The Washington State Department of Agriculture hopes more property owners this year will give the department access to spray for Japanese beetles, a pest gaining ground in Eastern Washington. The department will seek consent from more than 17,600 property owners in Benton, Franklin and Yakima counties, about double the number of property owners contacted last year.

Biologists, avian scientists and other experts explain the need for the Barred Owl Management Strategy to protect endangered northern spotted owls.

Now that the New Year has come and gone, the WSDA is reminding residents now is the time to sign up for Japanese Beetle treatments.

Non-native plants are crowding out native ones in the Pacific Northwest and posing new challenges for the organizations that manage them.

Rhe Washington State Department of Agriculture on Oct. 7 was sent a photo of what appeared to be a deceased northern giant hornet spotted in the wild in the Burley region of Kitsap County. The state agency is asking the public to keep their eyes open in that area and report any suspected sightings of the northern giant hornet.

The state of Washington is asking residents to keep an eye out for invasive insects on trees this summer.

This year’s treatment for Spartina starts Wednesday June 1st, and runs through November.

The state Department of Agriculture has released new data on murder hornets found in Whatcom County last summer.

An Asian giant hornet nest was found Thursday in Whatcom County, Wash., about one-quarter mile from where a hornet was sighted earlier this month, according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture. Department entomologists will develop a plan to eradicate the nest, which is in a rural area east of Blaine near the Canadian border. The eradication likely will be next week, the department said.