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Sunday, May 18 , 2025

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Stories by Henry Brannan

Columbian Murrow News Fellow

henry.brannan@columbian.com

A ship named Federal Kudos stops by the Port of Vancouver to pick up wheat from United Grain Corporation on Dec. 19. Southwest Washington’s ports are bracing for impacts from the Trump administration’s escalating trade war.

Columbia River marine exporters brace for Trump tariff impacts while importers already feeling pain

A ship named Federal Kudos stops by the Port of Vancouver to pick up wheat from United Grain Corporation on Dec. 19. Southwest Washington’s ports are bracing for impacts from the Trump administration’s escalating trade war.

May 10, 2025, 6:12am Business

Southwest Washington’s Columbia River international exporters are bracing for the Trump administration’s ever-intensifying trade war. Many importers already feel the pain. Read story

Wind turbines on a hill near Goldendale in March.

Cowlitz PUD buys out partner in Gorge wind project it uses to meet clean energy laws

Wind turbines on a hill near Goldendale in March.

May 9, 2025, 11:39am Business

Cowlitz Public Utility District bought out one of its three partners in a Columbia River Gorge wind project, giving the Longview-based utility provider a controlling stake. Read story

During the late June heat wave in 2021, Clark Public Utilities' peak demand for power was 62 percent higher than usual, causing extra load on its substations and power lines.

Northwest power demand may double in next 20 years, but where will it come from?

During the late June heat wave in 2021, Clark Public Utilities' peak demand for power was 62 percent higher than usual, causing extra load on its substations and power lines.

May 1, 2025, 11:17am Business

Dramatic increases in the number of data centers, electric vehicles and electric appliances around the Pacific Northwest will cause demand for electricity in the region to potentially double over the next two decades. Read story

Paul Dunlap, who works for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, clips fish fins, so they can’t be turned in twice, at The Dalles, Ore., in April. The Northern Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Program opens Thursday at Kalama Marina, Ridgefield Marina and the boat ramp at the Port of Camas-Washougal.

Paid pikeminnow season starts Thursday on the Columbian River in Southwest Washington

Paul Dunlap, who works for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, clips fish fins, so they can’t be turned in twice, at The Dalles, Ore., in April. The Northern Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Program opens Thursday at Kalama Marina, Ridgefield Marina and the boat ramp at the Port of Camas-Washougal.

April 25, 2025, 12:02pm Clark County News

Anglers can get paid to fish for Northern pikeminnow starting Thursday at sites along the Columbia and Snake rivers, including the Kalama Marina, Ridgefield Marina and the boat ramp at the Port of Camas-Washougal. Read story

A barge sits docked at an industrial facility next to Columbia Riverfront RV Park in Woodland. The Port of Woodland recently purchased the RV park.

Woodland port rejects tax plan used to build Vancouver port waterfront

A barge sits docked at an industrial facility next to Columbia Riverfront RV Park in Woodland. The Port of Woodland recently purchased the RV park.

April 22, 2025, 9:39am Business

The Port of Woodland’s three commissioners last week voted unanimously to reject a controversial pro-development tax plan known as tax increment financing, or TIF. Read story

Water is released through the outlet tubes at Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River. (AP Photo/Nicholas K.

Feds put review of Columbia River hydropower system on ice

Water is released through the outlet tubes at Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River. (AP Photo/Nicholas K.

April 22, 2025, 9:35am Business

A move by federal water managers to pause a landmark environmental review of the Columbia River hydropower system has become a Rorschach test that leaves utilities, salmon advocates, commercial shippers and Native nations, as well as Washington and Oregon officials guessing. Read story

Paul Dunlap, who works for Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, clips fins so the fish can’t be turned in twice for a reward.

Anglers descend on the Gorge to get piece of $1.7 million Northern pikeminnow payouts

Paul Dunlap, who works for Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, clips fins so the fish can’t be turned in twice for a reward.

April 16, 2025, 6:09am Clark County News

Thomas Ogren stood on the dock at The Dalles Marina boat launch Monday, casting for Northern pikeminnow in the hopes of hooking a piece of the roughly $1 million anglers are paid each year for pulling the fish from the Columbia-Snake rivers system. Read story

The Columbia River pours through the Bonneville Dam spillway on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, at Bonneville Dam.

Seasonal water releases for young salmon start at Bonneville Dam amid national political turbulence

The Columbia River pours through the Bonneville Dam spillway on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, at Bonneville Dam.

April 10, 2025, 6:09am Clark County News

At 12 this morning, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened Bonneville Dam’s spillway gates, marking the beginning of seasonal water releases known as “spill.” Read story

South Coldwater Creek cascades down to join the flow of water exiting the downstream end of the Spirit Lake drainage tunnel the Army Corps of Engineers completed in 1985. (U.S.

U.S. Forest Service eyes updating or even replacing Spirit Lake tunnel

South Coldwater Creek cascades down to join the flow of water exiting the downstream end of the Spirit Lake drainage tunnel the Army Corps of Engineers completed in 1985. (U.S.

April 8, 2025, 6:05am Latest News

The U.S. Forest Service is reviewing ways to prevent Spirit Lake from overflowing, including updating or replacing an aging tunnel built to drain the lake after the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption. Read story

A sea lion gobbles smelt on the Columbia River on March 19 at Willow Grove Park in Longview.

‘The fish did not cooperate’: Cowlitz River smelt dipping season a bust, with no fish caught

A sea lion gobbles smelt on the Columbia River on March 19 at Willow Grove Park in Longview.

April 1, 2025, 12:50pm Clark County News

This year’s Cowlitz River smelt dipping season went out a lot like it started: without much happening. Read story