WACD Reading List

A fire that started early Thursday morning in Whitman County north of Colton ballooned to approximately 2,000 acres and was still growing. The blaze, officially titled the Steptoe Canyon Fire, is zero percent contained and has prompted Level 1 evacuations, according to a news release from the Washington State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Demand for COVID testing is seeing a major uptick for the first time in months. Many more people are testing positive for COVID too, with most of the cases caused by the Delta variant. The surge in demand is also leading to slower turnaround for test results at some locations. The city of Seattle’s website says: “We are currently experiencing longer turnaround times than usual that will continue through the weekend. Expect results in 24-48 hours.”

Living in a perpetual state of disruption, uncertainty and grief can test anyone's mental health. And events of the past 16 months have delivered all of those in spades thanks to a steady stream of horrors, including but hardly limited to the deadly pandemic, George Floyd's murder, the January 6 Capitol insurrection and attacks against Asian-Americans. They've also catapulted employee mental health to the top of many employers' list of concerns and priorities.

There’s an increase of evacuation notices in the Cedar Creek Fire which continues to grow near Mazama in Okanogan County. It includes several Level 2 (GET READY) and one Level 3 (Evacuate NOW ) alerts. A Red Cross shelter is available at Methow Valley Elementary School. The fire covers more than 8,400 acres and is 11 percent contained as of Wednesday morning. There are 351 people working the fire.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The upswing in COVID-19 cases around Washington and the increased danger from the variants is causing some of the state's health leaders to mask up, including those who are fully vaccinated because of breakthrough cases that are being reported.

From Oregon to the Dakotas, hay stocks for hungry cattle are low and ranchers say summer pastures are already dry from the widespread drought. It leaves them little choice but to cut herds now. “People are just scared that we’re not going to have any fall green up [rains that grow grass] either — so it’s not looking good,” Clark says.

PORTLAND — Wildfires in the American West, including one burning in Oregon that’s currently the largest in the U.S., are creating hazy skies as far away as New York as the massive infernos spew smoke and ash into the air in columns up to 6 miles (10 kilometers) high. Skies over New York City were hazy Tuesday as strong winds blew smoke east from California, Oregon, Montana and other states. Oregon’s Bootleg Fire grew to 616 square miles (1,595 square kilometers) — half the size of Rhode Island.

NESPELEM – Rising temperatures, gusty winds and low relative humidity challenged firefighters July 19 on the Chuweah Creek Fire northeast of Nespelem. Lines held, but there was some spotting and fire slop-over, according to Northwest Incident Management Team 12, which is coordinating the fire fight.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Ecologists in a vast region of wetlands and forest in remote Oregon have spent the past decade thinning young trees and using planned fires to try to restore the thick stands of ponderosa to a less fire-prone state. This week, the nation’s biggest burning wildfire provided them with an unexpected, real-world experiment. As the massive inferno half the size of Rhode Island roared into the Sycan Marsh Preserve, firefighters said the flames jumped less from treetop to treetop and instead returned to the ground, where they were easier to fight, moved more slowly and did less damage to the overall forest.

Farmers are among the most likely to die by suicide compared with any other occupation, according to a 2020 study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With COVID-19 fallout, record debts, drought, wildfires and a lack of access to counselors, the need for a conversation about mental health and solutions in rural America is more urgent than ever, experts said. "Therapists may not fully get that a lot of these farmers literally would rather die than lose the farm that has been in their family for 100 to 120 years," said McConkey. She said it's vital to provide an understanding of mental health to everyone associated with agriculture. Crop consultants, agronomists, crop insurance salesmen, seed salesmen and elevator employees should all know the warning signs of someone struggling with mental health issues.

WENATCHEE -- The Washington Commissioner of Public Lands, Hilary Franz, has just announced the closure of all Department of Natural Resources-managed lands in eastern Washington effective midnight on Friday, July 23, due to extreme fire danger and ongoing drought east of the Cascades. This closure will apply to DNR-managed state lands, conservation areas, community forests and any associated roads, trails, campgrounds, recreational sites or recreational facilities.

HYDE PARK, Vt. (AP) — Grappling with a changed industry, two brothers operating their family’s dairy farm in Vermont have made the drastic decision to give up hundreds of cows for goats. The Jones family, which had raised cows for 150 years at Joneslan Farm, houses about 1,000 goats in their barn that remains adorned with painted cut-outs of dairy cattle. Fluctuating milk prices paid to dairy cow farmers and rising costs have driven some small family farms to go big or out of business — or get creative like brothers Brian and Steven.

Public lands east of the Cascades managed by the Washington state Department of Natural Resources will be closed indefinitely because of drought and the worsening wildfire season. Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz will announce the public land closure during her visit Tuesday morning to the 12,000-acre Red Apple Fire near Wenatchee. “This is never something we want to do, but we need to keep people safe,” said Ryan Rodruck, communications manager for Eastern Washington DNR.

PORTLAND — The threat of thunderstorms and lightning has prompted officials in fire-ravaged Oregon to ask for help from outside the Pacific Northwest to prepare for additional blazes as many resources are already devoted to a massive forest fire. The 569-square-mile Bootleg Fire is burning 300 miles southeast of Portland in and around the Fremont-Winema National Forest, a vast expanse of old-growth forest, lakes and wildlife refuges. Evacuations and property losses have been minimal compared with much smaller blazes in densely populated areas of California.

MAZAMA – A new fire has joined two burning in the upper Methow Valley. The fire is in addition to a pair of blazes burning west of Mazama near Highway 20 that continue to force closure of the highway, with evacuation alerts remaining in place for Mazama and the Lost River area.

Crews made good progress on the Red Apple Fire overnight and now the blaze burning above Wenatchee is holding steady at 12,228 acres. Department of Natural Resources PIO Ryan Rodruck said the fire is at 83% containment, with just a northern portion of the brush fire still technically uncontained.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The monstrous wildfire burning in Oregon has grown to a third the size of Rhode Island and spreads miles each day, but evacuations and property losses have been minimal compared with much smaller blazes in densely populated areas of California. The fire’s jaw-dropping size contrasted with its relatively small impact on people underscores the vastness of the American West and offers a reminder that Oregon, which is larger than Britain, is still a largely rural state, despite being known mostly for its largest city, Portland.

The 2021 wildfire season is intensifying in the western United States, with 80 large fires burning as of the beginning of the week, including an Oregon blaze covering more than 300,000 acres. Statistics from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) indicated 80 large fires have burned more than 1.15 million acres across 13 states as of Sunday.

As of Tuesday, July 13, the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center said there were 10 uncontained large fires in the Pacific Northwest. Five large fires in Oregon and five in Washington are burning a total of 298,039 acres.

WASHINGTON — The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is authorizing emergency procedures to help agricultural producers impacted by extreme drought conditions. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is working with crop insurance companies to streamline and accelerate the adjustment of losses and issuance of indemnity payments to crop insurance policyholders in impacted areas.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has sent a letter to President Biden asking for additional federal assistance for the Evergreen State’s producers. The letter says, in part: “Unfortunately, in addition to the ongoing drought and low soil moisture problems, an extreme heat wave hit the state at the end of June. High temperature records were set across the state, topping out at 117 degrees in Eastern Washington and 110 degrees in Western Washington. Many of the producers who suffered heat-related impacts were either located in counties not covered by the drought declarations, experienced losses not covered by FSA drought assistance programs, or both.

It is likely to be a smoky summer in Western Washington. The rate of wildfires this year has been record-breaking in the state, and it’s on track to continue. On Thursday, a wildfire that had grown to 14 square miles was threatening more than 1,500 homes near Wenatchee. More fire brings more smoke, some which could slip into the Puget Sound region.

The Washington State Patrol is searching for the occupants of a vehicle seen leaving one in a series of 12 brush fires spread between Thurston and Mason counties “at a high rate of speed” Wednesday afternoon. “Because of how evenly those fires were spread all over I-5 from the Lewis County line all the way up Trosper Road and onto 101 into Mason County, it sure looks like one fire started after the other chronologically from south to north,” Trooper Robert Reyer told The Chronicle.

WINTHROP, Wash. - Firefighters have shut down five more miles of the North Cascades Highway west of Winthrop due to wildfires that continue to spread in the rugged, mountainous area. Twelve miles of the highway, also known as State Route 20, are now closed, from milepost 165 to milepost 177 at the Early Winters campground. U.S. Forest Service roads also are shut down in the area, meaning there is no detour or any way to get around the closure.

A red flag warning remained in place for much of Eastern Washington through Thursday night as firefighters continue to brace for breezy conditions. The National Weather Service said winds of 5 to 15 mph are expected with gusts of 25 mph possible. The red flag warning will expire at 11 p.m. Thursday. A new fire has erupted in the area of Lime Lake near Metaline Falls. The Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office has told people within five miles of Lime Lake to evacuate because of fire danger.

Several wildfires continued to burn in the Spokane region Wednesday as lingering heat and drought challenged firefighting efforts. Here’s an update on the regional wildfires

Gov. Jay Inslee laid blame on climate change as he declared a drought emergency for nearly the whole state on Wednesday. “This is not political hyperbole,” Inslee said. “It is a scientific consensus that is jarring the life of every Washingtonian some way.” Only the Tacoma, Seattle and Everett metro areas are exempt from the emergency, Inslee said. Such an emergency means the water supply is projected to be 75% below average and water users may be at risk of undue hardship, according to a press release.