A group of environmentalists and small farmers is promoting legislation — spurred on by the development of Lost Valley Farms — that would require large-scale dairies to follow certain air regulations.

EarthFix

Environmentalists Worry Mega-Dairies Will Affect Air Quality

For fruit growers in the Pacific Northwest, spring is the time for the annual struggle between keeping their trees alive, and keeping bees alive to pollinate those trees.

Bees Or Trees: Fruit Growers' Fungicide Dilemma

A controversial logging project is moving forward near a popular entrance to the Eagle Cap Wilderness. It’s igniting a debate over what constitutes forest thinning for wildfire prevention and forest health. Critics see it as exploitation of a loophole — and perhaps the start of a trend in increased logging in the name of forest health across the West.

Controversial Logging Project Debated In NE Oregon

Volkswagen Settlement Could Help Phase Out Old Diesel Trucks by EarthFix

Volkswagen Settlement Could Help Phase Out Old Diesel Trucks

More and more people are using publicly owned lands for recreation. Public agencies are struggling to keep up with the demand for rangers, trail maintenance – even the need to restock toilet paper in outhouses. The problem could get worse under President Trump’s hiring freeze. Reporting for EarthFix, Eilís (eye-LEASH) O’Neill headed to [Western Washington’s] Middle Fork Valley to find out more…

032317EO MiddleFork

Hunters, fishermen and environmental activists. It’s not often these group are mentioned in the same breath. But recently they’re finding themselves standing shoulder to shoulder over the issue of public lands. Sportsmen and women consider hunting and fishing in these wild places to be their right. And they’re nervous that calls to sell off or transfer public lands are gaining traction. Now, they’re crossing political lines to protect what they love. Jes Burns of EarthFix reports.

Hunters And Anglers Cross Political Lines To Fight For Public Lands

The Pacific chorus frogs’ call is ubiquitous in the Northwest. But the amphibians are having more and more trouble hearing themselves. Traffic is drowning them out. Audio courtesy of Danielle Nelson.

Pacific chorus frog calls

Seattle residents were horrified when King County dumped millions of gallons of raw sewage into Puget Sound. Officials blamed it on a malfunction at a waste treatment plant. But raw sewage dumps aren’t as rare as we’d like to think. Even when no disasters happen, cities with combined sewers for their stormwater and sewage have to dump untreated wastewater into rivers, lakes and bays during heavy rainstorms.

Is Our Wastewater Infrastructure Ready For Climate Change?

Proposed budget cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency would scale back many programs and grants that American Indian tribes depend on to ensure their land has clean air and water.

Proposed EPA Cuts Could Pose Big Problems For Tribes

A decade ago bats in the Northeast started dying by the millions. The culprit was a disease that for years, stayed largely confined to the eastern U.S. and Canada. But in 2016, the disease suddenly and mysteriously appeared in the Pacific Northwest. Ever since researchers have been racing to find out what bats here are in for.

A Deadly Disease For Bats Reaches The West Coast

As you motor down the highway, you could be driving over dozens of underground passages -- called culverts. Those are metal pipes or concrete boxes that carry streams beneath the roadbed. In the Northwest, thousands of these culverts are poorly designed and maintained -- blocking the way for endangered salmon. That’s why Native American tribes have sued Washington State. Reporting for EarthFix, Eilis (eye-LEASH) O’Neill headed out to look at some culverts…

Courts Step In To Ensure Salmon Can Cross (Under) Washington Roads

At the Oregon State Land Board meeting on Tuesday morning, we'll learn more about the fate of the Elliott State Forest.

5 Things To Know About Privitizing Oregon's Elliott State Forest

Grizzly bears have been stirring up debate for decades in North-Central Washington communities. Most people love them or hate them -- they argue the bears are a necessary part of the ecosystem or a threat to their way of life. The public is getting a new chance to share their opinions at open houses throughout Washington. EarthFix reporter Courtney Flatt has more about the controversy

Bring Back Grizzlies In Washington

California condors once filled the skies from Baja to British Columbia. The giant scavenging bird had a wingspan of 10 feet. But with European settlement, the population crashed. Condors were victims of poisoning that targeted large predators like wolves. Now, the greatest known killer of these highly endangered birds is a different kind of poisoning – it comes from ingesting lead bullet fragments in dead animals. For our EarthFix series about birds and lead hunting ammunition, Jes Burns reports that an effort to reintroduce the condor in the Pacific Northwest would place them right in harm’s way.

Condor Reintroduction In The Northwest Will Put The Scavengers In Lead’s Way

For decades, environmental laws have protected North America’s trumpeter swan from sport hunting, but every year swans in the Pacific Northwest fall victim to one of hunting’s toxic legacies. For now, a small group of scientists and volunteers may be their only chance of survival. Reporting for our EarthFix team, Ken Christensen has the final story in our series on the effects of lead ammunition on wildlife. .

This is what people are doing to save lead-sickened swans

Stories from the EarthFix team at OPB, KUOW, KCTS 9, Northwest Public Radio and Idaho Public Television. EarthFix is an innovative partnership of the largest public media institutions in the Pacific Northwest established to expand environmental news coverage in the region. With journalists based in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, EarthFix creates media across multiple platforms, helping citizens examine environmental issues unfolding in their own backyards and to explore how local actions intersect with national issues. All content copyright EarthFix and its stations.

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