Washington’s Department of Natural Resources will soon release a draft environmental impact statement on its long-term strategy for the marbled murrelet . But some conservation groups are crying foul. The marbled murrelet is an elusive seabird that’s listed as a threatened species under both federal and state law. It nests in old growth forests and DNR’s document outlines six options to help the bird survive . But the agency still needs to meet its constitutional mandate of generating revenue

Corrected on October 31, 2016 - An earlier version of this story incorrectly placed the Snake River dams in Idaho. They are in Southeast Washington. Some of the top whale researchers in the Pacific Northwest are calling on the federal government to breach four dams on the Lower Snake River in Southeast Washington. They say that’s the surest way to restore the Chinook salmon runs that endangered orcas primarily feed on. The Center for Whale Research says, as of Friday, there are only 80 of the

Day-old rice and stale bread might not sound like the ingredients in a fine meal. But King County is putting them in the spotlight Thursday evening for a feast of “food too good to waste.” The banquet will showcase things we most often toss into the trash or compost bin, but that with a bit of imagination can be used to make something good , such as a salad based on produce scraps. “Broccoli stem and cauliflower leaves quinoa salad,” says Karen May with King County’s Solid Waste Division, which

Washington farmers and food processors contribute more than $50 billion to the state’s economy, or about 12 percent of the economic activity overall. Eastern Washington is famous for crops such as apples, wheat and hops, that are exported all over the world. But nearly half of the state’s farms are smaller operations, located west of the Cascades. More than a thousand of them make their livelihoods working the fertile soil of the Skagit Valley, where a river of the same name provides water and

Efforts to restore and protect Puget Sound are getting a big boost from the Obama administration. Local advocates for that work have long argued that, as one of the nation’s largest and most iconic estuaries, Puget Sound is a national treasure and deserves protections on par with Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes. Now a federal task force has formed to prioritize the pressing need for salmon restoration in the Sound, due in large part to what officials say is a steadfast commitment to local

These days, the prospect of seeing the Pacific Northwest’s iconic orca whales in the wild attracts thousands of tourists annually to whale-watching boats or shore-side excursions. But it wasn’t that long ago that these majestic endangered creatures were seen as a menace.

The U.S. State Department is looking to an unlikely source for help in its efforts to combat international wildlife trafficking: a hackathon at the Woodland Park Zoo this weekend. Woodland Park is one of six zoos around the world simultaneously hosting the so-called “ Zoohackathons .” About 60 Seattle-area techies have signed up to spend 22 hours Saturday and Sunday creating an app, software program or other tool to help in the fight against wildlife trafficking.

The Shell Oil Company has pulled the plug on its plan to add an oil train facility to its Puget Sound Refinery in Anacortes. The company says global economic conditions no longer support the cost for the new equipment to unload and process Bakken crude from the Midwest. They had argued they needed oil trains to remain competitive with other refineries in the area that all take in oil by rail.

Federal biologists have indefinitely suspended a satellite tagging program to track endangered orca whales. The move comes after an expert panel concluded a fungal infection contributed to the death of a 20-year-old member of the L pod.

It’s often said that one of the most pressing issues of our time is climate change. Yet, even after years of discussion, Washington state still lacks a policy to limit the pollution that causes it. A recent clean air rule announced by the state Department of Ecology is not yet in effect and is already the subject of multiple lawsuits. So, despite its reputation as an environmentally progressive Ecotopia, the Evergreen State is left without a mechanism to reign in carbon emissions. Voters have a