Search Results

Editor’s note: The article in Sightline’s latest research updates email incorrectly stated that wolves were introduced to the region “less than two years ago.” That should have read “less than two decades ago.”   Last year was the first in which sport hunters were allowed to legally shoot the gray wolves that were first reintroduced to Montana and Idaho in the 1990s. The hunts made some locals feel as if...

There’s been a baby boom in the local orca population. Last year five orcas joined the pods that frequent Puget Sound and the waters around the San Juan and Gulf islands. And two more killer whales have been born so far in 2010. That brings the current number of southern resident killer whales to 89, and an official count of 87 for 2009 (orca calves aren’t officially tallied until they’ve...

Editor’s Note: Alex Steffen, the editor and cofounder of Worldchanging-a global network of independent journalists, designers and thinkers—sat down with writer Emily Knudsen to discuss some of the topics he’ll be covering in his upcoming talks at Town Hall. The first part of the interview discussed Worldchanging’s role in the sustainability movement. This second discusses what Seattle can do to become a more sustainable city. What can Seattle learn from...

Surely one of the most encouraging conservation stories in recent years has been the phenomenal revival of wild wolves in the Rockies. Less well-known is that wolves are also returning to Oregon and Washington. Their future on the West Coast, however, remains highly uncertain. While Oregon and Washington are more politically progressive than the wolf strongholds in the Rockies—Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming — the truth is that there is not much reason to...

Some good news for wolves in the west. As I reported in Tuesday’s Sightline Daily, there’s evidence that a second breeding pair of gray wolves has shown up in Washington State. Last summer, biologists confirmed the first wolf pack in Okanogan County—the first breeding pair to be found in the state since the 1930s. Another pair might now be residing in Pend Oreille County. With loaded claims coming from both...

Northwest endangered species have been generating a lot of ink lately. Rocky Mountain gray wolves are likely heading for de-listing. Meanwhile, Puget Sound’s orcas were recently added to the list. Even a recovery effort for a handful of rare rabbits made the news. There are plenty more examples, of course, but these species remind us that much of the region’s natural heritage relies on the protection afforded by federal laws. So it’s a...

A wolf. Or least a wolf hunting tag if you’re an Idaho resident.  Bad, right? Yes, but it’s not really as simple as it first appears. As you may already know, the federal government is preparing to remove Rocky Mountain wolves from the the Endangered Species Act, probably this year or next. (The re-introduced wolves have been exceeding recovery targets since 2002.) When “de-listing” occurs, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming will initiate a...

It seems that wolves are returning home to Oregon. A little more than a decade ago, Oregon was wolf-less, along with the rest of the American West, a legacy of government-sanctioned poisoning, trapping, and shooting to make the land safe for cows and sheep. [Here’s a cool animated map depicting our shrunken wolf range.] But then in the mid-1990s federal biologists reintroduced a few dozen wolves back into their native...

Here’s the deal: there’s a 3 foot long pink earthworm living in the Palouse region of Idaho and Washington and nowhere else on the planet. It can burrow 15 feet underground and it was re-discovered last year after scientists believed it had gone extinct. Also, it smells like a lily. At the risk of sounding unserious: awesome! Anyway, a small group of local conservation groups is petitioning to get the...

Cascadia has a wealth of astonishing and pristine natural places. It’s part of why residents here are so committed to this place. One measure of the Northwest’s bounty is the number of world heritage sites—natural and cultural places so unique that they are designated by the United Nations as the most important repositories of the planet’s ecological richness and humankind’s legacy. The boundaries of Cascadia include all or part of...