Puget Sound

On Friday, the Washington Superior Court sided with Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, LLC, and extended the deadline to safely harvest steelhead trout and remove equipment at the Rich Passage and Hope Island fish farm in Puget Sounds to April 14th...

The Washington snowpack is looking good for this time of year.   But good is not great.   Scott Pattee with NRCS Washington said December was a bit of a letdown after such as strong start to the snow year in November.   “Quite a bit less than it was last month.  But surprisingly, ...

The Washington State Department of Agriculture is preparing for another year of fighting Sprtina. This year’s treatment for Spartina starts Wednesday June 1st, and runs through November. Survey and eradication efforts of this aggressive, invasive weed, will take place in multiple areas, including Grays Harbor, Hood Canal, Willapa Bay, Puget Sound, the north and west sides of the Olympic Peninsul

Both Republicans and Democrats have initiated studies looking at removing the lower Snake River dams. One of the more high-profile studies is being supported by Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Washington’s senior senator Patty Murray. Dan ...

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will discuss the invasive European green crab, lower Columbia River white sturgeon, commercial shellfish regulation and much more during a virtual meeting slated for Thursday through Saturday ...

Eastern Washington’s Cathy McMorris Rodgers is urging both Governor Jay Inslee and the Department of Ecology to protect Chinook stocks located in the Puget Sound. The Spokane area Republican said the state has proposed a new general pollution permit allowing 58 sewage treatment plants to discharge into Puget Sound. "A ...

Nearly 50 potentially impacted organizations recently penned a letter to Idaho Representative Mike Simpson opposing his proposal to breach the four Snake River dams. Washington Grain Commission CEO Glen Squires said there are better ways to handle issues with salmon recovery, particularly since roughly 90-95% of the fish safely make it through the dam. ...

A water rights issue in Northwest Washington could have long-term and damaging impacts on the rights of farmers across the entire state, that according to Gerald Baron, Executive Director of Save Family Farming. The state Department of Ecology is currently moving toward the adjudication of water rights in the Nooksack Basin in Whatcom County ...

Representative Dan Newhouse said Friday’s release of the draft Environmental Impact Statement was just what the Ag community had been calling for; rely on the science. Newhouse said he appreciate the 3.5 years of scientific collaboration and research by a variety of federal agencies that led to last week’s conclusion. “Br ...

Those who support removing the four lower Snake River dams say those dams are hindering salmon, which in turn hurts Puget Sound orcas that feed on the salmon.  However, Todd Myers, Director of the Center for the Environment with the Washington Policy Center said there is no scientific evidence that removing those dams will help salmon, or any other wildlife that call the Snake home.  My... Read Mo