WACD Reading List

OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee unveiled an “unusually large” budget proposal of almost $62 billion Thursday that would continue focus on helping the state recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

New atmospheric research has found melting sea ice in the Arctic increases the risks for wildfires on the West Coast.

The Washington DNR Urban and Community Forestry Program is offering grants of up to $40,000 to increase forest health within communities. “We’re looking for applications from local governments, cities, towns, counties, 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, tribes, special taxing districts like school districts, parks districts, conservation districts and what have you,” said Thompson.

Researchers with Oregon State University say the U.S. needs to establish new “Strategic Forest Reserves” to protect wildlife and reduce the carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. A new study maps the Western forests that would store the most carbon and help the most species if they were given the same level of protection from logging, grazing and mining as designated wilderness areas receive.

Inslee announced Tuesday a proposed $187 million in investments for salmon recovery, as part of his policy and budget proposals for the 2022 legislative session. The plan includes correcting fish passage barriers, investing in clean water infrastructure and expanding monitoring of salmon populations statewide.

The weather was wilder than usual this year, and the reasons vary, climate experts say. But evidence increasingly shows that historic heat waves, monster rain events and ultra-intense storms are exacerbated by the warmer air and water of our overheating planet.

Lindquist said during a media briefing yesterday that he’s not concerned that it will prove to be more deadly, as it doesn’t appear to be so at this point, but that it may be more infectious.

Compassion is the power tool for energizing leaders and teams.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is awarding $15 million to conservation partners across the country for 19 new projects under the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program.

La Nina has apparently arrived in the Northwest, signaling a shift to cooler weather and more promising snowpacks, Washington State Climatologist Nick Bond said Thursday. November was wet but warm, causing flooding in northwest Washington, but little snow in the Cascade Range. Bond said Thursday he anticipates weather patterns will change, dropping snow in the mountains without raising the risk of floods.

She gave the example of Clark Conservation District, which over the duration of the partnership was able to rebuild its staffing. The district, one of the primary organizations that works with private landowners in the county, has brought in more than $2.8 million for environmental work.

The 700-acre nonprofit is funded through multiple grants, including the Clark Conservation District, Clark Public Utilities, CPU, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Farm Services Agency

With farms, ranches and rural communities facing historic drought, a worrying trend leads to a critical question: Who owns the water?

The national Farmers Market Coalition (FMC) is excited to announce the launch of the Farm Direct Nutrition Incentives Guide Site (www.farmdirectincentives.guide), a comprehensive library that contains hundreds of resources for operators running Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/Electronic Benefits Transfer and nutrition incentives...

Statistics confirm what your eyes have already told you as you look at the higher elevations across Washington. The snowpack across the Evergreen State is almost non-existent for this time of year.

The wheat organizations of Idaho, Oregon and Washington want to thank everybody who made the 2021 Tri-State Grain Growers Convention possible

At their December 3 meeting, the Washington State Public Works Board approved over $44.6 million in conditional grants for 15 broadband construction projects in unserved and underserved communities across the state.

Washington Department of Ecology plans to adopt a policy stating that livestock owners whose animals drink from a creek need a water right.

Omicron poses very high global risk, world must prepare -WHO

BRUSSELS (AP) — Countries around the world slammed their doors shut again to try to keep the new omicron variant at bay Monday, even as more cases of the mutant coronavirus emerged and scientists raced to figure out just how dangerous it might be.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the Department has begun accepting applications for up to $1.15 billion in loans and grants to help people in rural areas get access to high-speed internet.

USDA is also standing up an Equity Commission to advise the Secretary of Agriculture by identifying USDA programs, policies, systems, structures, and practices that contribute to barriers to inclusion or access, systemic discrimination, or exacerbate or perpetuate racial, economic, health and social disparities.

The Biden administraton on Thursday announced a proposed rule that would reinstate the pre-2015 definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act, flushing President Trump’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule down the drain.

SEATTLE — The $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure package signed into law this month creates a new billion-dollar program designed to open thousands of miles of congested transportation corridors. Those choked thoroughfares aren’t roads and bridges, however. They are creeks and streams used by migrating salmon when they return from the ocean to reach their spawning grounds.