A bill designed to protect 126,500 acres of wilderness and put streams under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act has been before Congress for more than a decade. In December of 2023, it cleared a key Senate committee.
Tag: Conservation
Posted inPolicy Topics
Canada’s TransMountain pipeline is turning into the WPPSS of the Great White North
The woolly mammoth went extinct in North America thousands of years ago, but a great white elephant is going to ground in British Columbia.
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A reprieve for the Arctic Refuge: President Biden acts to protect lives and land alike
The Arctic Refuge is the largest single unit of public lands in the nation, spanning more than 19 million acres. The 1.5 million acres of the Coastal Plain, left open to development by Congress, is its heart and soul, calving ground for more than 100,000 animals of the Porcupine Caribou Herd.
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From pariahs to cultural icons: The Pacific Northwest has thankfully come to love orcas
Though they have been considered relatives by the region’s Coast Salish peoples since time immemorial, it wasn’t that long ago that orcas were viewed negatively by many non-indigenous Pacific Northwesterners. NPI contributor Joel Connelly recounts how much has changed in the last half century.
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Courageous young Montanans have just won an important legal victory for climate justice
“Plaintiffs have a fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment which includes climate as part of the environmental life support,” Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Kathy Seeley wrote in a groundbreaking opinion.
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Taxes yield investments in our future: Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff announces new National Park Service conservation projects
The projects announced by Emhoff are of particular importance to the Northern Rockies. The Park Service will go to work restoring sagebrush to Jackson Hole, in places once cleared by ranchers so they could grow hay.
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A victory for tree retention in Seattle: Luma the western red cedar won’t be cut down
Though initially uncooperative and resistant to appeals to protect the tree, Legacy, Rock House Builders (the property owner), and Bad Boyz GC (the contractor) have now agreed to leave Luma standing and modify their plans for the parcel.
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Alaska’s Republican-run state government is trying to get the unbuilt Pebble Mine revived
The mine proposal is the brainchild of Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty Minerals and its Pebble Limited Partnership. Two of the world’s largest mineral conglomerates, Anglo American and Rio Tinto, long ago pulled out.
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Must-read InvestigateWest story documents how Master Builders influenced the drafting of Seattle’s latest tree ordinance
Read NPI’s commentary on a lengthy expose published by InvestigateWest that documents how the Master Builders influenced the drafting and development of Seattle’s 2023 tree ordinance.
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The Earth is warning us of the consequences of continued climate inaction. Will we listen?
Consequences of climate damage have hit home this spring, from waters of the Atlantic Ocean to boreal forests of Alberta to the Mariana Islands of the Pacific Ocean. As our politicians fiddle with manufactured issues, the Earth burns.
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Scrapping the Alaska king salmon troll season will hurt fishing communities without helping our endangered southern resident orcas
A lawsuit that seeks to halt the southeast Alaska commercial salmon troll fishery has become a big topic of discussion in the Last Frontier and in the PNW’s fishing communities after a federal court judge recently ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, putting the upcoming fishing season in jeopardy.
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Washington’s DNR teams up with American Forests, City of Seattle to advance tree equity
The partnership, which will be known as the Washington Tree Equity Collaborative, “will engage cities, community organizations and stakeholders during the next three years to build rigorous and inclusive urban forestry programs,” the Department says. It will make use of American Forests’ Tree Equity Score, a tool freely available to the public that measures tree canopy cover in an increasing number of cities and towns along socioeconomic lines.
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Two-thirds of Seattle voters concerned about tree loss with housing density increasing
68% of 651 likely February 2023 special election voters interviewed from January 26th-30th for NPI by Change Research said they were concerned about tree and canopy loss, while 30% said they were not. Only 1% were not sure.
Posted inPolicy Topics
Biden-Harris administration reportedly plans to approve Willow oil drilling project in Alaska
Environmental groups have campaigned against what the Sierra Club has described as “a climate disaster waiting to happen.” A change.org petition opposing Willow had drawn 3.1 million signatures and an estimated 1.1 million unique letters have descended on the White House.