the front row of global impacts to the environment, economics and human security.

NOAA issued its U.S. Spring Outlook today and for the second year in a row, forecasters predict prolonged, persistent drought in the West where below-average precipitation is most likely.

NOAA Fisheries has approved a Habitat Conservation Plan and Safe Harbor Agreement with California’s largest owner of private forestlands to protect habitat for salmon and steelhead.