The public comment period ends next month on a federal proposal to nearly triple visitor fees to the nation’s most popular national parks. Those include Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks where visitors would pay $70 in peak months (up from $25) starting this May. Washington Senator Maria Cantwell convened a group of outdoor enthusiasts to make a case against the plan. Among the panel of speakers at Cantwell’s rally was Michelle Piñon, who introduced herself as a daughter of immigrants,

Gypsy moths are back in Washington State – with a vengeance. Officials at the Washington State Department of Agriculture say they’re evaluating options after the agency’s annual trapping program caught 117 of the invasive species this summer – the highest number in more than 20 years. It’s normal for Agriculture technicians to find one or two gypsy moths in those triangular cardboard traps you sometimes see on trees. “But one day we started having catches of like, eight, six, 14 in a trap, all

Washington’s Department of Ecology has a plan to spend nearly $113 million on cleaner transportation technologies. The money is part of the state’s settlement with Volkswagen after the German car manufacturer was caught installing illegal software on many of its diesel vehicles to cheat on emissions tests.

Over the past three months, KNKX has hosted a series of weekly interviews about the iconic waterway that includes Puget Sound and extends into British Columbia. Return to the Salish Sea took listeners to locations all around the shores of this shared ecosystem to hear from people who are deeply connected to it and concerned about its future.

A local wild-salmon advocacy group has filed a lawsuit against Cooke Aquaculture in U.S. District Court in Seattle. The Wild Fish Conservancy says the Canadian company must be held responsible for the collapse of its net pen in Deepwater Bay off Cyprus Island this summer.

The federal government’s latest special report on climate change directly contradicts the Trump administration’s policies. Hundreds of pages long, the report outlines the latest science and states that humans are the main cause of planetary warming.

The Salish Sea is home to more than three thousand species. Among them are 253 fish, 172 birds, 38 mammals and two reptiles.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is in Bonn, Germany, this week for the United Nations latest conference on climate change. He’s part of a panel of local leaders talking about sub-national strategies for meeting commitments made in the Paris agreement, even after the U.S. withdrawal.

If you trek to Mount Rainier National Park every summer to catch the spectacular display of wildflowers, take note: In the future, some flower species may bloom earlier while others could disappear altogether, according to a study from the University of Washington.

Environmental groups are declaring victory in two key races after initial ballot returns. The Washington Conservation Voters say their record spending is paying off, as the community came together to counteract the influence of spending by big oil interests.