Publication Items

Even in This Toxic River — A Salmon Story [1]

Seattle’s heavily polluted Duwamish River is no place to catch fish — except for salmon, which pass quickly through these troubled waters on their way from the sea to their freshwater spawning grounds. With fishing pole in hand, environmental journalist Alex Brown joins jostling crowds of industrial-zone anglers and catches a firsthand view of a spectacle that is both anomalous and awe-inspiring.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [3]
Chemicals [4]
Environmental Health [5]
Fish & Fisheries [6]
Food [7]
Pollution [8]
Water & Oceans [9]
Wildlife [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Northwest (OR WA) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Even in This Toxic River — A Salmon Story [1]
Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026 [14]

Explore our 10th annual Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy, as we scour the beat to identify 15 top stories to put on your radar for 2026. Our updated format for the special report provides a quick read and a broad scope — with insights on climate change and environmental justice, bird and insect declines, data centers and deep sea mining, deregulation and PFAS and much more. Get started here [14].

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [16]
Agriculture [17]
Air [18]
Biodiversity [3]
Chemicals [4]
Climate Change [19]
Disasters [20]
Economy & Business [21]
Energy & Fuel [22]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [23]
Environmental Politics [24]
Environmental Studies [25]
Fish & Fisheries [6]
Forests [26]
Government [27]
Health [28]
Infrastructure [29]
Journalism & Media [30]
Laws & Regulations [31]
Military [32]
Natural Resources [33]
Policy [34]
Pollution [8]
Science [35]
Technology [36]
Waste [37]
Water & Oceans [9]
Wildlife [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Alaska and Hawaii [38]
California [39]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [40]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [41]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [42]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [43]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [44]
Northwest (OR WA) [12]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [45]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [46]
International [47]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026 [14]
Saving Big Cats From Humans [48]

As expanded development on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula encroaches on prime wildlife habitat, big cats find it harder to avoid people, and many wind up dead. In this Inside Story Q&A, Liza Gross of Inside Climate News describes how she and photographer/editor Michael Kodas worked with a local cougar protection team to track a family of big cats to their den and through the area.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [49]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [3]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Studies [25]
Forests [26]
Journalism & Media [30]
People & Population [50]
Science [35]
Wildlife [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Northwest (OR WA) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Saving Big Cats From Humans [48]
Coastal Flooding Challenges Cities Around the U.S. [51]

The United States has nearly 100,000 miles of coastline and much of it is at risk of flooding. But what that inundation looks like varies widely from place to place. From storm surges to land subsidence, the latest Backgrounder details the different types of flooding and the threats they pose to coastal communities, especially sea level cities.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [52]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [19]
Disasters [20]
Infrastructure [29]
Journalism & Media [30]
Water & Oceans [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Alaska and Hawaii [38]
California [39]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [40]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [42]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [44]
Northwest (OR WA) [12]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [45]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [46]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Coastal Flooding Challenges Cities Around the U.S. [51]
Rethinking Forest Management in the Pyrocene [53]

Recent urban-interface infernos, fueled by climate change, leave no doubt that we have entered the age of runaway fire. Writer and ecologist Lauren Oakes writes that large-scale combustion is permanently reshaping ecosystems and societies as we learn to live with wildfire, not just fight it. Instead of perpetuating problematic approaches to forest management, experts call for confronting the root causes of this crisis and adopting science-informed responses.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [19]
Disasters [20]
Environmental Politics [24]
Environmental Studies [25]
Forests [26]
Government [27]
Health [28]
Infrastructure [29]
Journalism & Media [30]
Laws & Regulations [31]
Natural Resources [33]
Policy [34]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
California [39]
Northwest (OR WA) [12]
International [47]
Canada [54]
Australia & Oceania [55]
Europe [56]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Rethinking Forest Management in the Pyrocene [53]
Covering Wildfire — Expert Advice on Emerging Issues, Recurring Risks [57]

With wildfires becoming more extreme in every way, reporters covering them face new challenges along with familiar hazards. A pair of experienced wildfire journalists and others on the front lines offer advice on dealing with access restrictions, on-the-ground dangers, toxic exposure risks and traumatized survivors — as climate change speeds up the news cycle and misinformation muddies the reporting landscape.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [19]
Disasters [20]
Forests [26]
Government [27]
Health [28]
Infrastructure [29]
Journalism & Media [30]
Laws & Regulations [31]
People & Population [50]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Alaska and Hawaii [38]
California [39]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [43]
Northwest (OR WA) [12]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [46]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Covering Wildfire — Expert Advice on Emerging Issues, Recurring Risks [57]
Trump Tariffs Blow Up Long U.S.-Canada Environmental Partnership [58]

As trade wars loom with U.S. allies, including our neighbors to the north and south, another kind of long-standing relationship is under threat — the environmental partnership between the United States and Canada. A Backgrounder Analysis examines deep-rooted ties over energy, water and timber. Does the brewing conflict over trade mean the long bonds over the environment have been broken?

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [52]
Topics on the Beat:
Consumer [59]
Economy & Business [21]
Energy & Fuel [22]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Politics [24]
Fish & Fisheries [6]
Forests [26]
Government [27]
Laws & Regulations [31]
Natural Resources [33]
Policy [34]
Water & Oceans [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [40]
Northwest (OR WA) [12]
International [47]
Canada [54]
Mexico [60]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Trump Tariffs Blow Up Long U.S.-Canada Environmental Partnership [58]
Telling the Stories of the Silent Sentinels [61]

To many, plants are a merely green backdrop, indistinguishable and inconsequential. But, freelancer Karen Mockler says that such “plant blindness” belies an urgent need for our notice. More than a third of the world’s trees and thousands of other plant species face extinction. Their plight — and their many blessings — offer perceptive journalists a wealth of reporting and storytelling opportunities. Mockler on why to write about plants.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [17]
Air [18]
Biodiversity [3]
Climate Change [19]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [23]
Environmental Politics [24]
Environmental Studies [25]
Food [7]
Forests [26]
Government [27]
Health [28]
Journalism & Media [30]
Laws & Regulations [31]
Natural Resources [33]
Pollution [8]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [62]
Science [35]
Water & Oceans [9]
Wildlife [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
California [39]
Northwest (OR WA) [12]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [46]
International [47]
Canada [54]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Telling the Stories of the Silent Sentinels [61]
New-Look Landslide Risk Database Captures Potential Human Costs [63]

Susceptibility to landslides is more on the minds of environmental reporters, especially in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which caused hundreds of them. To get a better read on local landslide risk for local stories, Reporter’s Toolbox recommends an enhanced resource from the U.S. Geological Survey, which layers the risk data into easily readable map form.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [64]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [19]
Disasters [20]
Environmental Studies [25]
Journalism & Media [30]
People & Population [50]
Science [35]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
Northwest (OR WA) [12]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [45]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about New-Look Landslide Risk Database Captures Potential Human Costs [63]
Spurt in Hydro Relicensing To Leave U.S. Awash in Environmental Stories [65]

Hundreds of hydropower dams in the United States will see their licenses expiring in the next decade, generating years-long federal relicensing processes. That prospect calls for close local and regional coverage of the complicated balance between renewable energy needs with negative environmental impacts. The latest TipSheet explains the licensing process and the dam backstory, along with a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [66]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [16]
Climate Change [19]
Consumer [59]
Energy & Fuel [22]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Politics [24]
Fish & Fisheries [6]
Infrastructure [29]
Journalism & Media [30]
Laws & Regulations [31]
Natural Resources [33]
Policy [34]
Water & Oceans [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
California [39]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [40]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [44]
Northwest (OR WA) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Spurt in Hydro Relicensing To Leave U.S. Awash in Environmental Stories [65]

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