The Margin

06/02/2026

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Seattle City Light spent more than 100 years insisting salmon never lived above its Skagit River dams. Tribal elders and oral histories, including those from the Upper Skagit Tribe, knew the truth.

Now, following The Margin's investigation, Seattle has committed up to $979M to restore salmon to the entire river.

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05/28/2026

For more than 100 years, Seattle's hydroelectric dams blocked salmon from reaching the upper Skagit River, and the city spent decades denying it ever happened.

Now, after a landmark $4 billion settlement with three Tribal nations, Seattle City Light is legally committed to restoring salmon passage through all three of its dams on the Skagit.

It's a generational victory for the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, whose treaty rights were violated for over a century.

The agreement comes less than two years after The Margin's investigation "A River of Deception" exposed how Seattle's utility repeatedly misrepresented the river's science and history to protect its dams. Skagit County's attorney credited our reporting with "forcing a reckoning."

One provision, negotiated by Upper Skagit elder Scott Schuyler, stopped us in our tracks: an Upper Skagit Tribal member will release the first adult salmon into the waters above the dams.

"It's gonna be like a missing part of you returned, finally," Schuyler told us.

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Seattle Commits to Restoring Salmon to the Skagit River - The Margin May 28, 2026 Seattle Commits to Restoring Salmon to the Skagit River Gorge Powerhouse on June 27, 2024.   Chona Kasinger for The Margin. Share facebook twitter e-mail link copied 48.676000° N, 121.241944° W / Skagit River, WA B...

05/28/2026

Comment SALMON to read Rico Moore’s story.

For over a century, Seattle City Light insisted the Skagit River was never home to salmon. Scott Schuyler’s ancestors fished those waters for generations.
On May 12th, Seattle agreed to pay up to $979M toward restoring salmon passage, part of a landmark $4B settlement with the Upper Skagit, Sauk-Suiattle, and Swinomish Indian Tribal Communities, whose treaty rights were violated for 100+ years.

“When we see the river return to its banks,” said Schuyler during the signing ceremony, “[the] Upper Skagit people will rejoice and celebrate.”

05/27/2026

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Join us on June 11 at 7 PM ET / 6PM CT for our next INSIDE: The Margin event and hear from residents of Conyers, GA, who experienced firsthand the public health impacts of the chemical explosion at the BioLab.

05/21/2026

"We know that Indigenous communities in Louisiana are struggling for federal recognition due to the cost burden and ancestral lands being washed away. They have also been excluded from levee protection. So it's important to understand and go back and track the decisions that have been made over time that have brought us to this moment,” said Christina Lehew, Executive Director of Common Ground Relief, during our most recent Inside: The Margin.

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A landmark Nature study by Tulane University researchers projects that 75% of Louisiana's coastal wetlands could be lost by 2070 and identifies the Gulf Coast as the world's most exposed coastal zone. Two of those researchers joined us last week for Inside: The Margin, alongside the journalists and advocates who have been on the ground.

The Margin reported on Governor Jeff Landry's decision to cancel Louisiana's $3 billion restoration project in "Mid-Barataria's Muddy End."

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https://youtube.com/shorts/ByczAb73Y3c

05/13/2026

Catch the recording here! https://youtu.be/03QTGaZ7kjI

Featuring two of the authors of the recent study, "Climate-driven depopulation and adaptation realities in America’s coastal ground zero," published in the journal Nature Sustainability, the moderated discussion will delve into why the Mid-Barataria and Mid-Breton Sediment Diversion projects were canceled, what it means for long-term land stability, and how community-led restoration is holding the line for the people most at risk.

✍️ Verite News New Orleans reporter Halle Parker
🌊 Amanda Moore, senior director of the Restore the Mississippi River Delta
🌳 Christina Lehew, executive director of Common Ground Relief
🥼 Jesse M. Keenan, an expert in climate adaptation at Tulane University
🪨 Torbjörn E. Törnqvist, the Vokes Geology professor at Tulane University

05/12/2026

Comment REGISTER to join us TOMORROW, May 13, for the next Inside: The Margin.

A new study says the Gulf Coast could lose 75% of its remaining wetlands by 2070, jeopardizing the entire city of New Orleans.

Last year, the state canceled two major projects that scientists called the last real chance to slow that loss. And yet, communities are still in the water, planting trees, stabilizing shorelines, and holding the land together.

Join reporter Halle Parker of Verite News, Amanda Moore of the National Wildlife Federation’s Restore the Mississippi River Delta, Christina Lehew from Common Ground Relief, and The Margin’s Managing Editor, Ko Bragg, a Louisiana resident, for a live conversation about "Mid-Barataria's Muddy End,” where you’ll learn what community-led restoration looks like when large-scale projects fall apart.

The Margin exists to investigate injustice and uplift the experiences of those on the front lines of climate change. Root yourself in our mission and RISE UP with The Margin!

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05/07/2026

Louisiana is losing land faster than almost anywhere on Earth, and the communities that can least afford to leave are the ones most exposed.

Last year, Gov. Jeff Landry canceled the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, a nearly $3 billion coastal restoration project scientists called the only long-term solution for keeping southeast Louisiana livable.

Next Wednesday, May 13, join reporter Halle Parker and The Margin's Managing Editor Ko Bragg for Inside: The Margin as they dig into what's at stake for the people at the center of the story.

The Margin exists to investigate injustice and uplift the experiences of those on the front lines of climate change. Root yourself in our mission and RISE UP with The Margin.

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05/06/2026

"We get told all the time that these programs are too expensive, that there's no money to do this work. And that's simply not true,” said freelance journalist Amal Ahmed during our April Inside: The Margin conversation with photojournalist CHONA KASINGER PHOTOGRAPHY, Aqsa Mengal, Climate and Clean Energy Policy Lead at Front and Centered and our Managing Editor Ko Bragg .

The challenges Amal's story untangles matter nationwide as we shift into summer and face a dual crisis of extreme heat and energy affordability.

This is the reporting The Margin exists to do: uplifting the experiences and challenges of those on the front lines of climate change. And we want to do more.

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📺️ Comment ENERGY to catch the full webinar on YouTube.
✍️ Leave REGISTER in the comments to join us for our next INSIDE: THE MARGIN on May 13!

05/01/2026

"It is important to recognize that there are actual humans that have energy burdens and needs. If [legislators] heard more of [people's stories], these decisions would be easier for them to make."

Aqsa Mengal, Climate and Clean Energy Policy Lead at Front and Centered, said this during our latest Inside: The Margin conversation, where viewers went behind the headline for the latest Margin story, "Insulating the Energy Poverty Gap” with reporter Amal Ahmed and photographer Chona Kasinger.

Moderated by Managing Editor Ko Bragg, the panelists discussed how Washington State has become a model for what energy equity can look like when policy is focused on the people closest to the gap.

The Margin is the only publication exclusively dedicated to telling environmental justice stories. Root yourself in our mission and rise up with The Margin by becoming a monthly sustainer today! Your gift keeps this data-driven journalism going.

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