Blog Archives for Washington

By Bethanie Walder - December 21, 2009    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Dec. 21, 2009 Future gets brighter for state's aging national forest roads OLYMPIA - Congress and the Obama administration are responding with on-the-ground results in response to appeals by a coalition of conservation groups and the state Departments of Ecology and Fish & Wildlife. Federal action is now occurring to repair and reclaim crumbling national forest roads in Washington state that have been harming endangered salmon and clean water.

By Bethanie Walder - October 7, 2009    I spent the last two days at the Western Governor’s Association (WGA) Wildlife Council (WGWC) meeting in Helena.  The meeting focused on progress toward implementing a resolution for improving wildlife connectivity and linkage zones across the western states.

By cathy - April 20, 2009    ORV proponents say they are being denied the right to enjoy their property...but ORV opponents are claiming the same thing...what happens when two opposing views use the same argument to support their position? That is what might unfold tomorrow when Yakima County commissioners take up a controversial proposal on ORVs that would allow their use virtually throughout Yakima County without regulation.

By Bethanie Walder - March 18, 2009    The Pacific Northwest Region of the Forest Service has posted a draft report documenting what they accomplished with the $8.4 million dollars they received from the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative (Legacy Roads) in fiscal year 2008. 

By Josh Hurd - February 19, 2009    The Puget Sound has been at the forefront of restoration. A recent report, "Action Agenda: Financing Strategy -- Estimates of Spending Related to Puget Sound," released by the Puget Sound Partnership, shows the complicated funding situation that projects such as this face. According to the report:

By Bethanie Walder - August 7, 2008    The Kitsap Sun published a great article Saturday about road removal and other watershed restoration efforts in the Skokomish watershed in Washington. The opening line in the article reads as follows:     "The Skokomish River is sick, experts say, and intensive care is needed for any hope of recovery."

By Bethanie Walder - April 2, 2008    The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife conducted a lengthy investigation to determine who some of the primary responsible parties were in an ORV trespass incident that ruined a meadow and affected an irrigation district near Wenatchee, WA. Felony charges were filed against six different people and one, who pleaded guilty was sentenced to 22 months in prison for the damage he caused to the area.

By Bethanie Walder - November 26, 2007   

By Josh Hurd - August 24, 2007    A victory for restoration yesterday when District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez ruled that the state of Washington must fix hundreds of culverts that hinder the passage of salmon. The case rests on an 1850s-era treaty that gave the area tribes the right to subsistence use of the salmon. From the Seattle PI: