Environment

The vaquita is a small species of porpoise that lives exclusively in the Gulf of California. The mammal is on the brink of extinction due to irresponsible fishing methods. Boise filmmaker Matthew Podolsky has partnered with Leonardo DiCaprio to produce a documentary chronicling the plight of the vaquita. Since the film went to Sundance it's been sold to National Geographic Documentary Films. The film is coming to the Flicks September 13 and Poldosky joins Idaho Matters for an update on the adorable sea creatures.

  Getting hatchery Snake River sockeye salmon from Idaho to the Pacific Ocean and back again is no easy task. A new hatchery that costs $14 million opened in 2013 to add another million fish each year going out of the Gem State. The first fish from the hatchery started coming back to the Sawtooth Valley this year. As of last week, only 15 sockeye had come home. We talk with Idaho Statesman special correspondent Rocky Barker about the factors making the process more challenging.

Prescribed fires have been used for centuries to help control the landscape. But the practice fell out of favor in the early 20th century. While attitudes are changing, the West still sees fire as a destructive process. A look at prescribed fires on Idaho Matters.

As the population booms in southwestern Idaho, federal and state agencies are proposing to raise Anderson Ranch Dam by six feet.

Wildfires are still burning across the Mountain West, but far fewer than in the last few years.

In May, we visited with water quality advocate Christopher Swain on his decision to swim the 150-mile length of the Boise River. He’s partnered with the Idaho Business for the Outdoors to be the first person to take on this challenge. It’s not the first time he’s done a swim like this, but in an effort to get folks to think about this vital waterway he dove into the water earlier this month and began his journey. We get an update from him during a stop in the city that bears the river's name.

Zoo Boise welcomed into the world a pair of baby red pandas this summer. The cubs are healthy, and growing as they should, according to Zoo Boise.

Recent wildfires in the Stanley area got a little help from FirstNet. It was a higher frequency network created by Congress after 9-11 to ensure first responders have the service they need to communicate. A “Cell on Light Truck” was sent to the Stanley area fires to help multiple agencies talk to each other. Idaho Matters finds out more about FirstNet and how it helps in emergencies, like wildfires.

More than 1,000 acres of trees are being cut down at Bogus Basin. The timber sales are the result of an infection of the Douglas-fir dwarf mistletoe and beetles that take advantage of the sick trees. Almost 80% of tree stands in the Bogus Basin Project area are infected with mistletoe. Sick and dead trees can be dangerous to skiers. That’s why the Idaho Department of Lands and the Boise National Forest are working together to get logging started this week near the Superior chairlift.

TVs, tires, mattresses, even a recliner — all these items, and lots and lots of trash, are dumped into canals and ditches around the Treasure Valley. Sometimes it’s grass clippings or tree limbs that are dumped, which can clog the water flow. The Treasure Valley Water Users Association says it’s a growing problem.

It’s been awhile since Lonesome Larry made the long journey home to Redfish Lake and found no girl sockeye salmon to mate with. That was 1992. Since then the numbers have gone up and down. As of last week, Idaho Fish and Game reported that sockeye salmon returns are lower than they’ve been in 10 years. The Boise Weekly has published a series on salmon and dam removal and Idaho Matters jumps in for a closer look.

Zebra and quagga mussels can devastate an ecosystem and Yellowstone National Park is doing everything it can to keep them out. As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Maggie Mullen reports, that includes harnessing the power of a dog’s snout.

“Share the Road” is a common motto seen across Idaho, advocating for cars to share their roads with bicyclists. Eastern Idaho is dealing with a different road-sharing issue. Instead of single-speeds, these drivers are trying to avoid bigger beasts — elk, pronghorn and bison.

We all know Boise is a hot topic right now, as more people find the city and move here. But did you know Boise is hotter than it used to be temperature-wise? According to a new study by Climate Central, Boise is the 13th fastest-warming city in the U.S. Boise is 3.84 degrees hotter than it was in 1970.

It’s no secret that wildfires are getting worse in the West. They’re threatening lives, homes and ecosystems. And they are also threatening our already-precarious watersheds. It’s all becoming a vicious cycle  — especially for the drier parts of our region.

You’ve heard us report before on places about to be stocked with fish by Idaho Fish and Game. A few hundred trout in a river ... a few kokanee salmon in a lake ... maybe a few dozen channel catfish in a pond ... what does that add up to? Try 30 million fish a year. That’s right. Thirty million fish every single year in Idaho.

Ten-year-old Lily Colson likes penguins and polar bears and she wanted to protect them from the effects of climate change. This Boise 4th grader somehow went from protecting penguins to coming up with a new way to use solar power ... without having to build more infrastructure. She calls the idea “Solar Lines.”