#iamthewest: Giving voice to the people that make up communities in the region.
Washington
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 inArticles
A billion-dollar ICE contractor is fighting to pay detainees as little as $1 a day
GEO Group, whose stock is valued at $4 billion, says that state minimum wage laws don’t apply to work migrants perform where they’re detained.
Posted inMay 2025: The Art of the Cruise
Losing more than a Forest Service job
Trail work, though underappreciated, made for a life well-lived in the woods.
Posted inMarch 2025: The Berry Pickers
‘Rights of nature’ laws take root in the West
Thanks to voters in Everett, Washington, the Snohomish River watershed now has legal standing.
Posted inFebruary 2025: Immigrant Stories
The power of prescribed fire
A wildfire journalist steps behind the drip torch.
Posted inArticles
Pay wildland firefighters a living wage
To reimagine our relationship with wildfire, we must recognize the real value of federal wildland firefighters — and compensate them accordingly.
Posted inArticles
The American Climate Corps fades away
After just 8 months, Biden’s green jobs program shut down before Trump took office. What did it do?
Posted inJanuary 2025: The West's Most Wanted
Felonious furries, bunches of bats, a coyote commune and pumpkin paddlers
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
2024’s biggest conservation wins for the West
There were glimmers of good news across the region, from restored habitats to growing wildlife populations.
Posted inDecember 2024: Land as Reparations
Get to know the Pacific brant
Tech advances are transforming knowledge and conservation of North America’s favorite goose.
Posted inDecember 2024: Land as Reparations
Raccoons rampage, kangaroos cavort, and ‘art bombing’ hits Oregon
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
Washington voters stand up for climate action
The state’s landmark climate law survived a repeal effort — and has raised billions of dollars. Here’s where that money is going.
Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie
Your lawn could host an endangered ecosystem
In the effort to restore the Palouse Prairie, no project is too small.
Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie
Tolt River Dam false alarms prompt worry and distrust
The town of Carnation has declared a state of emergency and is threatening dam managers with a lawsuit.
Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie
In Washington’s Yakima Valley, quinceañeras connect people and place
Teens are making the tradition their own with high-top sneakers, glowing dresses and Tiktok dances.
Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie
Is a farm that hosts weddings still a farm?
Agritourism divides a rural Washington county.
Posted inArticles
A lens on the Latino vote in Yakima, Washington
Organizers work to get out the vote within the diverse Latino population in the Yakima Valley.
Posted inArticles
In rural Washington, a ‘constitutional sheriff’ and his growing volunteer posse provoke controversy
Where some see a ‘rural neighborhood watch’ that saves money, others worry about liability and ties to extremism.