Tony Schick
Despite Biden’s Promise to Protect Old Forests, His Administration Keeps Approving Plans to Cut Them Down
In Oregon’s Coast Range, mature forests can absorb more carbon per acre than almost any other on the planet. Yet logging here continues at a steady pace, putting the environment at risk.
The Department of Energy Promised This Tribal Nation a $32 Million Solar Grant. It’s Nearly Impossible to Access.
Washington’s Yakama Nation received both the grant and a $100 million federal loan. Held up by a series of bureaucratic hurdles, the funding could expire before the government lets the tribal nation touch a dime.
The Federal Government Just Acknowledged the Harm Its Dams Have Caused Tribes. Here’s What It Left Out.
The Biden administration said officials historically gave “little, if any, consideration” to impacts on tribal fishing. But some sought deliberately to upend the harvest, according to documents obtained by ProPublica and Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Oregon’s Drug Decriminalization Aimed to Make Cops a Gateway to Rehab, Not Jail. State Leaders Failed to Make It Work.
Just over three years since Oregon voters passed Ballot Measure 110, elected officials want to repeal key elements, blaming the law for open drug use and soaring overdoses. But it’s their own hands-off approach that isn’t working, advocates say.
In a Major Shift, Northwest Tribes — not U.S. Officials — Will Control Salmon Recovery Funds
The Biden administration punted on key demands from Indigenous leaders to tear down hydroelectric dams hindering salmon. But tribes won control over $1 billion for other salmon efforts.
9 Times the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Miscalculated Badly at the Expense of Taxpayers, Wildlife
The agency has a history of diving into big construction projects that exceed projected costs, fall short on projected benefits and, in some cases, create new problems that engineers hadn’t bargained for.
This Billion-Dollar Plan to Save Salmon Depends on a Giant Fish Vacuum
Many endorse opening dams and letting fish coast the natural current as the best way to avoid extinction. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has other ideas.
Biden Administration Commits $200 Million to Help Reintroduce Salmon in Columbia River
Dams had blocked salmon’s passage, driving them toward extinction and violating tribal fishing rights. The money will fully fund Native tribes’ plans to bring fish back to the region.
The Federal Government Is Finally Increasing Funding for Salmon Hatcheries. Tribes Say It’s Not Enough.
Columbia River salmon hatcheries need billions of dollars’ worth of upgrades to withstand climate change. They’re getting $50 million.
The Fight of the Salmon People
Randy Settler’s family has spent generations fighting for their right to harvest salmon. But the federal government squandered its chance to recover the endangered fish before the onset of climate change. Now, Settler sees it all slipping away again.
Salmon People: A Native Fishing Family’s Fight to Preserve a Way of Life
This documentary film features the plight of the salmon of the Columbia River and the Native people whose lives revolve around them.
Toxic Salmon Reporting “Deeply Troubling,” Lawmaker Says, Demanding Changes to Protect Pacific Northwest Tribal Health
Citing a ProPublica and Oregon Public Broadcasting investigation into toxic contamination in salmon, state and federal lawmakers across the Pacific Northwest are calling for policy changes and more funding but are lacking details on next steps.
The U.S. Promised Tribes They Would Always Have Fish, but the Fish They Have Pose Toxic Risks
For decades, the U.S. government has failed to test for chemicals and metals in fish. So, we did. What we found was alarming for tribes.
The Racism, and Resilience, Behind Today’s Salmon Crisis
Salmon have been endangered my entire life. Here’s what I didn’t realize until I started reporting.
How a Federal Agency Is Contributing to Salmon’s Decline in the Northwest
Damming the powerful waters of the Columbia River was a boon for cheap, clean electricity. But the fish that swam those waters are dying out. And the agency in charge isn’t stopping that.
The U.S. Has Spent More Than $2 Billion on a Plan to Save Salmon. The Fish Are Vanishing Anyway.
The U.S. government promised Native tribes in the Pacific Northwest that they could keep fishing as they’d always done. But instead of preserving wild salmon, it propped up a failing system of hatcheries. Now, that system is falling apart.
Help Us Understand Pacific Northwest Salmon and Treaty Rights
Dozens of people have told us about the decline of wild fish in the Columbia River and the U.S. government’s failure to uphold treaty rights. Now, we’re interested in hearing from you.
Tax-Funded Forest Institute in Oregon Misled Public, May Have Broken State Law, Audit Finds
State auditors found that an agency intended to educate the public about forestry presented biased information favoring the timber industry and possibly violated state law. The audit was prompted by our investigation last year into the agency.
Oregon Lawmakers Set Out to Increase the Timber Industry’s Tax Bill. Instead, They Cut It Again.
Legislators cut taxes for the owners of Oregon’s private forests, money that helped fund university forest scientists. Now taxpayers will pick up the tab.
Oregon House Moves to Curb Forest Institute’s Power and Budget
After our investigation found that a tax-funded institute acted as a lobbying arm for the timber industry, Oregon lawmakers passed a bill that would significantly cut the institute’s funding and redirect the money to climate science.
