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.
On April 23, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice will convene the first White House Council on Native American Affairs meeting of the Biden-Harris administration. Secretary Haaland will serve as the Council’s Chair.
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.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee this week signed HB 1372, which will place a statue of tribal leader Billy Frank Jr. in the National Statuary Hall. Inslee was joined by members of Frank’s family, tribal and community members, Lt. Gov. Denny Heck and Rep. Debra Lekanoff when he signed the bill in a ceremony at Wa He Lut Indian School in Olympia.
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.
Montana’s first watercraft inspection stations are opening for the 2021 season. Inspection stations near Dillon and Ravalli opened earlier this month. The Anaconda station opened Saturday, March 20, and intercepted the first mussel fouled boat of the year.
Fish in Willamette Slough have similar levels of dioxins in their tissue as those in other parts of the Willamette River, according to a study approved by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Olympic National Park, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced an extension to continue recreational and commercial fishing closures for the Elwha River and its tributaries through July 1, 2022.
Populations of the American bald eagle — the national symbol of the United States — have quadrupled since 2009, according to a new report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Oregon State University Distinguished Professor Jane Lubchenco will lead climate and environmental science efforts in the White House as the new deputy director of climate and environment in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The GPS-collared gray wolf known as OR-93 continues to travel farther south in California than the collared wolves that have preceded him.
Oregon State University researchers analyzed more than 17,000 public comments focused on orca conservation in the state of Washington and found that the most common emotional sentiments were trust, anticipation and fear.
Biologists with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe will resume gill netting efforts this spring to reduce northern pike numbers in Windy Bay, Benewah, Chatcolet, Round, and Hidden Lakes. In cooperation with the Idaho Fish and Game, the project aims to reduce pike predation on native, lake-run cutthroat trout in select areas of Lake Coeur d’Alene.
A quarter-century-old harvesting restriction intended to last one year has served as an obstacle to returning eastern Oregon national forests to the healthier, more fire-resilient conditions they embodied in the late 1800s, research by the Oregon State University College of Forestry shows.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued Oregon State University a license to build and operate the nation’s first pre-permitted wave energy testing facility, culminating an unprecedented regulatory process that spanned nearly 10 years.
Treaty Indian tribes in western Washington strongly support state legislation passed by the state House of Representatives this week that calls for placing a statue of the late natural resources and civil rights champion Billy Frank Jr. in the National Statuary Hall in the nation’s Capitol Building. The statue would replace the Marcus Whitman likeness.
Initial surveys and reports suggest that angler success, satisfaction, and harvest of Kootenai River burbot in 2021 are higher than what was observed in 2019 and 2020.
Wildlife agencies are urging pet and aquarium stores to remove “Betta Buddy Marimo Ball,” a moss plant for aquariums, after invasive zebra mussels were discovered inside the product.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Portland and Walla Walla districts will close all Corps navigation locks on the Columbia and Snake rivers March 6 at 6 a.m. for regularly-scheduled annual inspections, preventative maintenance and repairs.
Continued reports of sick or dead birds at backyard feeders across Northwest states are prompting fish and wildlife agencies to recommend people leave their wild bird feeders down, or take extra steps to maintain them.
The problem of invasive Northern Pike in the Columbia River Basin is one of those problems that is someone else’s until it becomes yours.
The Environmental Defense Fund is launching a new platform today to improve data collection and management of fishing in the ocean using smart cameras coupled with artificial intelligence to get an accurate assessment of the number of vessels fishing in a particular region.
With Feb. 22-28 declared Invasive Species Awareness Week by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that a new watercraft inspection Station will open near Cle Elum in mid-March.
Pacific sardines are a small but sometimes numerous fish closely intertwined with California’s fishing history. A new study linking climate change and the northern sardine stock fishery shows that they may shift north along the West Coast as the ocean warms.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fishery managers have scheduled a variety of opportunities for the public to participate in setting state-managed salmon fishing seasons for 2021, beginning with an annual salmon forecast meeting on Feb. 26.
The British Columbia province on Feb. 24 will be hosting a Virtual Town Hall on the Columbia River Treaty.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte appointed Doug Grob to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, while changes are also coming to Oregon representation.
The Department of the Interior announced this week that it will host initial consultations with Tribal leaders next month.
Researchers can now determine the age and sex of living beluga whales in Alaska’s Cook Inlet thanks to a new DNA-based technique that uses information from small samples of skin tissue.
The lockdowns and reduced societal activity related to the COVID-19 pandemic affected emissions of pollutants in ways that slightly warmed the planet for several months last year, according to new research led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
The population of gray whales that migrate along the West Coast has declined about 24 percent since 2016. It now stands at an estimated 20,580 whales, a new population assessment by NOAA Fisheries has found. That is similar to previous fluctuations in the Eastern North Pacific population that has long since recovered from the days of whaling.
With more free time on their hands, a growing interest in securing their own food, coupled with the needs for physical outlets and mental relief as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, more Californians turned to fishing and hunting last year.
In an open letter to the governors of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana, published this week, a group of scientists well known by those active in Northwest fisheries conservation contend that research overwhelmingly shows that Snake River wild salmon and steelhead populations cannot be recovered without the removal of four dams on the lower river.
Boat traffic within 400 yards of endangered Southern Resident killer whales interrupts their foraging, often leading female whales to cease feeding altogether. That is a key finding from a new analysis of data from suction-cup tags that track the whales’ movement underwater.
Anglers are having some success catching kokanee in Detroit Reservoir lately, thanks in part to the new bonus bag limit of 5 kokanee. But Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is also hearing from anglers that targeting kokanee is resulting in quite a few inadvertently hooked juvenile chinook salmon too.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced this week it has selected John Hairston as administrator and CEO of the Bonneville Power Administration. The appointment was effective Jan. 7.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week formally removed most gray wolves in the lower 48 from the Endangered Species List, which turns management over to state fish and wildlife agencies, including Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Washington Department of Ecology has revised four water quality permits to allow sterile, all-female steelhead to be raised in marine net pens, instead of Atlantic salmon.
The Washington Department of Ecology will be holding an informational meeting on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Total Maximum Daily Load for Temperature in the Columbia and Lower Snake Rivers on January 28.
Though the coronavirus pandemic threw our lives off kilter for much of 2020, it didn’t freeze movement of major developments in Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead recovery and other important fish and wildlife issues.
Idaho Fish and Game and University of Idaho researchers began a multi-year moose research project in early 2020. Adult survival so far has been better than expected, but populations are still declining in the long term. They hope more research will provide clues on how to help Idaho’s largest big game animal rebound, or at least, discover what’s causing their decline in Idaho and beyond.
Oregon fishery managers have extended reduced daily bag limits for hatchery steelhead in the Snake River and tributaries, including the Grande Ronde, Wallowa and Imnaha Rivers. The bag limit of two hatchery steelhead per day remains in effect from January 1 to April 30, 2021.
Poop samples are an effective, non-invasive tool for monitoring gray whale reproduction, stress and other physiological responses, a new study from Oregon State University shows.
The Montana and Washington invasive species councils have joined forces to stop wild pigs from crossing borders.
Washington Democratic U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray said this week they voiced their displeasure with the “lack of transparency in the selection process” for head of the Bonneville Power Administration during a Friday call with Department of Energy Deputy Secretary Mark Menezes.
A new survey of Montanans shows positive attitudes toward grizzly bears and support for the presence of grizzly bears within the state, however acceptance of bear presence in areas closer to residential and agricultural areas is lower than in remote public land areas.
Repeated marine heatwaves off the U.S. West Coast starting about 2013 fueled record harmful algal blooms that seeded a region off Northern California and Southern Oregon with toxic algae, a new study has found. That reservoir of harmful algae has, in turn, spread across the West Coast and forced the closure of valuable Dungeness crab and other shellfish seasons every year since 2015.
The iconic sunflower sea star has been listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature following a groundbreaking population study led by Oregon State University and The Nature Conservancy.
Fishery managers with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife this week announced restrictions to sportfishing in rivers throughout the Washington coast to protect wild steelhead populations.
The Oregon Health Authority is issuing recommendations on the amount of resident fish, shellfish and crayfish from the Multnomah Channel and Scappoose Bay that people should eat.
NOAA’s 15th Arctic Report Card catalogs for 2020 the numerous ways that climate change continues to disrupt the polar region, with second-highest air temperatures and second-lowest summer sea ice driving a cascade of impacts, including the loss of snow and extraordinary wildfires in northern Russia.
Washington state announced this week that it has submitted a draft plan for how to distribute $50 million in federal relief funding to members of Washington’s commercial seafood, shellfish and charter industries to NOAA Fisheries or review and approval.
The October, 2020 annual survey of Coeur d’Alene Lake chinook salmon redds showed a strong spawning run, with the second highest count on record.
During the last several weeks, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game became aware of several separate incidents of hunters illegally transporting whole deer carcasses or deer heads into Idaho from states with Chronic Wasting Disease.
The pandemic is putting a hurt on the seafood industry, finds the largest study of COVID on U.S. fisheries, which suggests that American fishmongers may flounder – or go belly up – without more government aid.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation have determined that the same strain of bacterial pneumonia that caused a die-off in the Lookout Mountain bighorn sheep herd earlier in the year has spread to the Burnt River herd.
The seventh annual “One River, Ethics Matter” conference will be held during the COVID-19 pandemic by videoconference on December 9 and 10. It will focus on the lower Columbia River estuary and the Cowlitz Indian Tribe.
At the Dalles Dam Thursday a thrust hub cooling water pipe broke, spilling up to 200 gallons of oil into the Columbia River. The equipment is part of a fish unit turbine designed to provide attraction water for migrating fish.
Approximately 250 steelhead were stocked in the Boise River on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19. Trapped at Hells Canyon Dam on the Snake River, the fish will be released in equal numbers at five locations: Glenwood Bridge, Americana Bridge, below the Broadway Avenue Bridge behind Boise State University, at West Parkcenter Bridge and at Barber Park.
The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission will hold a public hearing via a telephonic Zoom platform on Dec. 1, at 10 a.m., to consider a new rule pertaining to banning the use of remote-controlled devices and drones while fishing.
Fishery managers from Washington and Oregon are seeking nominations for advisors to fill positions on advisory committees that provide input on recreational and commercial fishing issues on the Columbia and Snake rivers.
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission is asking for public comment on the latest draft of its revised Hatchery and Fishery Reform policy.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists are aware of over 100 cackling geese that have died in various parts of the Willamette Valley over the last month.
A new type of soil created by engineers at The University of Texas at Austin can pull water from the air and distribute it to plants, potentially expanding the map of farmable land around the globe to previously inhospitable places and reducing water use in agriculture at a time of growing droughts.
NOAA’s winter forecast for the U.S. favors warmer, drier conditions across the southern tier of the U.S., and cooler, wetter conditions in the North, thanks in part to an ongoing La Nina.
Idaho fisheries managers expect to open the fish trap at Hells Canyon Dam on Nov. 2 and will hopefully have enough fish available for the Boise River.
Dam safety can be a gloomy business at times. In order to protect a dam, engineers must first brainstorm all the different ways the structure could possibly fail. It’s a strategy of predicting and preparing for the worst.
The Willamette Wildlife Mitigation Program reached its 10th year of protecting land for wildlife throughout the Willamette Valley this month. The program ends in 2025.
The Bonneville Power Administration has made its 37th consecutive U.S. Treasury payment of $736 million, which covers a variety of costs, including irrigation assistance that BPA provides to help irrigators repay their share of certain Bureau of Reclamation projects.
Communities around the state will soon receive grant funds to support projects that protect rivers and improve streamflows. The Washington Department of Ecology is investing up to $22 million in 21 high priority projects located in 16 watersheds.
Officially one year after the opening of the new Burke Museum and in honor of Indigenous Peoples Day, the Burke Museum, University of Washington, and the Washington State Arts Commission announced a new outdoor installation called Guests of the Great River that greets guests as you arrive at the museum’s east entrance.
A new survey of saltwater recreational anglers looked at their sources of information when it comes to fishery management and data collection. It found that their most used and trusted sources were friends, family, bait and tackle shops, and state and federal agency information such as websites and regulation guides.
Portland General Electric Company this week announced it has permanently shuttered its coal-fired Boardman Generating Station in Eastern Oregon’s Morrow County. The closure fulfills an agreement PGE reached with stakeholders, customer groups and regulators in 2010 to significantly reduce air emissions from power production in Oregon by ending operations at Boardman 20 years ahead of schedule and transitioning to cleaner energy resources.
Climate warming will alter marine community compositions as species are expected to shift poleward, significantly impacting the Arctic marine ecosystem.
Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Marine and Coastal Research Laboratory have developed a predictive framework of ecological indicators and analyses for estuarine–tidal river research and management.
The upcoming rainy season, combined with the historic wildfires in Oregon, set the stage for increased flooding conditions according to Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials. The potential for damage from these floods in the Willamette Valley, in the Umpqua River Basin, and along the Rogue River are significant.
The Deschutes Land Trust has purchased Priday Ranch, a new conservation project on 4,500 acres north of Madras, Oregon that includes steelhead spawning streams.
After years of extensive studies, a risk assessment and recent rehabilitation of spillway gates, Army Corps of Engineers officials have reclassified Green Peter Dam, near Sweet Home, Ore., as a low risk dam.
An agreement was recently signed that is a key step in the return of sockeye salmon to northeast Oregon’s Wallowa Lake. Bull trout, mountain whitefish, wild rainbow trout, and possibly steelhead could also start returning to Wallowa Lake when fish passage is restored.
Bonneville Power Administration line crews were rapidly deployed to areas where BPA transmission and fiber customers experienced service interruptions due to devastating wildfires that swept across much of the Pacific Northwest.
Before leaving for his work shift, Mike Pomeroy said goodbye to his wife, Ronda, the way he always did: with a promise.
Work is underway to repair the fishway system at Willamette Falls. Anglers and other users of the river may be seeing barge traffic as construction materials are transported from down river to the channel leading up to the cul-de-sac and notice fish counts are not being updated, says the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Twelve-year-old Topher Jones of Boise, also known as the “Sock Guy for Sockeye”, was among 25 winners of the 2020 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, which annually honors outstanding young leaders who have made a significant and positive difference to people and the environment.
Improvements in fish passage and assurances of water in California’s Calaveras River will help promote recovery of threatened steelhead. These changes will be implemented under the first plan of its kind in the Central Valley of California.
Despite the unprecedented wildfires and evacuation of six ODFW-managed fish hatcheries, millions of fish at these facilities remain alive with hatchery staff returning as they are able to care for fish and even spawn spring chinook during a critical time in their life cycle.
A La Nina climate pattern has developed in the United States and is likely to persist through the winter, according to an advisory issued by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.
The Deschutes River Conservancy and Central Oregon Irrigation District this week announced plans for a new on-farm program that will increase on-farm irrigation efficiencies and conserve water.
For the first time, scientists have direct evidence that killer whales are preying on bowhead whales in the U.S. Pacific Arctic. A dramatic loss of sea ice in recent years may be leaving bowheads more vulnerable to killer whale predation.
John Hairston, who has spent the past five years in the Bonneville Power Administration front office, most recently as the chief operating officer since September 2019, has been named interim administrator and Chief Executive Officer by Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report a record return of spring chinook salmon this year at Fall Creek Dam.
Due to multiple fires burning throughout the Willamette Valley, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District is closing several recreation areas it manages near its dams.
Ed O’Hara of Hayden, Idaho landed the latest catch/release state record bull trout.
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission Friday approved $17 million in budget requests for needed enhancements to manage fish and wildlife in Washington state. Commissioners also provided a list of potential service cuts, while pointing out the counterproductive nature of such cuts should statewide elected officials adopt them.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will partner with Washington State University on a research project to use drone technology to advance conservation efforts for summer chinook salmon.
Washington’s Pilchuck River is close to once again flowing freely after more than 100 years, thanks to a NOAA-supported effort to remove an obsolete dam. Once restoration work is complete, the project will reopen 37 miles of habitat for fish and help protect downstream communities from flooding.
As the Arctic sea-ice melt season nears its peak, one community of scientists is poring over satellite images, running experimental forecast models, and asking the perennial question: How low will it go?
Policy reforms and technological improvements could drive seafood production upward by as much as 75% over the next three decades, research by Oregon State University and an international collaboration suggests.
A fifth Idaho angler has won $1,000 in the Lake Pend Oreille walleye lottery.
States and tribes can lethally remove up to 540 California sea lions and 176 Steller sea lions over the next five years from a management zone on the Columbia River and its tributaries where they prey on at-risk salmon, steelhead, lamprey, sturgeon, and eulachon, under a new authorization issued today by NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will close the Snake River spring chinook fishery effective Friday while fall chinook harvest season begins on Tuesday, Aug. 18.
A piece of the Northwest’s most important habitat for bighorn sheep was protected this week, thanks to a partnership between Western Rivers Conservancy and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
With news of multiple pregnancies among the endangered Southern Resident killer whales, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, NOAA Fisheries, whale watch leaders, and Soundwatch are calling for boaters to steer clear of the whales and give them extra space on the water at this critical time.
A new federal rule that determines how the Clean Water Act is implemented leaves millions of miles of streams and acres of wetlands unprotected based on selective interpretation of case law and a distortion of scientific evidence, researchers say in a new publication.
Elliot Mainzer, who has served as administrator and Chief Executive Officer of the Bonneville Power Administration for the past seven years, will leave the agency at the end of August.
Oregon’s application period for potential assistance for COVID-19 impacts to fishing-related businesses is now open and extends through Sept. 8, 2020.
Due to the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges those are creating for NOAA Fisheries, the agency is cancelling three research surveys off the West Coast of the United States.
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission spent their July 31-Aug. 1 meeting considering upcoming legislative issues – service cuts, legislative priorities, and new funding requests – for the upcoming 2021 session.
In preparation for a solicitation of bids for five 12-mile long subsea cables to support a wave energy testing facility, Oregon State University will host an information session for companies interested in the project.
Environmental conservation nonprofit Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership welcomed E. Elaine Placido as their new Executive Director. Placido replaces Debrah Marriott, who retired after leading the organization since its inception in 1995. Placido’s first day with the Partnership was July 18.
Plans to modernize East Fork Irrigation District’s irrigation infrastructure in Oregon’s Hood River watershed have been approved to move forward into construction.
Hundreds of trout anglers will head to Montana’s Flathead Lake this fall to compete in a fishing derby where the goal is not to catch the biggest trout, but to reel in the most. The daily bag limit for this contest may be surprising. Organizers encourage anglers to catch as many as 100 lake trout per day.
The global population of the critically endangered Chinese crested tern has more than doubled thanks to a historic, decade-long collaboration among Oregon State University researchers and scientists and conservationists in China, Taiwan and Japan.
As part of its ongoing efforts to conserve Pacific Lamprey, the Lamprey Technical Workgroup recently completed a document to provide guidance for evaluating and providing passage for adult Pacific Lamprey at road crossings.
Uplifting of Columbia River basalts has allowed University of Oregon researchers to better understand of how magma 14-16 million years ago shaped the region and why greenhouse gases released during a series of volcanic eruptions did not trigger a global extinction event.
As returning sockeye salmon to the Columbia River continue to exceed preseason expectations, fishery managers with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced this week that Lake Wenatchee will open to sockeye retention beginning Monday, Aug. 3, while anglers will also be able to keep additional sockeye on the mainstem of the upper Columbia above Priest Rapids Dam.
Whoops and cheers erupted from the crowd – the sound of singing and hand drums alive in the background – as community members of the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation gathered at the edge of Hangman creek near Tensed, Idaho. All eyes were turned to the water and to the trucks full of chinook salmon.
The use of bait, spears, and spear guns to harvest smallmouth bass is now allowed in Oregon’s Coquille River system July 15 through October 31, 2020. The temporary rule aims to reduce impacts of illegally introduced smallmouth bass on native fall chinook salmon.
The NOAA-supported effort to remove the Middle Fork Nooksack Dam will restore access to 16 miles of habitat for threatened salmon and steelhead.
The Wild Fish Conservancy this week submitted formal applications to the Washington Department of Natural Resources to lease Puget Sound state-owned aquatic land sites used and leased for commercial open water net pen aquaculture.
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission has assumed stewardship of a nationally renowned ocean and estuary research institution to better link knowledge of the Columbia River and Pacific Ocean.
For the first time since 2014, Idaho Fish and Game has stocked kokanee salmon into Payette Lake in McCall. Hatchery staff stocked a total of about 400,000 kokanee into the lake in late June, and will continue to stock that many kokanee every year until at least 2024.
Because fish that are ready to mate and their young are especially sensitive to changes in temperature, in the future up to 60 percent of all species may be forced to leave their traditional spawning areas, says a new study.
In a new study, researchers from the University of Montana’s Flathead Lake Biological Station may have unlocked a mystery surrounding unique aquatic insects in the Flathead watershed.
Salmon and steelhead are famous for their migrations, but bull trout can also travel long distances.
With Washington’s economy hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is planning agency-wide furloughs beginning this week.
The Bonneville Power Administration this week issued a decision to suspend its financial reserves surcharge through September 2021.
A biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was attacked by a grizzly bear in southwest Montana’s Centennial Valley last week. The individual suffered serious bite wounds but is expected to recover fully.
A University of Wyoming researcher and her Ph.D. student have spent the last three years studying the decline of the Western bumblebee. The two have been working with a group of bumblebee experts to fill in gaps of missing information from previous data collected in the western United States.
Two Army Corps of Engineers employees at Little Goose Dam on the lower Snake River created a device that removed debris blockages within the dam.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week named utility executive Bill Edmonds as its new Executive Director. Edmonds will replace Steve Crow, who will retire in August after serving 25 years in the position. Edmonds’ first day at the Council will be Monday, August 17th.
Suspended, rotating devices known as “flappers” may be the key to fewer birds flying into power lines, a study by Oregon State University suggests.
Given the tremendous ability of forests to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, some governments are counting on planted forests as offsets for greenhouse gas emissions–a sort of climate investment. As with any investment, however, it’s important to understand the risks. If a forest goes bust–through severe droughts or wildfires, researchers say–much of that stored carbon could go up in smoke.
Anglers will have an opportunity to retain a white sturgeon on the lower Willamette River the next two Saturdays, June 20 and 27 — the first retention opportunity in the lower Willamette since 2013.
Starting last week, mineral prospectors in Washington state can no longer use motorized or gravity siphon equipment to search for gold in rivers and streams that are designated as critical habitat under the federal Endangered Species Act for salmon, steelhead, or bull trout, and all fresh waters in the state that salmonids use for spawning, rearing, and migration.
Idaho Fish and Game has closed the chinook salmon fishing season on the Lower Salmon River effective June 17, and the Little Salmon River effective at the end of fishing hours on June 20.
Brett Jones of Rock Springs Wyoming reeled in a new catch-and-release Idaho record for rainbow trout.
A steering committee working to restore aquatic ecosystems in Washington’s Chehalis River Basin, second largest river basin in the state, is directing $4.7 million in grants to support local job capacity and fund 20 aquatic habitat restoration projects that will aid salmon and other fish species.
Pockets of landscape less prone than adjacent areas to disturbances like fire and drought may hold the key for scientists, conservationists and land managers seeking to preserve vulnerable species in a changing climate.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife this week released a draft strategic plan the agency says is “designed to help WDFW invest in connections with communities and partners to improve fish, wildlife and habitat outcomes.”
Pacific lamprey are an ecologically important, anadromous fish species, native to the Pacific Northwest, and culturally important to Native American Tribes. An ancient species, lampreys have been on earth since the time before dinosaurs.
The reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park is tied to the recovery of tall willows in the park, according to a new Oregon State University-led study.
America’s marine economy, including goods and services, contributed about $373 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product in 2018 and grew faster than the nation’s economy as a whole, according to the marine economy statistics released this week by two Department of Commerce agencies.
Warming ocean temperatures and acidification drastically reduce the skeletal strength and filter-feeding capacity of glass sponges, according to new University of British Columbia research.
Warming events are increasing in magnitude and severity, threatening many ecosystems worldwide. As the global temperatures continue to climb, it also raises uncertainties as to the relationship, prevalence, and spread of marine parasites and disease.
“Puddles,” Washington State’s first mussel detection dog, proved on Memorial Day weekend that a canine partner is invaluable in the fight against aquatic invasive species.
After two months of closures due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, many of the state’s coastal waters reopened for fishing on May 26.
BPA exclusively markets the power from the Columbia Generating Station located in southeastern Washington. Owned by Energy Northwest, the nuclear power plant is the third largest energy producer in the Northwest behind Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams.
In March 2019, Idaho Fish and Game kicked off the first year of the walleye lottery program by announcing that $50,000 in reward money was swimming in Lake Pend Oreille. Nearly 200 anglers participated in the inaugural season and winners took home just under $9,000 in prize money.
Scientists have developed a novel analytical method that refines their understanding of how regional environmental and climate conditions affect juvenile fish survival.
As California and the American West head into fire season amid the coronavirus pandemic, scientists are harnessing artificial intelligence and new satellite data to help predict blazes across the region.
Increased frequency and severity of droughts threatens California’s endangered salmon population–but pools that serve as drought refuges could make the difference between life and death for these vulnerable fish, according to a study by researchers from UC Berkeley and California Sea Grant, a partnership between NOAA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration this week announced it has selected the University of Washington to host NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public comments on the scope of environmental impacts it should consider as part of its work to license commercial whale watching and develop rules for commercial viewing of Southern Resident Killer Whales.
The threat of a large and potentially dangerous tsunami is looming in Prince William Sound, where an increasingly likely landslide could generate a wave with devastating effects on fishermen and recreationalists using the area, the state’s top geologist said this week.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife anticipates that nearly $16 million in federal relief aid will be available for Oregon’s marine-related and coastal fishery sectors experiencing significant economic impacts from the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Construction begins at Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge on June 1 as part of the largest habitat restoration project along the lower Columbia River to date. Salmon, lamprey, waterfowl, and many other species will benefit when a vast historic floodplain is reconnected to the Columbia River, providing fish with unobstructed passage to newly restored, high quality habitat in an area of the river where such habitat is lacking.
The Columbia River Salmon Fishery Policy Workgroup will hold a virtual public meeting later this month to continue its work reviewing the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission’s policy on salmon management in the Columbia River basin.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today that test results from samples taken from a juvenile elk in the Yakima herd confirmed the presence of elk hoof disease, known scientifically as treponeme-associated hoof disease (TAHD).
The Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management announced today the approval of a proposal to construct and operate the largest solar project in United States history.
If someone had told me a year ago, when I was planning to launch the new subscription-based Columbia Basin Bulletin, that in nine months the nation would be dealing with a pandemic striking a hard blow to the economy, I might have questioned the wisdom of the enterprise.
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross this week announced the allocation of $300 million in economic relief to U.S. fishermen and seafood industries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds were allocated as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, signed into law on March 27 by President Trump.
With fishing reopened under standard rules on May 5, following a statewide closure to help combat the spread of COVID-19, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reminds anglers that a number of emergency rules remain in effect for state waters.
The coronavirus pandemic response has reduced pollution from a large number of sources across many geographic regions. NOAA has launched a wide-ranging research effort to investigate the impact of reduced vehicle traffic, air travel, shipping, manufacturing and other activities on Earth’s atmosphere and oceans.
Idaho Fish and Game staff will conduct annual lake trout removal efforts between May 11 and May 29 in Upper Priest Lake. This netting program keeps non-native lake trout numbers low, reducing predation and competition on native fish like bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout.
Plastic pollution is an increasingly present threat to marine life and one which can potentially impact your dinner table.
The world’s oceans play a critical role in climate regulation, mitigation and adaptation and should be integrated into comprehensive “green new deal” proposals being promoted by elected officials and agency policymakers, a group of ocean scientists suggests in a new paper.
Dustin Shepherd of Lewiston, Idaho broke the most recent catch and release state record for smallmouth bass.
Two commercial fishermen fishing for carp last month in the Yakima River delta near Bateman Island reported catching what appear to be two alligator gars.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced this week it will reopen some recreational fishing and hunting in a phased approach following the state’s efforts to limit the spread of coronavirus. The department is asking hunters and anglers to enjoy these outdoor activities only if they can do so locally, while also practicing physical distancing.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Northern Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Fishery will not open on May 1, as originally planned. The fishery is tentatively scheduled to open May 11, for registered anglers with licenses to fish in the Columbia and Snake rivers, says the Bonneville Power Administration, which funds the program.
Last spring, communities across the Willamette Valley watched rivers and reservoirs swell rapidly as a tropical storm delivered historic late-season rainfall. And as some battled flooding — and others the threat of I — the reality was abundantly clear: We had more water than we could handle.
On April 22, the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Dillon watercraft inspection station intercepted a sailboat coming from Lake Pleasant, AZ, carrying invasive mussels. The boat owner was traveling north on Interstates 15 and 90 in route to northern Idaho. The sailboat was not launching in Montana.
On the evening of August 5, 2013, a startling event occurred deep in the remote interior of the United States’ largest national park. A half-kilometer-long tongue of Alaska’s Flat Creek glacier suddenly broke off, unleashing a torrent of ice and rock that rushed 11 kilometers down a rugged mountain valley into the wilderness encompassed by Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.
COVID-19 is requiring new solutions for fish and wildlife managers. One such solution is being implemented to help Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks continue providing recreation opportunities across the state.
Fishery collapses can be difficult to forecast and prevent due to hyperstability, a phenomenon where catch rates remain high even as fish abundance declines.
In March the Pacific Fishery Management Council approved the ad hoc Southern Resident Killer Whale Workgroup’s draft risk assessment. A final version, incorporating an executive summary and minor edits, is expected by June.
Washington’s wolf population continued to grow in 2019 as the minimum count of wolves reached their highest levels since wolves were essentially eliminated from the state in the 1930s.
Spring chinook season will open in Hells Canyon on April 25 from the Dug Bar boat ramp to the boundary below Hells Canyon Dam, said the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife this week.
As requested by county officials, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham, in consultation with California Fish and Game Commission President Eric Sklar, delayed the start of the trout opener in Alpine, Inyo and Mono counties.
Fresh grizzly bear tracks were confirmed by an Idaho Fish and Game conservation officer in the Fish Creek Meadows winter recreation area about 7 miles south of Grangeville on April 18, 2020.
Scientists have created a new database to help track the impacts of climate change on fish living in rivers, lakes and other inland waters throughout the world.
A Post Falls, Idaho man set a new Idaho catch/release record for bull trout, catching the monster while fishing the Kootenai River near Bonner’s Ferry on April 8.
A growing walleye population in Lake Pend Oreille poses a threat the lake’s ecosystem and multi-million dollar recreational fishery. Idaho Fish and Game biologists are concerned that if left unchecked, walleye numbers will continue to increase to the point of collapsing the keystone kokanee population, also hurting growth rates of trophy fish like rainbow trout, bull trout and smallmouth bass.
The California Fish and Game Commission Wednesday agreed to allowing state fisheries managers to temporarily close recreational fishing in areas where local officials request such action to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
Canada lynx are losing ground in Washington state, even as federal officials are taking steps to remove the species’ threatened status under the Endangered Species Act.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
