An AI server farm tsunami threatens to overwhelm the West’s power grid and water supplies.
Oregon
Posted inArticles
After Trump cuts, seeds sit in the warehouse
Western groups lose federal grants for urgent restoration and conservation projects.
Posted inOctober 2025: Limits to Growth
Watching the Oregon ash vanish
The emerald ash borer is killing the native tree. How do we make the most of the time while it’s still here?
Posted inOctober 2025: Limits to Growth
Loopy lagomorphs, warning off wolves, the best of Buddys and diminutive dinosaurs
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inDecember 2025: Wild Harvest
He makes bows — and bow makers
Joshua Hood is decolonizing traditional bow-making and archery education from his Portland backyard.
Posted inArticles
Invasive fruit fly hits the Yakama Nation’s huckleberry fields
Students from Heritage University and Northwest Indian College were the first to document the presence of the spotted wing drosophila on the Yakama Nation Reservation — a first step to help eradicate it on tribal land.
Posted inArticles
Wildfire is a growing threat to the West’s water systems
How fire and water managers can prepare.
Posted inAugust 2025: Fire Culture
A hotshot’s search for belonging among the flames
A wildland firefighter reckons with the male-dominated culture found on the fireline.
Posted inAugust 2025: Fire Culture
911’s hidden emergency
A former firefighter makes the case for community paramedicine in the age of climate change.
Posted inArticles
An Oregon law tries to tackle garbage gases
Surveys of U.S. landfills showed emission rates were, on average, 40% higher than reported.
Posted inAugust 2025: Fire Culture
The West’s data centers suck (water and power)
From simple searches to chatGPT, the big digital buildup threatens the grid and water supplies.
Posted inArticles
In stressful times, what do the plants and animals have to say?
The time-honored tradition of humans looking to the natural world can help us survive difficult times.
Posted inArticles
Trump quits deal with Northwest tribes to restore salmon
The plan to remove four hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River Basin that blocks the free flow of salmon was canceled.
Posted inJune 2025: The Promised Land
Where the garbage goes
Amid massive rollbacks of federal environmental protections, a community battling the expansion of a local landfill seeks to safeguard its own backyard – and everyone else’s.
Posted inJune 2025: The Promised Land
Sea otters to get another chance in Oregon and Northern California
The Siletz Tribe received a $1.56 million grant to reintroduce Xvlh-t’vsh.
Posted inIssues
Nutritious nutria, hammock headgear, famous fungi and a juvenile giraffe
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inApril 2025: A Monumental Reckoning
In a house of spirits, learning to settle
Making a home is a journey across time and space.
Posted inApril 2025: A Monumental Reckoning
Bigfoot hits the bigtime, America’s Next Top Baby Zoo Animal, and the magic bus miracle
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inMarch 2025: The Berry Pickers
A renewable diesel plant may put the Columbia River at risk
Farmers, tribes and environmental advocates in rural Oregon raise alarms about the empty promises of biofuels.
Posted inFebruary 2025: Immigrant Stories
Orcas à la mode, totally tubular sea pickles and bloodthirsty squirrels
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.