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OLYMPIA —The Washington State Department of Ecology has implemented new water quality rules to protect aquatic life from toxic chemicals, marking an update to the state’s environmental standards, recently. These changes are based on the latest scientific research and recommendations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Tribal governments, and aim to safeguard species like fish and invertebrates from harmful pollutants. The updated criteria set limits for 42 chemicals in both marine and freshwater environmen...
AWARDS Hickey elected to Hall of Fame CLEVELAND, Ohio — The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) announced its Hall of Fame class and former Eastern Washington University Associate Vice President/Athletic Director Lynn Hickey is among the 2024 inductees. Hickey is one of eight new members to the Hall of Fame and the group will be honored at the 59th Annual NACDA Affiliates Convention at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nev. on June 10. The NACDA announced its 2024 earlier this month. Hickey w...
TYLER - A wind turbine corporation has been acquiring land leases across southern Spokane County from the Tyler area to Fairfield. Over the last five months, Cordelio Development Holdings LLC of Toronto, Canada, has acquired 20 leases across southern Spokane, northern Whitman and eastern Lincoln Counties. The purchases include parcels near Cheney, Fairfield, Latah, Waverly and Tyler, according to county records. Details of some of the purchased tracts have yet to be made...
As climate change concerns grow, researchers are turning to family tree farmers for assistance. They have been helping for a century, but their efforts have gone unrecognized. The American Tree Farm program has emphasized sustainability and managing lands for water quality, wildlife, wood, and recreation. In recent years, it has included climate change. According to the American Forest Foundation, families and individuals collectively care for the largest portion of forests in the U.S., more than the government or...
As climate change concerns grow, researchers are turning to family tree farmers for assistance. They have been helping for a century, but their efforts go unrecognized. The American Tree Farm program has emphasized sustainability and managing lands for water quality, wildlife, wood and recreation. In recent years, it has included climate change. According to the American Forest Foundation, families and individuals collectively care for the largest portion of forests in the...
ROSALIA – The winds of change are blowing across the region, with multiple developers pushing for prime agricultural land to become home to wind turbines. And the push for the rural skyscrapers, which can rise to a height of more than 500 feet above the ground - the blades can reach to nearly 700 feet - has area residents, farmers and local leaders concerned the winds are blowing the wrong kind of change into their communities. Around the region, multiple companies are a...
In 1992, a single male sockeye salmon managed to swim 900 miles from the mouth of the Columbia River to Redfish Lake located deep in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains---the end of his migratory journey. Biologists dubbed the sole survivor, “Lonesome Larry.” By 2010, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council happily reported record-setting runs for sockeye —387,000 had climbed the fish ladders at Bonneville Dam. Last year, 751 sockeye were trapped at Redfish Lake Creek and taken t...
To supporters of the four Lower Snake River Dams, the latest news that President Biden continues to pursue dam breaching is not shocking, but surprising, considering the growing shortfall in electricity predicted in the western states and his desire to dramatically reduce carbon emissions. Biden’s March 21 announcement started another “Whac-A-Mole” game to determine the dams’ future. The news was reported in a Wall Street Journal commentary by Faith Bottum titled “Biden...
LIBERTY LAKE – Want to go fishing at one of the area lakes but don’t have a license? Well, this weekend you’re in luck as “Free Fishing Weekend” opens state waters for anglers who don’t have a license. But if you don’t have a license, be careful what you catch this Saturday and Sunday, June 10-11. Game wardens will be on the lookout for fishermen catching salmon, sturgeon and steelhead in Eastern Washington waters without a license. That’s because state bureaucrats in Olympia have changed the rules relating to Free Fishing...
CHENEY – Want to go fishing at one of the area lakes but don’t have a license? Well, this weekend you’re in luck as “Free Fishing Weekend” opens state waters for anglers who don’t have a license. But if you don’t have a license, be careful what you catch this Saturday and Sunday, June 10-11. Game wardens will be on the lookout for fishermen catching salmon, sturgeon and steelhead in Eastern Washington waters without a license. That’s because state bureaucrats in Olympia have changed the rules relating to Free Fishing Weekend...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Association of Wheat Growers is objecting to a biased report designed to push Democratic efforts to breach dams on the lower Snake River. In comments opposing the dam-breaching effort and one-sided report, Wheat Growers CEO Chandler Goule said the organization is concerned about the push by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Shoreline, and Gov. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island. “The dams play a vital role in providing a safe, efficient and affordable way for wheat farmers to get their product to mar...
TOPPENISH – The Yakama Nation has recognized two Democrats for their efforts to breach Snake River Dams. On Tuesday, Aug. 30, the tribe recognized U.S. Sen. Patty Murry and Gov. Jay Inslee in connection with a report on the feasibility of breaching the dams as a way to improve salmon and steelhead runs. “Sen. Murray and Gov. Inslee have seen that the salmon, steelhead and other anadromous fish of the Columbia Basin are in serious trouble. We appreciate their recognition that the status quo is not a responsible option if we...
Late summer of my 12th year delivered two life changing moments. The first was a brief and thrilling encounter with a mighty chinook salmon, whose massive form ascended the Skykomish river and bit the garden worm I was drifting for trout. The second occurred on the first day school when I witnessed the summer transformation of the girls I'd known since kindergarten. Like a mint bright chinook, the girls were suddenly mysterious and alluring, stunningly beautiful and...
WENATCHEE – Amid a record return of sockeye salmon to the Columbia River, sockeye fishing in Lake Wenatchee and the Wenatchee River is opening. As of July 22, more than 23,000 sockeye passed over Tumwater Dam on the Wenatchee River, state Department of Fish and Wildlife North-Central Fish Program Manager Chad Jackson said. Fishing in Lake Wenatchee will be open from July 28 through Aug. 31, with a daily limit of four sockeye (minimum size 12 inches). Anglers must release a...
I’ve loved fishing for over 60 years. Just as I’ve evolved as a human, so have the reasons why I enjoy the pursuit so much. In my youngest years, it was the excitement of just hooking and landing a fish. Later, it was successfully applying a growing body of skills and knowledge. More recently, I’ve loved putting others on fish they’ve been previously unable to catch or showing them a little something that will help them become better anglers. The one constant, however...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Eastern Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, helped get legislation approved by the U.S House of Representatives on Wednesday night that includes language to protect four Lower Snake River dams. “Salmon and dams can-and-do co-exist,” she said Thursday. “Study after study has shown the critical benefits the Lower Snake River dams provide to our region: affordable and reliable hydropower, low-emissions transportation of goods, and irrigation for farmers in Washington who feed the world....
Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray, both Democrats, issued a draft report which estimates that breaching the four lower Snake River dams and replacing their electricity and other benefits would cost between $10 and $27 billion. Meanwhile, the lone Idaho Republican, Congressman Mike Simpson, supporting dam removal---impoundments located in a neighboring state--is willing to pony up $33 billion tax dollars. That’s a lot of taxpayer money even today when President Biden and C...
Fishermen won’t need a license, vehicle pass or two-pole endorsement this coming weekend if they head to the water. That’s because Saturday and Sunday, June 11 and 12, are a “free fishing weekend.” The free weekend is required by the state law that also implemented Discover Pass vehicle access requirements. The free weekend coincides with National Get Outdoors Day on Saturday, June 11, and Free Fishing Day on Sunday, June 12. During both days in Washington state, fishermen are not required to have a license to fish. Nor are...
Gov. Jay Inslee and Senator Patty Murray have their priorities backward when it comes to rebuilding Snake River salmon and steelhead runs. Instead of focusing on ripping out dams with fish passages and navigation locks, they should find ways to reopen traditional spawning areas up river which are blocked by dams without fish ladders. Breaching Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams is costly and counterproductive. Over the last 30 years, northwest...
Washington Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee announced in October, they’ll listen to diverse viewpoints with open minds to recover salmon and potentially breach the four Lower Snake River dams. Their focus on restoring Snake River salmon and steelhead runs is too limited. It needs to be expanded to cover the entire Snake River drainage. Currently, the four lower dams---all in Washington---are targeted to determine if they should be torn down to improve ocean-going fish r...
Washington Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee announced in October, they’ll listen to diverse viewpoints with open minds to recover salmon and potentially breach the four Lower Snake River dams. Their focus on restoring Snake River salmon and steelhead runs is too limited. It needs to be expanded to cover the entire Snake River drainage. Currently, the four lower dams---all in Washington---are targeted to determine if they should be torn down to improve ocean-going fish r...
Increasing river flows to wash young salmon to sea works; however, once water goes down stream, it is gone. What if we could recycle it in key parts of the Columbia River system allowing us to increase electricity generation as well? The Columbia River and its tributaries offer enormous potential for innovation. Power planners are looking for new ways to increase electricity output while providing sufficient water for migrating salmon and steelhead. The good news is we are...
Sept. 1, 1945 - Oct. 10, 2021 Carol Louise Petersen was born in Wallace, Idaho and after living for a short time in Davenport and Sprague Wash., returned to Wallace to graduate in 1963. After graduation she worked at the Idaho First National Bank where she met her future husband Larry Petersen, a teacher at Wallace High School. She had her first son, Sam, while living in Wallace and in 1967 she and Larry moved to Medical Lake where they had their next two sons Ben and Joe.... Full story
A while back I received a phone call that turned out to be a wrong number. The person calling didn’t have access to the phone book in our area, so I looked up the number for them. After I was done, I started flipping through the North Central Washington phone book and found some trivial points of interest I was surprised to see. I found a list of the Washington symbols. Many of them I already knew. For instance, I knew Washington is the only state named after a president. Its flower is the Rhododendron, and the bird is the Go...
As climate change concerns grow, researchers are turning to small tree farmers for help. Actually, they have been helping for nearly a century, but their efforts have largely gone unrecognized. For decades, the American Tree Farm program has emphasized sustainability and managing lands for water quality, wildlife, wood and recreation. Now, it is adding climate change. According to the American Forest Foundation, families and individuals collectively care for the largest...
