Logo for news use featuring Snohomish County, Washington. 220118

Local News

Snohomish County gets over $1.8 million for the outdoors

Funding from the Great American Outdoors Act will help patch up roads and trails on the Mountain Loop…

A stretch of the dike that runs along Skagit Bay on Friday, May 13, 2022 in Stanwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Local News

If this dike fails, Stanwood goes underwater

The levee is over a hundred years old. And it shows. But efforts have lagged to fix it…

People can collect and dump trash at four sites in Everett on Saturday for the first Clean Everett Day. There are no fees for people to drop off garbage. (City of Everett)

Local News

Pick up trash, dump it for free on Clean Everett Day

People can join neighborhood efforts, or just grab garbage that’s piled up near them, and take it to…

Doug Ewing looks out over a small section of the Snohomish River that he has been keeping clean for the last ten years on Thursday, May 19, 2022, at the Oscar Hoover Water Access Site in Snohomish, Washington. Ewing scours the shorelines and dives into the depths of the river in search of trash left by visitors, and has removed 59 truckloads of litter from the quarter-mile stretch over the past decade. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)

Local News

Diving for trash in Snohomish River, biologist fills 59 pickup beds

At Thomas’ Eddy, Doug Ewing estimates he has collected 3,000 pounds of lead fishing weights. And that’s just…

Logo for news use featuring Snohomish County, Washington. 220118

Local News

A climate bill that died in Legislature lives on, in plans for future

A bill requiring cities and counties to cut greenhouse gases failed to pass, but they’re planning to do…

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Darrington in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118

Local News

Forest Service formulating big plan for Stillaguamish watershed

Three trails could be decommissioned. New ones could be built. And over 22,000 acres of trees could be…

A mature western hemlock affected by heat scorch in Olympia, photographed last July. (Washington State Department of Natural Resources) 20210700

Local News

Report: Record heat turned Washington’s evergreen trees red

“Desiccation” is a sign of climate change’s impact on forests. Damage was observed in the Cascade foothills of…

African clawed frog (Smithsonian National Zoo)

Northwest

Wildlife officials warn of invasive frogs in western Washington

Scientists reportedly have spotted African clawed frogs in Bothell, Issaquah and Lacey.

Opinion

Comment: Earth can heal itself but humans must do their part

In order for natural processes to clean up the earth, we have to stop making climate change worse.

Opinion

Comment: Even amid climate change harms, reason for optimism

We can either adapt or let climate change force adaptations on us, but we still have a choice.

Bikers ride down a hill into Lord Hill Park during their protest on Sunday, April 10, 2022 in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Local News

Bikes, horses, hikers: At Lord Hill Park, who gets priority?

Parks staff will soon unveil plans for the 1,400-acre trail network. Mountain bikers feel like “we didn’t get…

In this photo taken on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019, the Modular Offshore Grid with wind turbines as a background in the North Sea off of the Belgian coast. The Modular Offshore Grid is the first of its kind in Belgium and is of strategic importance for Belgium's further development of renewable energy in the North Sea. (Eric Herchaft, Pool Photo via AP)

Local News

Catching waves and wind: Clean energy search turns offshore

Marine energy has momentum in the Northwest. Up-front costs are high, but wind, wave and tidal energy are…

A nameless marsh near Granite Falls could one day be called Holland Marsh. (Chuck Holland)

Local News

Granite Falls marsh may be named for Everett college teacher

Andy Holland inspired generations of students to pursue forestry. Now his nephew wants to honor his legacy.

A site plan shows a new community solar array will be built on city property next to Walter E. Hall Park in south Everett. (Snohomish County PUD)

Local News

Solar array in south Everett will have energy to power 40 homes

The Snohomish County PUD project on Casino Road will serve low-income families — even on cloudy days.

Researchers and volunteers recently examined a dead gray whale found on a Camano Island beach. (Cascadia Research Collective) 20220411

Local News

Dead gray whale on Camano Island beach to stay put for months

The death is the latest in an ongoing unusual mortality event for gray whales. This one appeared to…

Speaking from the McLane Creek Nature Trail west of Olympia, Wash. on Wednesday, April 6,2022 Washington state Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz announces an inaugural carbon project which will be located in selected locations on state trust lands. Joined by regional tribal leaders, representatives from the carbon market industry along with the environmental community. Franz outlined the agency's goals that include offsetting carbon emissions while the preserving thousands of acres of Western Washington's more ecologically valuable forest land. (Steve Bloom/The Olympian via AP)

Opinion

Editorial: A price on carbon will keep forests saving climate

A new DNR program will use carbon-offset credits to preserve state forestland and bring in revenue.

In this photo made on Thursday, May 6, 2021, a 2021 Ford Mustang Mach E is seen as it is charging at a Ford dealer in Wexford, Pa.  Ford is spinning off its electric vehicles and internal combustion businesses into separate units. The automaker said Wednesday, March 2, 2022 that its plan includes two distinct, but strategically interdependent, auto businesses – Ford Blue and Ford Model e.(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Opinion

Editorial: Switch to electric cars making increasing sense

A state goal will require new car sales be for electrics by 2030, but many may want to…

Surfgrass Kelp Tongue Point (Bart Christiaen)

Local News

A scramble to save Puget Sound’s precious kelp and eelgrass

A new protection zone for marine vegetation in Snohomish County is a big first step toward future efforts.

A grey whale carcass found beached on the west side of Camano Island. (NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region)

Local News

Gray whale beached on Camano

Officials said they would perform a necropsy Saturday. The species is experiencing an “unusual mortality event.”

Brothers T101A “Rush” and T101B “Lagoon." (Ellie Sawyer/Maya’s Legacy/PWWA)

Northwest

70 killer whales seen in one day in Salish Sea

The sightings of the Bigg’s orcas set a record for the region ranging from Hood Canal to Vancouver…