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Where skill, joy and service unite
By Chris Wood After I graduated college, my older brother, John, introduced me to a friend who was a Jesuit priest. At the time, I was a somewhat aimless bartender, ice cream maker and assistant high school football coach. One night after dinner and drinks, Father Donald asked me three questions: “Chris, what do you…
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Video spotlight: Rewinding a River
Abandoned mines are a problem for water quality across the West. There are more than a half million sites, many leaking toxic pollution like acid mine drainage and heavy metals into our streams and rivers. In other places, streams and rivers have been re-routed, straightened into unsustainable channels that make it difficult for aquatic life…
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Klamath River dam removal plan submitted
Iron Gate dam, one of the four dams slated for removal under the Klamath Hydropower Settlement Agreement and the KRRC plan. On June 28, the Klamath River Renewal Corporation submitted a major filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding the KRRC’s “ Definite Plan” for removing four old hydropower dams on the Klamath River.…
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Voices from the River: The things we take for granted
By Kyle Smith For the past month, residents of Salem, Oregon (I'm one of them) have been warned against drinking water from our taps and have been advised to obtain drinking water commercially or from a number of water fill stations set up across the city by Salem's Public Works Department. Salem's drinking water comes…
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Fairbanks Family Fishing Day spreads fishing knowledge to next generation
By Eric Booton All too often, the next generation is distracted by the constant stream of phone and tv screens associated with daily life and misses the call of the wild. In many urban and suburban areas across the country, hunting and fishing knowledge and skills are not being taught to the next generation and…
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Voices from the River: A family gets dirty for conservation
A father and his daughter work to plant willows along the Esther Simplot Park in Boise, Idaho. David Garman photo. By Kira Finkler Some say families that get dirty together stay together. If that is indeed the case my family will be a tight-knit bunch for a long time. On a recent cool and cloudy…
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Western governors support Good Sam
The Western Governors Association passed a resolution this week supporting legislation that would help clean up abandoned mines across the West by protecting Good Samaritans who voluntarily clean up the pollution. There are more than a half million abandoned mines dotting the Western landscape, creating significant water quality problems. “We commend the Western Governors’ Association…