EcoWest News, September 15, 2026

Welcome to EcoWest News, a weekly round-up of news and resources that you can put to use in addressing environmental issues and protecting the wild in your community.

Biodiversity

Tiger salamanders’ kilometre-long journey from summer habitats to wintering sites can be treacherous. Watch out for them on the roads or trapped in window wells, basements, greenhouses, or on construction sites. [CTV News]

Within 2 years of removing hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River in Oregon and California, Chinook salmon had recolonized approximately 345 km of river, 88% of their documented historical distribution in the upper basin. [Conservation Corridor]

iNaturalist has created some handy resources to help you identify species that can be hard to tell apart: finches, garter snakes, monarch & viceroy butterflies, and song & fox sparrows. [iNaturalist]

Energy Efficiency

École Snokomish Elementary is Metro Vancouver’s first all-electric school. Energy-saving features include occupancy sensors, daylight-responsive lighting, heat-recovery ventilation, and an efficient building envelope. [Surrey Now Leader]

Demand-side management (energy efficiency, reducing or shifting load during peak periods, and local distributed energy sources, such as rooftop solar, EVs, batteries) can reduce peak demand, lower system costs, and help the grid keep pace with Alberta’s industrial expansion, data centres, and electrification. [Pembina Institute]

A new neighbourhood in south Winnipeg will be Manitoba’s first to use a shared, large-scale geothermal system to heat and cool hundreds of homes over coming decades. [Winnipeg Free Press]

Energy

Two Alberta landowners say the Alberta Energy Regulator is breaking the law by not collecting enough money from industry to cover cleanup costs for a growing number of orphan oil and gas sites across the province: “Landowners didn’t create these liabilities and we shouldn’t be expected to live with the consequences indefinitely.” [The Energy Mix]

Extreme Weather

“The atmosphere holds more water vapor than it used to because it is warmer than it used to be. August 2026 saw the highest water vapor levels in the modern record due to the extreme warmth from climate change and the El Niño.” This will contribute to more and more extreme rain events. [The Climate Brink]

More than 112,000 properties in Winnipeg, 45% of residences in the metropolitan area, are in high flood hazard areas. Many are new builds. Many Vancouver, Chilliwack, Calgary, and Regina properties are also at risk. [CBC]

Policy Development

What if landfill, properly done, is actually one of the cleanest, cheapest, and most environmentally sensible things we can do with our waste? [Works in Progress]

Reciprocity with nature begins with the recognition that human use and benefit of land and natural systems carry a corresponding responsibility to protect, enhance, and restore the interconnected health of those systems. A look at how local governing boards can incorporate this approach into policies, practices, and local laws. [Earth Law Center]

Making a Difference

An ambulance with fully integrated solar panels can keep driving and deliver healthcare in remote areas, which often lack reliable infrastructure, electricity and fuel options – even when the sun has gone down. [EuroNews]

DIY

“The items with the lowest environmental impacts are the ones we already own … Keeping our products in play for as long as possible is the most responsible thing we can do and significantly reduces the impact any one product has over the course of its life. Repair plays a big part in that.” [Atmos]

Wendell Berry’s (1934-2026) “answer to the fundamental question of how to live right was to start small—to revere the Earth’s endless beauty, and to work a little, each day, to reverse the harm we’ve caused.” [Mother Jones]

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/apmckinlay/7759940512

EcoFriendly West informs and encourages initiatives that support Western Canada’s natural environment through its online publication and the Nature Companion website/app. Like us on Facebook, follow us on BlueSky, X, and Mastodon, or subscribe by email.