By Kelly House
The Oregonian/OregonLive
Wolves in Oregon continued to recover last year, bringing the number of known wolves in the state to 77.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on Tuesday released numbers from its annual wolf count, conducted at the end of each year. At last count, in early 2014, there were 64 wolves in Oregon. The number has been climbing yearly since the apex predators crossed into Oregon from Northeastern Idaho in the mid-2000s. The animal’s continued wolf recovery opens up new questions about whether existing protections for the animals should continue. Gray wolves are listed under the state’s Endangered Species Act, but that listing is under review.
If the six new oil terminals proposed for Washington state gain approval, three of them will land in the same small coastal town. Earthfix’s Ashley Ahearn interviewed the residents of Grays Harbor, a coastal bay 50 miles north of the Columbia, to hear their thoughts on the town’s potential transition into oil transport hub. Their responses range from cautious optimism to vehement opposition.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is poised to acquire 10,000 acres in Wasco County, completing an uninterrupted 25,000-acre swath of wild and public lands that includes critical oak habitat. The agency is working with the Trust for Public Land to buy the property, a large swath in the Lower Deschutes River Canyon known as Lower Deschutes River Ranch. A public meeting Thursday in The Dalles will include more information.
Two air quality monitoring stations in Portland provide two very different pictures of how the city is doing on pollution. If you only view data from the station near Dee Johnson’s house on Southeast Lafayette Street, you’re likely to feel relief. The station, which monitors EPA criteria pollutants including carbon monoxide and particulate matter, shows a steady improvement in air quality since the 1980s. The station near the intersection of North Emerson Street and Williams Avenue, tells a different story. Air toxics, a broad category of cancer-causing pollutants that aren’t strictly regulated by the EPA, are a problem in Portland. Some residents say Oregon lawmakers and regulators should be doing more to control them.
— Kelly House