Today's headlines:
- Gov. Brad Little shrugs off "no confidence vote" by Idaho's biggest teachers' union on a visit to Coeur d'Alene.
- Idaho may not have budgeted enough money for wildfire season, governor says.
- WA police are way behind on required de-escalation and cultural awareness training, and the Criminal Justice Training Commission can't do anything about it, per report.
- The gray wolf population grew in WA last year, while depredation numbers fell.
- DOJ is investigating UW over antisemitism—again.
Plus, it's been 4 years since then-President Biden announced the first ever national nature assessment. President Trump canceled the effort when he arrived at the White House for his second term, but researchers—led by a Washington scientist—plan to publish it anyway.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting contributed by Doug Nadvornick, Owen Henderson, Scott Greenstone and Bellamy Pailthorp.
Owen Henderson hosts and produces the show.
TRANSCRIPT
[THEME MUSIC]
OWEN HENDERSON: From Spokane Public Radio, it’s SPR News Today.
I’m Owen Henderson. It’s Wednesday, April 22, 2026.
On today’s show, Idaho’s governor dismissed blowback from Gem State’s biggest teachers’ union on a visit to Coeur d’Alene yesterday.
And a report finds Washington’s Criminal Justice Training Commission doesn’t have the tools to enforce its mandates—and police in Washington are way behind on its training requirements.
Plus, it’s Earth Day. Four years ago, then-President Biden announced the first ever national nature assessment. President Trump canceled the effort when he arrived at the White House for his second term, but researchers—led by a Washington scientist—plan to publish it anyway.
Those stories and more, coming up on SPR News Today.
[FADE OUT THEME]
Idaho’s governor is shrugging off his loss of support among many state teachers.
Idaho Education Association members have issued a “no confidence” vote in the governor.
The state’s largest teachers’ union has previously endorsed Brad Little in his bids for the governorship.
A union spokesperson says members are unhappy Little signed what they see as a union-busting bill.
He says the new law makes it more difficult for them to collect member dues and hold union-related activities on school property.
Little doesn’t seem to be worried about the criticism.
BRAD LITTLE: “I’ll make my case to the teachers any day for what I’ve done for teacher pay, starting teacher pay, veteran teacher pay, career ladder, insurance, all the things we’ve done for education.”
OH: Speaking with reporters in Coeur d’Alene yesterday, he urged teachers to look beyond the one bill and consider that public schools generally escaped budget cuts.
BL: “In fact, we had some areas where we had to put more money into for teachers' insurance, particularly the rural parts of Idaho that don't have a very good tax base, we helped to make certain that all teachers are covered by a really good health care plan.”
OH: Little also touted his Idaho Launch program, which allows graduating high school seniors to apply for scholarships to cover their post-secondary education.
The legislature reduced funding for that program by 10 million dollars for each of the next two years.
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Governor Little also says Idaho may not have budgeted enough money for some labor and aircraft costs this fire season.
BL: “You know, if we have a perfect fire year, we'll be all right. If we have a draconian fire year, we'll have to pay for part of that on the credit card.”
OH: Little says the legislature allocated about 15-million dollars, just enough to cover the basics.
Now he’s crossing his fingers and hoping for a repeat of 2025.
BL: “I remember last year at this time, and a month later, we were worried about north of Idaho. It was dry, dry, dry, everything, and then we had a really mild fire year up here.”
OH: Little says he’s trying to convince the legislature to put permanent funding in the budget for wildfire suppression.
Climate scientists say this year’s drought, above-average temperatures and below-average snowpack are setting the stage for increased fire danger as the summer progresses.
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Washington police officers are way behind on mandated de-escalation training, and the state Criminal Justice Training Commission doesn’t have the tools to ensure police comply with requirements.
Those are two findings from a recent report by the state auditor’s office.
The commission established a 40-hour training mandate for officers on a variety of patrol tactics and cultural awareness topics, based on a successful 2018 ballot measure.
But the audit shows only 14% of new officers and 16% of veteran officers have met the requirement.
Olha Bilobran was the report’s lead auditor. She says her office recommends lawmakers convene a working group to see how else Washington can support police so they can complete the training.
OLHA BILOBRAN: “There is no, so to say, carrot or stick in the law for officers not completing the training, and that is also one of the things we suggest the legislature looks into with that work group to see if there can be some incentive provided for officers to take the training.”
OH: Police agencies told auditors that because many courses can only be done in person, staffing and funding issues prevent officers from taking leave to attend training.
Auditors also report some officers are resistant to certain training for personal or political reasons.
The Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs has not responded to SPR’s request for comment.
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Washington’s gray wolf population is growing—but not its livestock depredation numbers.
The latest reports show 270 wolves in Washington last year, up 17% from 2024.
While there are 49 total known wolf packs, only five packs killed or injured livestock in 2025, compared to 10 in 2024.
And the number of confirmed cattle lost dropped from 17 in 2024 to 9 last year.
Kristin Botzet is a wildlife biologist with the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife. She helps ranchers reduce conflict between wolves and livestock.
KRISTIN BOTZET: “For Washington, most of my efforts have been focused on livestock carcass management, so specifically on exploring, like, ways that we can establish, you know, disposal programs that are helping producers remove animal carcasses, bone piles.”
OH: She says carcass management, along with things like range riding and fencing, can help prevent packs from locking in on cattle or sheep as a food source.
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The Department of Justice is investigating the University of Washington for its <quote> “handling of antisemitism.”
KUOW’s Scott Greenstone has more.
SCOTT GREENSTONE: This is not the first time the Trump Administration has looked into allegations of anti-semitism at University of Washington after pro-Palestinian protests on campus in 2023 and 2024.
But what seems to have triggered this investigation is a fundraiser by a group that is no longer affiliated with UW—Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return.
SUPER’s student group status was revoked by the university last May, when 33 activists occupied a building and smashed lab equipment.
They were charged with misdemeanors in March. The 23 students among them were suspended last year but can now return to class.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon announced the investigation on social media, mentioning SUPER’s Tuesday night fundraiser for <quote> “Lebanese resistance.”
A UW spokesperson said the university will cooperate with this federal review.
I'm Scott Greenstone in Seattle.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
OH: It’s Earth Day. Four years ago today, President Joe Biden announced an executive order in Seattle that created the first-ever national assessment of nature.
President Donald Trump rescinded the effort two and a half years later, on his first day in office.
But the team that had started the work—led by a professor at the University of Washington—refused to give it up.
Now, an almost 900-page draft of the assessment is out for public comment, with plans for publication by the end of this year.
KNKX environment reporter Bellamy Pailthorp has the story of how it all came about.
[BIDEN ANNOUNCEMENT AMBI]
BELLAMY PAILTHORP: On Earth Day 2022, President Biden stopped at Seattle’s Seward Park, to sign an executive order.
[JOE BIDEN: “It’s an honor to be in this beautiful park with you all.”]
His remarks highlighted his administration's climate agenda.
His pledge to map, catalog and conserve old-growth trees in national forests got the most applause.
[APPLAUSE AMBI]
But he also spoke more broadly about the benefits of nature.
JB: “Scientists estimate that the protection and restoration of our natural lands and waters can provide more than 1/3 of the solution to climate change, just just that, if we did nothing else.”
BP: And—because of those climate benefits—tucked into the Executive Order that Biden signed in Seward Park was a short clause, stating that new research would include ‘an assessment of the condition of nature.’
About a year after the announcement Phil Levin was appointed by the Biden administration to direct the National Nature Assessment.
PHIL LEVIN: “So it was the first time that that that there was going to be a holistic assessment of the condition of nature in the US – our lands, our waters, our wildlife, and all the benefits that nature provides to people // from jobs and livelihoods to health and well being to safety from natural hazards and even to our cultural heritage.”
BP: Levin is a professor of environmental sciences and interim director of the Earth Lab at the University of Washington.
His initial team produced an annotated outline of the assessment. Those 50 pages are in the federal register.
And they were almost done with their first draft when President Trump canceled the effort.
So Levin says he had no doubt that he'd just somehow keep it going.
PL: “I believe that the work needs to be done. I believe this work is really important for our country. So, okay, the government isn't going to support it anymore. It doesn't mean that the work's not needed. And so we just kept going.”
BP: All the authors were already volunteers. About a quarter of them were federal and unable to continue. So he had to rebuild the team.
Levin says he never doubted that the assessment was needed. That hunch was validated when he saw the team’s preliminary findings.
PL: “50% of our wetlands have been lost. Half the country is used for agriculture. A million acres of land every year are converted to development across the US, and there's 90,000 dams in US—rivers across the US that are disrupting fish migrations. At the same time, there's a lot of hope and optimism. There's a lot of bright spots out there.”
BP: The successful dam removal and restoration of the Elwha River. The rebuilding of fisheries on the West Coast. And recent recognition for indigenous stewardship or for the need to plant trees and re-green our cities, he says.
Levin formed a non-profit and re-branded the National Nature Assessment as a national initiative, called The Nature Record. Seventeen authors are on the team.
Their third draft is now out for scientific review. With this draft, they're also touring the country—making presentations and asking for public comment.
Levin says all the chapters are up for anyone to see at Nature Record dot org.
PL: "...whether you're a technical expert or just an interested person. We are wanting to hear from everyone.”
BP: He says they’ve also recently started working with partners in the arts community. And there’s an anthology of poetry that is a companion to the assessment.
PL: “I mean, we all have something to contribute to this record. Not everybody is a scientist. Scientists can contribute in`one way. We all see things that are changing. We all see hope, I think. And so these artists are engaging and creating the record through their own skills and lens.”
BP: After the comments are processed, the first edition e-book of the Nature Record will be available for download.
MIT Press is also publishing it as a paperback book, for sale.
I'm Bellamy Pailthorp, reporting.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
OH: SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Doug Nadvornick, Scott Greenstone, Bellamy Pailthorp and me, Owen Henderson.
I’m also your host and producer.
Thanks for listening.
It’s SPR.
