by Marcella Buser Legislators adjourned on Thursday afternoon, and the 2026 Legislative Session is a wrap! Truly remarkable, every single bill on our 2026 Growing Together agenda passed the Legislature. Seven bills with our fingerprints on them are now on their way to Governor Ferguson’s desk. In a year dominated by a budget crisis and […]
Forterra land trust stewards more than 150 properties spanning over 17,000 acres across forests, wetlands, and coastal areas throughout the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Many of these lands are tucked away in hard-to-reach places, while others are publicly accessible, offering popular wildlife viewing areas and well-maintained trail systems. As we begin a new season of Forterra Nature […]
By Kirk Kirkland and Gemini AI A New Wave of Resistance hits Department of Justice Have you lost hope that the current administration can be stopped from creating chaos and returned to the Rule of Law in our economy, our schools, and our nation’s response to climate change? Each month, I use Gemini, an Artificial […]
by Kirk Kirkland How does the Supreme court decision affect the 2026 congressional budget and how will the automobile industry and the major car brands Honda, Nissan and Toyota be affected by the refund of their tariffs? On February 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the administration’s use of the International Emergency […]
Until earlier this month with the December storms, living in the Northwest in the last 5 years, the Puget Sound area has not experienced many of the extreme weather conditions that cause flooding or extreme heat’s impact on Agriculture production. Many areas of the world are spending their government’s funds cleaning up from hurricanes, flooding […]
Since 1979, Washington Wild has played a key role in protecting nearly three million acres of Wilderness throughout Washington State. They bring people together in the defense of our remaining wild forests, waters, and wildlife area. Chris Chappell frequently asks the Environmental Coalition to join their list of groups that ask Congress, the Forest Service […]
by Kirk Kirkland In Minneapolis, the chief of police took a strong position regarding the federal administration’s handling of apprehensions of immigrants. He stated, “If ICE agents use unlawful force in this city, my officers must intervene.” To translate that into plain, street-fighting English: “The city of Minneapolis does NOT belong to federal bullies.” In […]
by Kirk Kirkland & Al Schmauder Before the 1970 housing boom in the Pierce County’s Urban Growth Area, Spanaway and Clover creeks had salmon in their streams. After 25 years of restoring the creek by adding fish ladders and implementing various restoration plans for Chambers Canyon and Clover Creek, this summer it was time to […]
by Kirk Kirkland Ten years ago, in a conference hall on the outskirts of Paris the leaders of almost every country agreed to try to slow down global warming. The new idea was for each country to set its own targets to reduce climate pollution in ways that made sense for them. So, here we […]
Fall has arrived with a windy, wet, and brilliantly colored bang! As the landscape soaks up the long-awaited rain, mushrooms are popping up, and the big leaves of maple trees, osoberry, and vine maple seem to have turned bright yellow overnight. When the first heavy rains hit in early October, visitors spotted an incredible variety […]
by Marianne Lincoln; photos by Al Schmauder It is the end of October 2025 and salmon are coming up Chambers Bay. Some have even been allowed over the fish ladders to span naturally rather than be taken at the hatchery. Sadly, there is no water in Clover Creek. The fish cannot get any farther than […]
by Kirk Kirkland “Last week NY Times reporters found a policy change made in the spring by the Department of Defense (DOD). This policy change was made without public notice. The change removed $200 million for PFAS remediation in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Budget. The cities of Lakewood and DuPont use these funds to […]
By Kirk Kirkland The bad news is that the Chambers Creek Dam is not going to be removed until the bridge upstream is funded. With two county bridges closed and needing priority funding over the White River and the Carbon River, the Chambers Creek bridge is going to remain a low priority for the foreseeable […]
After the first 500 salmon were released above the Chambers dam it has been a long wait to see them upstream. Summer drought has affected the creek. Will the fish make it, were our previous restoration efforts enough? Online comments discuss the past efforts describe the next phase of creek restoration. In August we learned […]
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: In response to recent federal actions that have undermined the independence of the CDC and raised concerns about the politicization of science, Washington, California and Oregon Washington are beginning the process to provide evidence-based unified recommendations to their residents regarding who should receive immunizations and to help ensure the public has access […]
by Kirk Kirkland Last week fishermen in their boats appeared at dawn around the Browns Point lighthouse as the August salmon run began. By 10 am there were 50 boats fishing off of Point Defiance Park. As of August 21, this year, 132 hatchery Chinook salmon ran the gauntlet of fishermen and found their way from […]
By Kirk Kirkland At the final public hearing held in the Dupont City Council Chambers, over 70 people filled the room. For a Friday morning, this is a significant number. The proposal for mine expansion prompted a record of over 85 written responses to be submitted. The hearing began at 10 o’clock in the morning, […]
By Marianne Lincoln Sequalitchew Creek runs from Sequalitchew Lake, through Edmund Marsh, to Puget Sound’s Nisqually Reach, through the City of Dupont, Washington. This is the same Dupont where the Nisqually Indians lived and later welcomed and worked for the Hudson Bay Company at Fort Nisqually. The Fort had two sites above the Sequalitchew. The […]
It is about a gravel quarry in Dupont that has been there since the late 1800’s, so why is it a problem now? The Pioneer Aggregates Project Proposal being considering by the Hearings Examiner in Dupont Friday, June 20 is about 14 years of gravel mining in their southeast parcel that includes dewatering the Vashon […]
by Kirk Kirkland Tucked into a budget reconciliation bill, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee made a recommendation to sell off more than 250 million acres of public lands across the American West to private developers. This proposal was personal and would have had a significant effect on National Forests in Washington. If passed, […]
