Environment Oregon

The Willamette River, whose citizen-led cleanup in the 1960s inspired the nation to reclaim its waterways, has become so tainted by sewage and industrial waste that it faces being listed as a federal Superfund site--the roster of the country's most polluted places. The Environmental Protection Agency's Northwest region this week said it would recommend federal cleanup along a 5.

A federal judge threw out a regulation that protected coho salmon spawned in the Oregon wild but not those raised in hatcheries, saying it didn't make sense to distinguish between the two. District Judge Michael J. Hogan said the National Marine Fisheries Service was arbitrary and capricious in 1998 when it put Oregon coastal coho born in the wild onto the threatened species list without extending the same protection to those from hatcheries.

In an attempt to prevent further damage to a once pristine stretch of coast, salvage crews began pumping fuel oil from a grounded freighter into storage tanks on a Coos Bay, Ore., beach. The operation was expected to continue until early this morning. The salvage effort has been plagued by bad weather, broken equipment and environmentally costly delays since the New Carissa grounded Feb. 4 and began leaking oil.

Federal irrigation officials in the drought-parched Klamath Basin worked out a deal Wednesday to buy a little more water for a wildlife refuge that is the winter home to hundreds of threatened bald eagles. Working through a court-ordered mediation process seeking long-range solutions to the basin's water crisis, the U.S.

Twelve Roman Catholic bishops in the Pacific Northwest called Thursday for environmental stewardship in the Columbia River watershed, saying environmentalists and business interests need to work together to protect the common good of the region. The bishops from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia issued the pastoral letter after four years of study.

The federal government issued new rules on Tuesday to protect West Coast salmon and steelhead, but even before they were made official, the new regulations had a full spectrum of critics. The new rules clarify restrictions on land and water use in order to protect 14 different species of endangered fish. Previously, actions that might harm those fish were reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Property rights advocates say the rules go too far in their attempt to protect the fish.

The federal government has released its long-awaited plan for saving Columbia Basin salmon from extinction, calling it the biggest ecosystem restoration project since the Northern spotted owl. However, Native American tribes and environmentalists said the plan, announced in Portland, fell far short of what is needed. There is a 60-day public comment period before the plan can become final.

The Clinton administration, as expected, declared a California run of coho salmon threatened Friday but declined to offer the same status to part of Oregon's dwindling coho population, letting the state adopt its own protection plan. The decision in Oregon, delayed more than two years, is headed for a court battle with environmentalists and fishing groups, who say the coastal coho runs of central and northern Oregon are on the brink of extinction. The Oregon plan relies on voluntary efforts.

Some 200 million years ago, the Pacific sea floor shoved itself beneath the coastal plate, leaving exposed a primeval ocean under a crust of magnesium and iron. Rough shrubs grew. Over the years, hardy cedar and spruce pushed down roots. Today, the serpentine slopes and forested valleys of the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon are a rare window into the ancient past. Some wildflower and tree species trace their roots back further than anything in the U.S. West.

A grounded cargo ship that had been set ablaze to prevent a disastrous oil spill broke apart, but the strategy appeared to be working Friday, with most of the fuel being consumed before it could reach the shoreline. "We did the right thing," said Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Gene Maestas. "By burning the oil, we prevented it from spilling into the ocean." Coast Guard Capt. Mike Hall added: "Every gallon that is burned means one less gallon in the environment and the coastal habitat."

Twelve Roman Catholic bishops in the Pacific Northwest called Thursday for environmental stewardship in the Columbia River watershed, saying environmentalists and business interests need to work together to protect the common good of the region. The bishops from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia issued the pastoral letter after four years of study.

Some 200 million years ago, the Pacific sea floor shoved itself beneath the coastal plate, leaving exposed a primeval ocean under a crust of magnesium and iron. Rough shrubs grew. Over the years, hardy cedar and spruce pushed down roots. Today, the serpentine slopes and forested valleys of the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon are a rare window into the ancient past. Some wildflower and tree species trace their roots back further than anything in the U.S. West.

In a landmark--though mostly symbolic--deal announced Thursday, a Northern California conservation group has sold the air-cleansing capacity of trees on 5,000 acres to a Texas energy company. The aim of the sale is to help deter global warming and to win some public relations points for clean energy and old-growth forests. In the deal, Pacific Forest Trust, based in Santa Rosa, sold $6,000 worth of "carbon emissions reduction credits" to Green Mountain Energy Co.

Helped by $5 million from the Internet community, the Nature Conservancy has bought a large chunk of a prairie ecosystem that once stretched across the Northwest. The conservancy paid $11.7 million for the 27,000-acre Camp Creek Ranch, which represents almost 20% of the Zumwalt prairie. The bunch grass prairie covers 146,000 acres overall--more than one-fifth the size of Rhode Island--and is home to one of the nation's densest concentrations of nesting birds of prey.

Californians are paying for environmentalism--and smoked salmon--in ways they might never have suspected: through higher energy bills. Environmentalists who oppose the Northwest hydroelectric system of dams, reservoirs and powerhouses because it impedes migratory salmon have succeeded in forcing dam operators to scale back operations. That has worked to reduce the supply--and increase the cost--of hydroelectricity in the Northwest and by extension in California, where much of it is sold.

The federal government has released its long-awaited plan for saving Columbia Basin salmon from extinction, calling it the biggest ecosystem restoration project since the Northern spotted owl. However, Native American tribes and environmentalists said the plan, announced in Portland, fell far short of what is needed. There is a 60-day public comment period before the plan can become final.

Missing: about 24,000 gray whales. They were supposed to have shown up by now along the Oregon coast on their annual migration from the Bering Sea to their calving lagoons on Mexico's Baja Peninsula. But as of this week, not one has been sighted. "In the past, the whales have begun to show up around the first week of December, certainly by the 10th," said Bruce Mate, an Oregon State University professor and marine mammal specialist. "We've never seen a migration this late."

In a victory for environmentalists, the government agreed to pay a timber company $475,000 not to cut trees in an Oregon national forest where dozens of anti-logging protesters have been arrested. "We think this is a creative solution that will contribute to solving a contentious situation," Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said in announcing the deal. Environmentalists had filed a lawsuit seeking to block logging of the Warner Creek salvage sale in western Oregon. But the U.S.

The federal government issued new rules on Tuesday to protect West Coast salmon and steelhead, but even before they were made official, the new regulations had a full spectrum of critics. The new rules clarify restrictions on land and water use in order to protect 14 different species of endangered fish. Previously, actions that might harm those fish were reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Property rights advocates say the rules go too far in their attempt to protect the fish.

The Willamette River, whose citizen-led cleanup in the 1960s inspired the nation to reclaim its waterways, has become so tainted by sewage and industrial waste that it faces being listed as a federal Superfund site--the roster of the country's most polluted places. The Environmental Protection Agency's Northwest region this week said it would recommend federal cleanup along a 5.