WACD Reading List

Being grateful, even for little things, can keep us going.

Everyone hates meetings.

During No-Till November, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service promotes the economic and environmental benefits of not disturbing the soil and “keeping the stubble” to improve soil health. To make the most of these benefits, Iowa no-till farmer Will Cannon focuses on the biology of the soil – instead of the chemistry of farming.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. government attorneys will appear before a federal judge Friday to defend a decision from the waning days of the Trump administration that lifted protections for gray wolves across most of the country, as Republican-led states have sought to drive down wolf numbers through aggressive hunting and trapping.

TACOMA, Wash. — Flood warnings were in place Friday for several rivers in western Washington as well as parts of Oregon as heavy rains continued in the Pacific Northwest. Advisories were issued for the Skokomish River at Potlatch, the Tolt River above Carnation, the Snoqualmie River near Snoqualmie Falls, the Puyallup River near Orting and the Nisqually River affecting Lewis and Pierce counties.

Scientists have evidence that SARS-CoV-2 spreads explosively in white-tailed deer, and the virus is widespread in this deer population across the United States. Researchers say the findings are quite concerning and could have vast implications for the long-term course of the coronavirus pandemic.

Peter Polson’s feet crunch as he walks across a meadow on his property. This time last year, his boots wouldn’t have made that noise. Now, the meadow is blackened after the Cedar Creek fire swept through his land just west of downtown Winthrop.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House Nov. 5 voted 228-206 to pass a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that includes $8.3 billion dollars in water-related investments. The package, HR 3684, includes investments in dams, waterways, flood prevention efforts, drought resilience, groundwater storage and conveyance, aquifer recharge projects and other water works.

United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack underscored the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s support for President Biden’s whole-of-government approach to combating climate change and creating good-paying jobs and economic growth in the United States.

The Canada lynx, which has been documented in the North Cascades, will remain listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, according to a settlement agreement filed Friday in U.S. District Court.

Public organizations from villages, communities, counties, states and the federal level are all coming to a reckoning—a new frightening, unnerving and never-before-seen new normal...Employees from all sectors are demanding transparency, development, trusting environments, compassion and care.

Timber and environmental groups have reached an agreement that sets Oregon on a course to overhaul management of 10 million acres of private forestlands in the state. The deal, announced Saturday by Gov. Kate Brown’s office, concludes more than a year of negotiations between often at-odds sides to develop a plan to boost protections for vulnerable fish and wildlife while shielding the timber industry’s ability to log.

Despite the punishing conditions, thousands of people are drawn to the Washington coast each fall. The first digs of the year suggest a promising season. An estimated 55,700 diggers attended the mid-September opener, harvesting over 1 million clams, according to a Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife press release.

OLYMPIA — Declaring the state hasn't done enough to reduce carbon emissions, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday he will ask lawmakers to pass more climate legislation. Inslee said he will propose further limits on fossil fuels, including on using natural gas, to get the state on course to slash greenhouse gases in roughly half by 2030.

The onset of fall and coming of seasonal rains is perfect timing for the salmon that spawn in the East Fork of the Lewis River. At places such as Lucia Falls Regional Park, along Northeast Lucia Falls Road northeast of Battle Ground, visitors can watch the large fish jump the waterfalls on their way to their ancestral spawning grounds.

Washington state Tribal leaders praised some of Gov. Jay Inslee’s actions at the annual Centennial Accord Meeting Wednesday, Oct. 27, but also criticized his decision to veto sections of the Climate Commitment Act supported by Tribes. The annual meeting focuses on cementing the government-to-government relationship between the state and Tribes with representatives from the state’s 29 federally recognized Tribes and a few other Pacific Northwest Tribes.

Ecologists are piloting a technology that is expected to help restore waterways like the Green River to eventually produce more fish.

Washington (Funding amount: $1,900,000) Kittitas Reclamation District (Kittitas) Whitestone Reclamation District (Okanogan)

Kernza is a perennial crop that's essentially a cousin of wheat, but its roots store carbon in the ground to help prevent soil erosion and runoff.

WASHINGTON – The Biden-Harris administration announced an important step to chart a path forward in a longstanding Columbia River Basin conflict regarding the operation of 14 federal dams and their impacts on the region’s salmon and steelhead populations.

Drought likely to persist across the West, improve in the Northwest