A writer finds camaraderie and despair inside the Oregon standoff.
Northwest
Posted inArticles
Livestream from the Oregon occupation
The remaining occupiers and their supporters speak live as FBI closes in on the Malheur wildlife refuge.
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On the Klamath, a surprising win for river advocates
Dam removals on the Oregon-California border move forward without water deals for irrigators.
Posted inFebruary 2, 2016: Sagebrush Insurgency
Hope fades for Klamath River accords
Could the breakdown of the landmark water agreement imperil other collaborative deals?
Posted inFebruary 2, 2016: Sagebrush Insurgency
In Washington, activists and the ‘necessity defense’ on trial
The ‘Delta 5’ made a legal and moral case for their actions, with mixed results.
Posted inFebruary 2, 2016: Sagebrush Insurgency
Sugar Pine Mine, the other standoff
How a small-time mining dispute in Oregon readied a network of militias for the Malheur occupation.
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Authorities closing in on Oregon’s Malheur occupation
FBI calls for removal of occupiers following eight arrests and the death of one man late Tuesday.
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Dispatch from Blockadia
Where enviros are uniting with social justice and tribal rights activists in the Northwest to stop new fossil fuel development.
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Climate change triggers triage in Northwest forests
Siuslaw National Forest managers must decide whether to save meadows or let trees encroach.
Posted inDecember 21, 2015: Secrets of the Deep
Searching for the good fight in the Nez Perce War
A review of William T. Vollmann’s “The Dying Grass”
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Range riders track wolves in eastern Washington
Wolf-livestock conflicts have increased, and ranchers and environmentalists are gathering data to mitigate the clashes.
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Oregon delists wolves, but protections remain
As in Washington, reactions to the predator reflect deep east-west divides in the state.
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Raw manure, public water and a failed crackdown: the case of Snydar Farm
Washington’s Dept. of Ecology appears hesitant and often barred from regulating agriculture.
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How do you sex a beaver? Squeeze and sniff
Unlocking the secrets of rodent scent glands could help restore Western watersheds.
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Contaminated soil lingers where apples once grew in Washington
Soil at hundreds of properties contains lead and arsenic that can lower children’s IQs and increase cancer risk.
Posted inOctober 26, 2015: Clean Energy's Dirty Secret
Washington welcomes wolves back — across deep political divides
The state’s emphasis on non-lethal control is saving livestock and wolves, but rural residents are still leery.
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Inside the transient world of mushroom pickers
People spend months scouring forest floors for money-making fungi in the Pacific Northwest.
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Washington state sues feds over worker safety at Hanford
A watchdog group also filed, citing ‘toxic roulette’ for workers at the former nuclear facility.
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Invasive crayfish in Oregon devastate native newts
At Crater Lake, the National Park Service is seeking solutions — but it could be too late.
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Dispatch from a medic on the North Star Fire in Washington
What base camp and wildfire look like from one firefighter’s perspective.