Environment

Cleaning leaf-clogged bike lanes on Seattle’s Eastside — using bike power

Fall in the Seattle area means lots of leaves in bike lanes. Slippery, soggy leaves can be dangerous on two wheels. Now, volunteers in Kirkland have a clever, new tool to clean bike lanes from the seat of a bike.

Can a watershed have legal rights? The Snohomish River debate deepens

The tide is turning in a Snohomish County legal battle over whether a river and its watershed have legal rights that can be defended in court.

Endangered orcas return to Puget Sound without newborn J64, presumed dead

Almost the entire population of southern resident killer whales gathered in central Puget Sound on Sunday, but the newest member of J Pod, a newborn known as J64, was not among them.

Furloughed feds pick up Seattle beach trash to keep serving the public

Furloughed federal employees were out in the rain picking up cigarette butts, bottle caps, and other trash at Seattle’s Golden Gardens Park on Friday.

Staff shortages pull Forest Service office workers into fire roles

After a slew of firings and deferred resignations last winter, U.S. Forest Service employees who are normally in the office — like wildlife biologists or hydrologists — have jumped in to help with fire information.

Orca mom carries dead newborn calf in San Juans

2 firefighters arrested by Border Patrol at Washington’s Bear Gulch Fire

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested two firefighters working on the Bear Gulch Fire on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula on Wednesday, accusing them of being in the U.S. illegally.

'Old trees matter.' Seattle author Lynda Mapes is writing to save them in her new book

The KUOW Book Club is continuing its summer reading series with Seattle Public Library this month. We're reading environmental journalist and author Lynda V. Mapes' new book, "The Trees are Speaking: Dispatches from the Salmon Forests."