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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.

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.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking additional help marking more than 110 million hatchery salmon and steelhead to identify them as hatchery fish before being released into state waters in 2022.

Washington fishery managers have unveiled salmon run forecasts for state waters in 2022, with many forecasts looking similar to last year’s predictions, and some slight improvements or declines by area. Columba River fall chinook are forecasted to be well below the 10-year average, with coho double the average.

The US Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, in another stage of a $73 million project, has completed assembly on the second of three new advanced-designed hydroelectric turbines and begun its installation at Ice Harbor Lock and Dam, one of four dams on the lower Snake River.

The U.S. Geological Survey selected the Willamette River Basin in the Pacific Northwest as the latest location for an in-depth examination of factors affecting water supply and demand.  

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.

If you have something on your mind about Columbia Basin salmon recovery and other fish and wildlife and natural resource issues, we want to hear from you. That’s why I am launching Letters To The Editor.

This past December, a mind-boggling 18 feet of snowfall fell in the California Sierra Nevada Mountains! How does so much snow fall in one place in such a short period of time? One of the primary phenomena responsible for such extreme rain and snowfall, particularly in regions like the western U.S., is the atmospheric river. Like their terrestrial counterparts, atmospheric rivers carry tremendous amounts of water over thousands of miles. These aerial versions, however, often bring both severe disruption and great benefit through the heavy rain and mountain snows that they produce.

The first year-class of white sturgeon reared in Idaho’s Niagara Springs Sturgeon Hatchery recently underwent genetic testing to ensure that all fish released into the Snake River are capable of reproducing. These fish are unique from a typical hatchery fish, like rainbow trout, which are typically sterile when they are stocked so they can’t successfully spawn with wild fish.

Hatchery crews at Hoodsport Hatchery on Washington state’s Hood Canal identified a loss of more than 3.5 million chum salmon fry early Monday morning following extreme flooding that resulted in significant debris in the hatchery’s water intake system.

In an effort to meet management objectives and provide necessary protection for dwindling wild steelhead populations, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Wednesday announced a full closure to all sport fishing

Conservation and animal-protection groups announced a combined $22,500 reward this week for information leading to a conviction in the killing of a collared wolf outside the town of Cove in northeast Oregon.

The likelihood of hot, dry, windy autumn weather that can set the stage for severe fires in California and western Oregon has increased 40% due to human-caused climate change, new computer models show.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public input on its draft status report for the Cascade red fox.

Interesting things are happening in Oregon’s Willamette River basin when it comes to salmon and steelhead recovery. Maybe even a little overlooked for their significance. An Oregon federal judge is running the river, issuing significant directions for how federal dams and reservoirs should be operated to benefit fish.

A federal judge last week restored protection to some gray wolf populations, reversing a Trump-era rule that removed Endangered Species Act protection from the animals across most of the country. Today’s ruling prohibits wolf hunting and trapping in states outside of the northern Rocky Mountains.

Several bureaus across the Department of the Interior submitted to Congress their fiscal year 2022 blueprints for spending over $30 billion implementing the infrastructure bill approved last year.

Abnormally low water this time of year in south coast streams is leaving native fish and redds vulnerable to disturbance. Wild winter steelhead are just starting to spawn while fall chinook fry are leaving their redds and emerging from stream gravel.

The Bonneville Power Administration this week reports that its “strong 2021 financial performance” has carried into the first quarter of 2022. BPA’s current net revenue forecast is $456 million compared to a rate case net revenue forecast of $178 million.

The Deschutes River Conservancy is receiving $1.3 million as part of the Bureau of Reclamation’s $20.5 million package for a suite of 13 long-term drought resiliency projects in five Western states. The Deschutes Basin was the only project site to be selected in the Northwest.

Beating the bite of mosquitoes this spring and summer could hinge on your attire and your skin. New research led by scientists at the University of Washington indicates that a common mosquito species — after detecting a telltale gas that we exhale — flies toward specific colors, including red, orange, black and cyan.

Whether the lower Snake River dams should be breached to revive flagging wild salmon and steelhead runs is certainly a top regional issue. And what the impacts would be to the Northwest power supply is a key factor in the breach/no breach debate.

At the Third NPAFC-IYS Virtual Workshop on Linkages between Pacific Salmon Production and Environmental Changes that took place in May 2021, we hypothesized that an overabundance of salmon, combined with effects of recent marine heat waves, may have been responsible for unexpectedly low returns of all five species of Pacific salmon across the North Pacific in 2020.

Hatchery crews at Lyons Ferry Hatchery in southeast Washington state detected a loss of roughly 249,770 steelhead smolts late last week due to an equipment failure that allowed smolts to escape a rearing pond and make their way into the mainstem Snake River.  

On a map, the heart of Idaho is the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, and its nearly two million-acre watershed. This is a big, wild heart. 

Idaho’s wolf population has remained stable and consistent over the last three years based on camera surveys done last summer and since 2019. The 2021 population estimate for Aug. 1 was 1,543 wolves. The 2020 and 2019 estimates were 1,556 and 1,566.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced $25 million in funding to support increased research, development, and demonstration of technologies that harness wave power to create electricity. The funding supports eight projects that will make up the first round of open-water testing at the PacWave South test site off the Oregon coast.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking updated information for 14 wildlife species as part of a periodic review of species that are state-listed as endangered, threatened, or sensitive.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Forest Service Chief Randy Moore have launched a comprehensive response to the nation’s growing wildfire crisis – “Confronting the Wildfire Crisis: A Strategy for Protecting Communities and Improving Resilience in America’s Forests.”

Idaho Power, PacifiCorp and the Bonneville Power Administration have reached a non-binding agreement that they say would “help meet growing customer demand, improve safety and reliability, and reinforce the Pacific Northwest transmission system.”

In 2020, carbon dioxide emissions from Pacific Northwest power plants that burn coal and natural gas totaled 45.64 million metric tons, the lowest in at least 25 years and a roughly 20-percent decline from emissions in 2019 (2020 is the latest year for which emissions data is available). The data reflects emissions from electricity generation at power plants and does not account for ‘upstream’ emissions from, for example, coal mining and gas production.

The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission has initiated a new program to prevent delays during the transport of watercraft destined for the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. The program, “Call Before You Haul,” provides a toll-free phone number boat transporters can call prior to transporting watercraft from outside the Pacific Northwest to one of the states. The program is currently being piloted in 10 states and is intended to be expanded to all states in 2022.

The year 2021 was marked by extremes across the U.S., including exceptional warmth, devastating severe weather and the second-highest number of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters on record. 

Alex Dietz of Bend was fly fishing with an egg pattern on the Deschutes River outside Warm Springs on Dec. 19, 2021 when he hooked a 5 pound 12 oz, 24-inch long mountain whitefish with a 14 inch girth.

The Department of the Interior announced today that it is seeking nominations for members of the new Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names. The committee will identify geographic names and federal land unit names that are considered derogatory and solicit proposals on replacement names.

NOAA Fisheries is seeking information about the sunflower sea star, a large sea star native to the West Coast. The agency is trying to determine whether the species warrants listing under the Endangered Species Act.

Thank you for your concise summary of a busy year in the region’s long-running efforts to recover salmon and steelhead in the Columbia Basin.  I share your view that Congressman Simpson did us a great service by coming forth with a bold proposal to remove the lower Snake River dams and invest in alternative ways of providing the dams’ benefits, and I am grateful for his leadership.

Canada and the United States met on December 9 to advance talks on the modernization of the Columbia River Treaty. During this round, the United States and Canada discussed ecosystem priorities, post-2024 flood risk management, and Canada’s desire for more operational flexibility.

The Bureau of Reclamation is launching a new prize competition for improved snowpack water forecast techniques throughout the West. Developing better techniques to determine the amount of water stored as snowpack provides water managers more accurate information to make better water management decisions.

Rewards topped $43,000 this week for information on poisoning of the Catherine wolf pack in Oregon earlier this year.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is announcing a Notice of Availability for the final Environmental Impact Statement to address a significant decline in the California bighorn sheep population on Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge.

Amid forecasts for low steelhead returns, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and tribal co-managers at the Hoh Tribe, Quileute Tribe, and Quinault Indian Nation, this week announced restrictions to sport and tribal fishing on Washington coastal rivers.

More than 13 miles of fish rearing and spawning habitat has been restored on Oregon’s Eagle Creek, a tributary of the Clackamas River, after the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and partners removed the Eagle Fern Dam earlier this year.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under its Columbia River Basin Restoration Program, is issuing two Request for Applications from eligible entities to improve water quality in the Lower Columbia River Estuary and/or the Middle and Upper Columbia River Basin through specific actions to reduce toxics, increase toxics monitoring, and/or increase public education and outreach on pollution prevention to reduce toxics.

In order to protect the long-term health of sage-grouse populations, review new science and comply with court direction, the Bureau of Land Management is beginning a process to consider updates to the range-wide management plans for sagebrush habitat adopted in 2015 and amended in 2019.

Alongside national tribal leaders and federal partners at this week’s 2021 White House Tribal Nations Summit, the Environmental Protection Agency announced renewals of the Tribal Treaty Rights Memorandum of Understanding and the Sacred Sites Memorandum of Understanding.

Researchers find that maintaining genetic variation is critical to allowing wild populations to survive, reproduce, and adapt to future environmental changes.

Former Oregon state legislator Ginny Burdick joined the Northwest Power and Conservation Council this month, replacing Richard Devlin.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is finalizing a revised designation of critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act for the northern spotted owl, returning to the designation millions of acres excluded by the Trump Administration.

NOAA this week announced it is seeking public comment on the first steps toward designating a new national marine sanctuary in a 7,000 square mile area off the central California coast, adjacent to San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.

The “Upper Columbia / Okanagan River 2021: One River, Ethics Matter” conference, hosted by Okanagan Nation Alliance and University of British Columbia Okanagan campus, will be held Nov. 17-18.

In drought years and when marine heat waves warm the Pacific Ocean, late-migrating juvenile spring-run Chinook salmon of California’s Central Valley are the ultimate survivors. They are among the few salmon that return to spawning rivers in those difficult years to keep their populations alive, says a new study.

The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission announced that Aja K. DeCoteau was selected as the organization’s new executive director at its October meeting, effective November 1.

Puget Sound is not doing well, says the 2021 State of the Sound Report issued by the Puget Sound Partnership.

Scientists have collected genetic material from the beluga whale that was first sighted in Puget Sound in early October. It indicates that the whale is likely from a large population of beluga whales in the Beaufort Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska.

Data gathered by backcountry skiers, avalanche forecasters and other snow recreationists and professionals has the potential to greatly improve snowpack modeling, research by the Oregon State University College of Engineering indicates.

The Brian Abbott Fish Barrier Removal Board will accept grant proposals beginning in November for projects to remove barriers that prevent salmon and steelhead from swimming upstream.

Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, co-owners of the Pelton Round Butte hydroelectric project on central Oregon’s Deschutes River, this week announced a $1 million grant to the Deschutes Land Trust for habitat restoration aiding migratory salmon in the Crooked River.

As severe drought conditions continue, the Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project began the 2022 water year with 3.21 million acre-feet of water—one of the lowest starting points in recent years at 52 percent of a 15-year average.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray are exploring options to breach the lower Snake River dams and replace the benefits they provide, Inslee told a virtual gathering of Washington environmentalists Thursday.

Due to drought conditions and low water levels, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has lifted all size limits (minimum and maximum), daily limits for all species of fish and gear limits from Oct. 11 through Dec. 31, 2021, in the Malheur Reservoir.

The Bonneville Power Administration made its 38th consecutive U.S. Treasury payment Oct. 5, on time and in full. This year’s $1.05 billion payment brings BPA’s cumulative payments to the Treasury to more than $32 billion since 1984.

A La Nina has developed and will extend through the second winter in a row, according to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center — a division of NOAA’s National Weather Service. La Nina is a natural ocean-atmospheric phenomenon marked by cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator and is translated from Spanish as “little girl.”

The UW Climate Impacts Group, along with nine community, nonprofit, and university partners, is launching a program of community-led, justice-oriented climate adaptation work across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. The Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative will be founded with a five-year, $5.6 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is looking for public feedback on a scoping document to inform actions to conserve and rebuild Puget Sound Chinook salmon.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to remove 23 species from the Endangered Species Act due to extinction, including the ivory-billed woodpecker, last seen in 1944.

Starting next week, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council will be holding on-line public hearings in each of the four Northwest states on the draft 2021 Northwest Power Plan released by the Council last week.

An invasive fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, an often-fatal disease of hibernating bats, continues to spread in Washington. During spring and summer field work this year, scientists with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, in partnership and with funding from the U.S. Forest Service, detected the fungus or disease in at least three additional counties in the state.

The 2021 Northern Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Fishery season has been extended through Oct. 17 at select registration stations. The reward program, in its 31st season, pays anglers to catch qualifying northern pikeminnow in the Columbia River Basin.

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation recently dedicated an enhanced, state-of-the-art hatchery that is expected to double the number of spring chinook salmon released into the Walla Walla River Basin annually.

The National Science Foundation has selected Oregon State University and the University of Washington to lead a collaborative research hub focused on increasing resiliency among coastal communities in the Pacific Northwest.

Last week watercraft inspectors at Montana’s Nashua watercraft inspection station intercepted an outboard motorboat with mussels on the transducer, gimbal and other areas of the transom. The motorboat was traveling from Lake Erie to Kalispell. This is the 50th mussel-fouled boat intercepted this year, surpassing the total number of 35 mussel-fouled boats intercepted in 2020.

In the 1970s, the tiny, endangered Tennessee fish, the snail darter, was in the news regularly — the subject of a Supreme Court ruling, an act of Congress, and a giant proposed dam that threatened it with extinction.

In response to extremely low returns to date of Columbia Basin upriver summer steelhead, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is adopting additional emergency rules to increase protections for wild summer steelhead in central and eastern Oregon Columbia River tributaries.

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week approved release of a draft 2021 Northwest Power Plan for public review and comment that calls for continued reliance on existing hydropower and remaining coal and gas plants, among other sources, to meet the region’s energy needs during a transition phase.

The White House has announced the intent to nominate Northwest Power and Conservation Council member Charles F. “Chuck” Sams III as Director of the National Park Service. The nomination will now be considered by the U.S. Senate. Sams has represented Oregon on the Council since April.

Management of many of the largest fisheries in the world assumes incorrectly that many small fish reproduce as well as fewer large ones with similar total masses, a new analysis has found. That can lead to overharvesting the largest, most prolific fish that can contribute the most to the population.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries announced this week a “Voluntary Drought Initiative” designed to protect populations of salmon, steelhead, and sturgeon from the effects of the current unprecedented drought.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission last week approved the purchase of nearly 5,000 acres of land along the Minam River in northeast Oregon as part of Phase one of a project that will eventually create the 15,000-acre Minam River Wildlife Area.

Lorraine Loomis, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission chairperson and Swinomish fisheries manager, passed away August 10 at the age of 81.

Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing threats to marine wildlife. It is estimated that more than 700 marine species, from blue whales to small barnacles, have had interactions with plastics in the oceans. Plastics now make up 80% of all marine debris and can be found everywhere, from surface waters to deep-sea sediments.

“Severe and sustained droughts are part of life in the Western U.S., resulting in water shortages, affecting agriculture, municipalities, tribes and ecosystem functions,” says the Bureau of Reclamation in a new web portal providing real-time drought-related information and details of drought actions.

Oxygen-depleted bottom waters occur seasonally along the continental shelf of Washington and Oregon when strong winds blowing along the coast in spring and summer trigger upwellings that bring deep, cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface.

Mike Clark and a team of fisheries professionals watched the weather forecast for late June and knew it meant serious problems for the more than 7 million salmon being reared in the Columbia River Gorge National Fish Hatcheries. Each day the weather forecast for the Pacific Northwest brought increasingly dire predictions. What started as 104 degrees soon became a forecast of 108 degrees.

In recent years, wildfires on the West Coast have become larger and more damaging. A combination of almost a century of fire suppression and hotter and drier conditions has created a tinderbox ready to ignite, destroying homes and polluting the air over large areas.

The Bonneville Power Administration will decrease power rates by an average of 2.5% and slashed its proposed transmission rate increase in half to an average of 6.1%. The new rates were announced this week as BPA released the final record of decision for its BP-22 power and transmission rate case as well as the TC-22 tariff proceeding.

Due to drought and poor water conditions in the Klamath River, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife successfully relocated 1.1 million juvenile, fall-run Chinook salmon from its Iron Gate Fish Hatchery in Siskiyou County.

The Oregon Legislature’s passage of House Bill 3114 is “another historic Oregon first in the fight against ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH) and shows Oregon leaders’ awareness of the importance of healthy oceans,” said the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in a press release.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week said it is proposing a revised critical habitat rule for the northern spotted owl that identifies 204,797 acres of exclusions from the 2012 critical habitat designation under the Endangered Species Act. The Service is simultaneously proposing to withdraw the Trump Administration’s January 15, 2021 rule that would have excluded 3.4 million acres of critical habitat for the northern spotted owl.

Washington is beginning a review of its surface water quality standards and is seeking public input until September 16.

In a first for Washington state, wildlife biologists recently captured and fitted a female grizzly bear with a radio collar. The bear, accompanied by three yearling offspring, was then released to help biologists learn more about grizzly bears in Washington state.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission last Friday voted 4-3 to reclassify the marbled murrelet from threatened to endangered under the state’s Endangered Species Act.

A recent U.S. Geological Survey and Oklahoma State University study shows not all raptor species are equally impacted by collisions with wind turbines. Of 14 species studied, five are at risk of population declines due to collisions.

A massive tiger trout pulled from Loon Lake in northeast Washington’s Stevens County in late June has set a new state record, state fishery managers have confirmed.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will host an online public meeting on July 13 at 6:00 p.m., to share information and gather feedback on the potential acquisition of 15,000-acres for a state wildlife area along the Minam River.

Idaho Fish and Game initiated the first fish salvage order of 2021 in mid-June due to low water, which is earlier than usual and signals more challenges ahead as summer progresses. With drought in some areas and near-record high temperatures throughout the state in late June, conditions may become hazardous for fish.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is implementing emergency regulations that began July 1 in several angling zones as Oregon faces a severe drought this summer, putting the state’s salmon, steelhead, trout and sturgeon at risk.

With recent and long term declines in coastal steelhead and last season’s early closure to the 2020-2021 coastal steelhead sport fishery, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fishery managers are hosting a suite of virtual public town hall meetings this summer and fall to gather feedback from the public as they prepare for next season.

Act now and act together, or watch salmon runs continue to plummet in the Northwest. That was the message Wednesday (July 7) when tribal leaders from throughout the Columbia Basin gathered for a “salmon and orca summit” organized by the Nez Perce Tribe and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians.

Temperature significantly increased and snowfall decreased in the iconic Greater Yellowstone Area since 1950 because of climate change, and these trends will likely continue through the rest of the century, according to a climate report published today. The Greater Yellowstone Area includes the headwaters of the Snake River.

Researchers from Oregon State University say ecological data gathered during a recent low-flow experiment in the Grand Canyon is a key step toward understanding Colorado River ecosystems as the amount of water in the river continues to decline.

In an important move to restore Tribal homelands, the Department of the Interior announced this week the transfer of all lands comprising the National Bison Range, approximately 18,800.22 acres, to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be held in trust for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation in Montana. The lands, which are completely within the boundaries of the reservation, were transferred to the Bureau from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office, Idaho National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have created a new software tool, IrrigationViz, to help analyze the costs and benefits of irrigation modernization.

The Bureau of Reclamation, NOAA Fisheries, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week implemented an emergency pulse flow release in northern California from Whiskeytown Dam into Clear Creek to benefit Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon.

Sport anglers will have the opportunity to reel in salmon off the Washington coast starting Saturday, June 19 in all four of Washington’s coastal marine areas.

In response to a petition and litigation by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed this week to protect the Mt. Rainier white-tailed ptarmigan as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

The USDA Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory last week confirmed rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2) in a wild black-tailed jackrabbit collected in Lake County near Christmas Valley, Ore. on May 20, 2021.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District has finalized a Finding of No Significant Impact for the Environmental Assessment of the reservoir pool reduction at Willamette Valley’s Detroit Dam in response to a seismic hazard analysis last year.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is enacting temporary restrictions on coastal wild adult Chinook salmon harvest in the Southwest Zone due to low forecasted returns.

Oregon State University has been selected to host a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration institute focused on collaborative study of the rapidly changing ocean and expanded demands on its use.

March and April of 2021 in Oregon were among the driest spring months since the 1890s. Many streams are already at 25 percent of the flow that is typical for this time of year, with flows usually seen in early summer observed in April on some southern Oregon streams.

A new study shows per-area greenhouse gas emissions from the world’s water reservoirs are around 29% higher than suggested by previous studies, but that practical measures could be taken to help reduce that impact.

In an effort to return numbers of bull trout to self-sustainable levels, Yakama Nation Fisheries and their partners last week released 531 bull trout into Kachess Reservoir and 61 bull trout into Gold Creek, a tributary to Keechelus Reservoir.

The Center for Biological Diversity, the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society Legislative Fund and Sierra Club this week petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore federal protection under the Endangered Species Act to gray wolves, after Idaho and Montana passed legislation aimed at reducing wolf populations in those states.

New developments in recreational fishing technology–from the use of aerial drones and social media scouting reports to advances in hook design–are creating challenges for fisheries management and effective policy making, according to a new study co-authored by University of Massachusetts Amherst researcher Andy Danylchuk.

Hundreds of thousands of rainbow trout will be released into Lake Roosevelt from net pens and fish hatcheries in northeast Washington over the next two weeks.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is asking for help from the public in reporting snapping turtle sightings in west-central Montana.

NOAA Fisheries this week announced the release of two new reports: the Annual Report to Congress on the Status of U.S. Fisheries and the 2019 Fisheries of the United States Report. The agency says these reports “highlight the continued rebuilding and recovery of U.S. fisheries and the broad economic impact of commercial and recreational fisheries on the U.S. economy.”

The population of white sharks that call the Central California coast their primary home is holding steady at about 300 animals and shows some signs of growth, a new long-term study of the species has shown.

Only five months into the year, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife aquatic invasive watercraft inspection stations staff have already inspected over 5,500 watercraft; 11 of which were fouled with invasive zebra and/or quagga mussels.

Days after Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a bill allowing the state to kill up to 90 percent of the state’s wolves, more than 100 scientists, several from the Northwest, this week called upon Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reinstate federal protections for gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act.

A count of the Western Monarch butterfly population last winter saw a staggering drop in numbers, but there are hopeful signs the beautiful pollinators are adapting to a changing climate and ecology.

Communities, industries, farms and endangered fish in both Washington and Oregon depend on the Walla Walla River Basin where streamflows and aquifers have steadily declined, despite a decades-long effort to find lasting water solutions in the region.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposed rule to revoke the January 7, 2021, final regulation that limited the scope of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Significant concerns about the interpretation of the MBTA have been raised by the public, legal challenges in court and from the international treaty partners, says the agency.

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources has released a new study showing, for the first time, the impacts that a magnitude 9.0 earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone would have on Puget Sound communities.

Oregon and Washington fishery managers recently announced seasons and regulations for 2021 Columbia River summer and fall salmon and steelhead fisheries.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is trucking millions of hatchery-raised juvenile Central Valley fall-run chinook salmon this spring to San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay and seaside net pens due to projected poor river conditions in the Central Valley. The massive trucking operation is designed to ensure the highest level of survival for the young salmon on their hazardous journey to the Pacific Ocean.

What Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is calling “a major new piece of legislation,” co-sponsored by Oregon U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, was introduced in the House of Representatives last week. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2021 (RAWA) would provide new resources for the conservation of Oregon’s at-risk fish and wildlife species, says the agency.

The Bonneville Power Administration has chosen Joel Cook to be its new chief operating officer. As COO, Cook will be responsible for the agency’s Power and Transmission services, as well as its Environment, Fish and Wildlife and Customer Support Services organizations.

The national conservation group American Rivers, in its annual most endangered rivers report, has placed the Snake River in Oregon, Washington and Idaho at the top of the list. The main threat, the group says, are the four federal dams on the lower Snake River.

After reviewing the best available scientific and commercial information, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to reaffirm the listing of the Pacific Northwest’s streaked horned lark as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The Service is also proposing a revised special rule under section 4(d) of the ESA to provide for the conservation needs of the species. The announcement opens a 60-day public comment period.

President Joe Biden Thursday nominated an Oregon State University professor and a former chief of staff to former Montana Gov. Steve Bullock to lead two key agencies – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Bureau of Land Management.

Registered anglers fishing near the Tri-Cities, Washington, can fish and turn in northern pikeminnow beginning April 19 as part of an early opening trial of the 2021 Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery.

Montana’s watercraft inspectors have intercepted six mussel-fouled boats; the latest boat was stopped at the Anaconda watercraft inspection station on Saturday, April 10.

Scott Turner of Boise, Idaho set a new catch-and-release state record for steelhead. Turner landed the monster sea-going trout on April 11 on the South Fork Clearwater. The fish measured 39.25 inches long — beating Samuel Brumbaugh’s previously held record by 1.25 inches.

Concerns about climate change are driving a growing number of states, utilities, and corporations to set the goal of zeroing out power-sector carbon emissions. To date 17 states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico have adopted laws or executive orders to achieve 100% carbon-free electricity in the next couple of decades.

This month Energy Northwest, Grant County Public Utility District and X-energy, LLC signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a mutual partnership to support the development and commercial demonstration of the country’s first advanced nuclear reactor.

Although harvest opportunities for chinook salmon will be limited this year in Idaho, that doesn’t mean you can’t put some fresh salmon on the table.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is recommending no change to the current listed status of the grizzly bear in the lower-48 states as threatened under the Endangered Species Act following the completion of a five-year status review. The agency says the recommendation follows a thorough review of the best available science, informed by an independently peer-reviewed species status assessment.

The global movement of goods and people, in its modern form, has many unwanted side effects. One of these is that animal and plant species travel around the world with it.

A new report provides a snapshot of the health of the California Current ecosystem. With the system shifting from a warmer El Niño to a cooler La Niña-influenced system, the ecosystem may become more productive.