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Greenland leaders call planned visit by US officials a 'provocation' as Trump talks of takeover; L.A. County has cut homelessness, but wildfires impede progress; Maryland doubles down on clean energy, despite Trump policies; Doula access in Ohio at risk in Nursing Board certification controversy.

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Lawmakers from both parties face angry constituents. Some decide to skip town halls rather than address concerned voters and Kentucky considers mandatory Medicaid work requirements.

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Cuts to Medicaid and frozen funding for broadband are both likely to have a negative impact on rural healthcare, which is already struggling. Plus, lawsuits over the mass firing of federal workers have huge implications for public lands.

Orca Action Month: WA Estuary Restoration Project Helps Whale Recovery

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Thursday, June 29, 2023   

It's Orca Action Month and a restoration project in Puget Sound will help provide more salmon to the aquatic mammals.

Highway development has degraded the Duckabush estuary on the Olympic Peninsula.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has designed a project to elevate Highway 101 and restore tidelands, helping juvenile salmon habitat.

Staci McMahon, ocean policy associate with the Seattle Aquarium, said Southern Resident Orcas off the Washington coast need more salmon.

"Because salmon populations in our region have also declined significantly," said McMahon, "salmon habitat restoration projects are one of the most important things we can do for orca recovery in the long term."

The project is a partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group.

State lawmakers approved $14 million for the project in the budget this year - but to complete the restoration, it needs more federal funding.

Theresa Mitchell, environmental planner with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the project will restore a more natural system.

"That benefits not only fish," said Mitchell, "but wildlife, people, anything that is dependent on, as we like to say, the ecosystem goods and services that are provided by a habitat."

Mitchell said she hopes this will inspire other restoration efforts in the region.

"As we continue as a society, as a state, as people that care about the fish and wildlife of the state to restore habitat," said Mitchell, "I think that incentivizes or gets people interested in what they can do on their private land as well. So I think that's another important aspect of this project, is to show that we're leading by example."



Disclosure: Seattle Aquarium contributes to our fund for reporting on Animal Welfare, Education, Endangered Species & Wildlife, Oceans. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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