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Conservationists ask governor to preserve more of Western state forests as landmark plan stalls
As officials at state and federal agencies attempt to wrap up the landmark Western Oregon State Forests Habitat Conservation Plan, stakeholders are issuing new demands and asking for final tweaks that could delay the already overdue plan into 2025. Conservationists say at stake are the fate of 17 threatened species and thousands of acres that […]
EPA moves on petition from West Coast tribes to investigate tire toxin linked to fish deaths
For several decades, many coho salmon returning to waterways around Seattle to spawn have died mysteriously following heavy rains. In some urban streams, nearly all of the coho returning from the ocean died. It wasn’t until 2021 that scientists figured out what was behind what they called “urban runoff mortality syndrome,” and it was not […]
Hundreds of fruit packers in Washington and Oregon vote on union membership this week
More than 350 apple, pear and cherry packers at three facilities in Washington and Oregon will decide this week whether to unionize. It’s among the first and largest unionization efforts among fruit packers in the region in years, according to Kristina Storm, director of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 3000, the union that employees […]
Oregon water officials say permitting must change to keep tens of thousands of wells from going dry
The Oregon Water Resources Department must update its 68-year-old rules for permitting new wells or double down on regulating existing ones, department officials said. If it doesn’t, the growing problem of the state’s depleted groundwater reserves “is going to get very expensive,” said department director Doug Woodcock. Many of Oregon’s 20 groundwater basins are being […]
State lawmakers say they met Portland school demands for money as teachers strike
State Democratic leaders say they’ve given educators, including Portland Public Schools, the money they asked for and that it will be up to the administration and unions to figure out how to use the money to meet demands of striking Portland teachers. At a news conference on the fourth day of the Portland Public Schools’ […]
Klamath Dam removal will lower risk of fish die-offs, scientists say
Among the benefits to Klamath Basin fish following the largest dam removal project in the world will be fewer mass die-offs from parasites and bacteria, scientists say. A team of researchers, led by Oregon State University fish parasitologist Sascha Hallett and Michael Belchik, a fisheries biologist with the Yurok Tribe in California, found that removing […]
Port of Morrow will pay $2 million to clean up dirty drinking water in state settlement
The Port of Morrow will send nearly $2 million to the Oregon Health Authority to support clean drinking water efforts in northeast Oregon, and pay nearly half a million dollars to the state treasury following record penalties for years of groundwater pollution. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality announced the settlement with the state’s second […]
Oregon state officials urge Portland Public Schools, educators to reach a deal to end strike
With Portland Public Schools teachers striking for the first time in history, Oregon’s top elected officials urged the union and district leaders to bargain in good faith. The strike started on Wednesday, with about 3,500 teachers joining the work stoppage in the state’s largest school district, serving more than 40,000 students. Educators are on strike […]
Court case on fate of Snake River dams, imperiled salmon postponed at least 45 more days
Parties to a lawsuit challenging the federal government over its plans to continue operating dams on the Snake River at the expense of salmon runs asked a federal court in Oregon for more time to negotiate with one another. A coalition of conservation groups represented by the nonprofit environmental law organization Earthjustice, with support from […]
Officials tell public newly approved Northwest hydrogen hub will produce jobs, economic benefits
Officials behind a new $1 billion hydrogen hub in the Northwest are now wading into discussions to shape the project. Leaders from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and representatives from the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Association, a consortium of private and public entities behind the region’s hydrogen hub, held their first […]
Southern Oregon dam operators now face water pollution fines on top of millions for fish kills
The operators of a southern Oregon dam and the company that repaired it face additional fines for violating state permits and polluting the North Umpqua River near Roseburg. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality fined the Winchester Water Control District and the foundation repair company TerraFirma on Thursday more than $134,000 for violating a key […]
Student absenteeism high as Oregon districts attempt to normalize going to school every day
Oregon students appear to be making some progress, but state and local education leaders are concerned about high absentee rates amid new data showing a sharp decline in regular school attendance among Oregon students since the pandemic. The number of Oregon kids regularly attending school last year dropped by nearly 20 percentage points from pre-pandemic […]