NEWS: CASCADIA

Salmon don't hit the headlines as often out here on the West Coast as they did in the 1980s and '90s, when they were being overfished. They ought to again, though, given what's now happening out in the Pacific Ocean and this region's rivers. Go to article.

When British Columbia's hake fleet sets off to trawl the deep ocean off the West Coast later this month, crews will be on alert for a strange, voracious squid that is invading the north Pacific. The Humboldt, or jumbo, squid is usually found off the coast of Mexico, but there is a heightened alert on the B.C. fishing grounds this year because the species has been making its way up the coast of North America, devastating hake stocks as it goes. Go to article.

Our mountains are our reservoirs. In Washington, as elsewhere in the American West, it’s axiomatic. A deep mountain snowpack equals plentiful downstream supplies of water for fish, irrigated crops, municipal drinking water and hydroelectric generators. But what if the mountains don’t deliver on schedule? What if persistent cool weather holds snow on Cascade Mountain peaks weeks longer than normal? And what if spring rainfall falls short? Go to article.

Many say the Pacific Northwest is the home of the environmental movement. It would be challenging to actually prove this claim, but the fact scholars and others think it suggests a lot about the power that the natural environment has had in shaping the culture of B.C., Washington and Oregon. Go to article.

Residents of the region have a subtle separatist streak, and a passion for outdoor activity. Go to article.

Idaho Fish and Game biologists try to unravel mystery behind shrinking Mountain Caribou population. Go to article.

The photo identification system helps track the whereabouts of the mysterious species half a world away Go to article.

You might have noticed a new term on wine labels ... it's called bio–dynamic. The technique involves planting with the cycles of the moon, making nettle teas to spray on the vines and burying animal parts in the field. More than a dozen Northwest wine makers have adopted the unusual farming style. But other growers are skeptical it will yield better wine. Go to article.

This "long-billed syndrome" has been recorded in about 160 birds by a Skagit County researcher, mostly in Western Washington and southern British Columbia and mostly since 2000. It's also documented in more than 2,100 birds in Alaska, where the phenomenon seems to have started affecting lots of birds in the early 1990s. Researchers say the weird beaks appear to be concentrated in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, although reports are coming in from farther south -- from Southern California in one case earlier this month. What's the cause? That remains a mystery. A small band of puzzled, poorly funded scientists is scrambling to find answers. Could it be chemicals? Something genetic? A disease? Maybe a combination? Go to article.

U.S. fisheries officials say a "bare bones" sport and commercial salmon fishing season is the best the West Coast can hope for this year. Fisheries managers say they've already been forced to cancel the early season for chinook salmon fishing off the coast of Oregon and northern California because of a collapse of stocks in California rivers. Go to article.

A federal appeals court panel is deciding a question pivotal to salvage logging: When is a tree dead? A lawsuit raising the question is pitting environmentalists against the U.S. Forest Service and could decide how the government is allowed to log old growth conifers burned by fire. Go to article.

Hundreds of trees blown down by winds exceeding 100 mph. Roads and campgrounds washed out by swollen rivers, leaving a foot-deep layer of silt and mud. On the backcountry trails, unknown scars to be repaired. Winter storms have battered the Pacific Northwest's national parks each of the past two years, with damages in the millions of dollars. After last year's massive repairs to Mount Rainier National Park, the latest victim is Olympic National Park, where craggy alpine peaks, forested lowlands and miles of Pacific coast offer visitors the trifecta of a wilderness experience. (AP) Go to article.