FIDALGO ISLAND, WA — Hope is a rare term to be applied to the environment these days, but looking off into the horizon, the people who know this land best see a beautiful future in store for coastal communities both here and beyond.

Alana Quintasket and Joe Williams are members of the Swinomish tribe, whose traditions are deeply rooted in coastal life.

Digging for clams and other shellfish is a big part of their identity, as it has been for centuries, but what’s happening on their lands in western Washington is a reflection of what’s happening up, down and across coast lines nationwide.

"Our biologists, our shellfish team have been kind of documenting throughout the Puget Sound. They're noticing a definite decline in that population," said Williams.

The ocean absorbs 30% of the CO2 in the atmosphere. According to the National Ocean and Atmopheric Administration, the excess carbon in the atmosphere has not only led to warmer seas but it changes the ocean’s PH balance, making the water more acidic.

Coastal areas in the country have seen shellfish population drops as large as 85%. Nationally, if nothing changes its predicted that by the end of the century, shellfish populations nationwide will continue to drop by almost half.

"We're under apocalyptic circumstances, where it is a climate crisis and lives are at stake. As indigenous people and indigenous beings of the land, it's our responsibility to do what we can to restore the practices that have been left for us," said Quintasket.

In the face of a crisis, the Swinomish have a plan to restore the shellfish population: build the very clam gardens their ancestors did centuries ago.

In a few weeks, the Swinomish will be building a clam garden, a tough of rocks meant to be the ideal environment for clam and shellfish growth, on a section of coastline. This ancient practice can increase shellfish growth by 400%.

"It's really expanding the area where clams can grow," said Courtney Grenier, a marine ecologist with the Swinomish Tribal Community.

She says while the numbers don’t lie, scientists are still trying to figure out why the clam gardens are so successful.

"It doesn’t have to be confirmed by Western science to acknowledge there has been this technology that has been used and can still be implemented in a way that’s still in harmony with nature," she said.

The Swinomish are not only looking at this as an opportunity to combat climate change, but by making this a community project, they hope to physically reconnect generations after recent history and past tragedies have taken so much.

"Not only are we trying to get through this pandemic to make it an endemic, but we're also thinking of the fear for the climate, and for us to have something to be excited about is just something good for our people," said Quintasket.

As the project is set into motion, the Swinomish hope other coastal communities are listening and watching to see what native practices are already out there that we can use in our collective fight for our environment.

"There are plenty of teachings to help us get through this, this climate change, we just have to pay attention and be at one with our nature," said Williams.

RICHLAND, Wash. — Police arrested a suspect hours after a deadly shooting in Washington state.

The suspect was identified as 39-year-old Aaron Christopher Kelly.

He was captured hours later on a highway northeast of Richland.

Investigators say Kelly entered a Fred Meyer grocery store with a cart, duffel bag and a backpack at 11 a.m. Monday.

He encountered Justin Krumbah minutes later, had a short interaction before Kelly reportedly shot at Krumbah.

Police said they responded to the store at 11:30 a.m. after getting reports of people yelling and possible gunshots within the store.

Krumbah died at the grocery store.

Another person who was hurt was taken to a hospital and remains in critical condition, police said.

Police do not believe Kelly knew the victims.

Kelly fled the scene, but U.S. Marshals found him later the same day.

A spokesperson for Fred Meyers said, “The entire Fred Meyer family offers our thoughts, prayers, and support to all affected individuals and families during this difficult time. We are cooperating with local law enforcement, who have secured the store and parking lot. The store will remain closed while the police investigation continues, and we have initiated counseling services for our associates.”

Kelly is now facing charges of first degree murder and first degree attempted murder.

Detective Scott Mandella is hiking near Burien, Washington. With him are two outreach workers. They’re looking for homeless people who, Mandella says, live in the woods.

Right now, he’s looking for someone in particular: a man by the name of Ed Davis.

“Have you made any efforts to reach out to the VA lately? What do you got going on man? You deserve a lot more than this,” Mandella said to Davis after locating him.

Davis replied, "Well, I applied for the stimulus and all that."

Davis says he’s lived in these woods for about three years. It's been three years with no heat, dealing with the elements, and fighting to survive.

His story is a lot like others who end up homeless. He made some mistakes, and now he’s paying for them.

“Years ago, I sold my house, out in the peninsula. I had good intentions of reinvesting it," he recalled. "When I have problems, I kind of get into a self-destructive mode, and I blew the money. Started doing drugs and everything. You know, I battled with it for quite some time and ended up out here,” said Davis.

It may not look like much, but Davis has built a walkway down to where he sleeps, decorated his front entrance, and he even keeps fresh milk from spoiling by cooling it in the stream that runs by.

He isn’t the only one who lives here. The outreach workers brought sandwiches and left some for the other people living in the camp, who were present at the time.

But Mandella came for a different reason, and it was to let Davis know he has to leave his home in the woods. Mandella says the city parks department is going to evict him, and the others who live in the woods, within a few weeks because of complaints from walkers and people who live nearby.

Davis likely only has a few weeks left before he’s forced to leave the place he has called home for the last three years. He hopes to get a hold of his stimulus check and use it to find a place to live.

He said he's hoping to find a new place to live that offers some solitude. Solitude he may have to cherish for just a few more weeks before he faces more uncertainty.

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A federal jury has convicted a timber thief who authorities said started a large forest fire in Washington state, a case that prosecutors said marked the first time tree DNA had been introduced in a federal trial.

The jury deliberated for about seven hours before convicting Justin Andrew Wilke, 39, on Thursday of conspiracy, theft of public property, depredation of public property, and trafficking and attempted trafficking in unlawfully harvested timber, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Western Washington said in a news release.

The wood he sold to a mill in the city of Tumwater had been harvested from private property with a valid permit, Wilke said. But a research geneticist for the U.S. Forest Service, Richard Cronn, testified that the wood he sold genetically matched the remains of three poached trees.

Wilke used gasoline to destroy a wasp's nest in the base of a maple tree he was stealing, prosecutors said, though jurors did not convict him of charges related to the fire. Some witnesses testified that, although Wilke was standing next to the nest when the fire began, they did not actually see his actions in the dark.

Wilke and others conducted an illegal logging operation in the Elk Lake area of the Olympic National Forest, near Hood Canal, between April and August 2018, according to records filed in the case. He poached maple trees prized as wood for musical instruments and brought them to lumber mills.

In July 2018, a man who had just been released from prison, Shawn Williams, joined the conspiracy; he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to more than two years in prison.

In August 2018, the group decided to cut the maple tree that had the wasp's nest near the base, prosecutors said. The poachers sprayed insecticide and gasoline and then lit the nest on fire — starting a 5.2-square-mile wildfire that came to be dubbed the "Maple Fire," according to authorities.

Firefighting efforts cost about $4.2 million.

Williams testified during the trial that it was Wilke who set the blaze, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

"When people steal trees from our public lands, they are stealing a beautiful and irreplaceable resource from all of us and from future generations," Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman said in a news release. "That theft, coupled with the sheer destruction of the forest fire that resulted from this activity, warrants federal criminal prosecution."

Wilke faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in October.