WACD Reading List

After a very good statewide snowpack for much of the year, the basins across Oregon have lost most of their snow. Scott Oviatt with NRCS Oregon says snow accumulations were trending in the right direction until the peak of the year around April 1st. “But what we’ve seen, beginning in late March and April is very dry conditions and unseasonably warm temperatures occurring across the region. And as a result, the above average snowpack throughout the northern portion of the state of Oregon have runoff rather rapidly.”

Backlash to such a policy is a near certainty in any venue, but especially one in the sports realm. Sports and politics often don’t play well together because team allegiances unite people from across the map and, thus, the political spectrum. This is a fracturing, and how far it will extend in Washington, and for how long, is still anyone’s guess.

Kim Wyman defended Washington’s Vote at Home system against Trump’s attacks in a 2020 op-ed: “Mail-in voting works, and Washington state . . . is proof that it works. Plus, it’s safe and secure.” She went on to say “drop boxes are secure, convenient and a great way to ensure ballots are submitted on time.” In Vote At Home states like Oregon and Washington, every voter turns in a hand-marked paper ballot: the gold standard for voting security.

What would be best for most office workers—and what’s most likely to happen for many of them—is something between the extremes of old-school office work and digital nomadism. What’s right for you might end up being a little further in either direction, depending on how social or siloed your job is, or if you’re a particularly extreme introvert or extrovert. But I’m here to argue for a particular baseline: three days in the office, and two at home.

But where EXACTLY is the absolutely driest location? Rain sodden western Washingtonians want to know! And the answer should certainly be of interest to agricultural interests...So I next checked locations I thought had the best combination of low elevation and big terrain immediately to the west. First, Desertair, which had nearly exactly 5 inches a year since 2009. Then, Mattawa E. in Grant County. OMG. A 4.6 inches average for 2008 to 2020.

Joint Base Lewis-McChord is adding to its list of on-base services with a weekly farmers market. The JBLM Marketplace launched April 20 and will continue every other Tuesday through Sept. 14. Leaders are hoping the marketplace will become a year-round event. “Obviously it will be subject to vendors availability and the popularity of the event,” said Josh Soldan, business and recreation division chief for JBLM’s Office of Morale, Welfare and Recreation.

Text-based 2FA, where a text with a six-digit code is sent to your phone to verify your identity, is better known and better understood because it uses technology most of us use all the time anyway. But it’s a technology that wasn’t meant to serve as an identify verifier, and it’s an increasingly insecure option as hackers continue to find ways to exploit it. That’s why I recommend using an authenticator app, like Google Authenticator, instead. Don’t let the name intimidate you: There are a few extra steps involved, but the effort is worth it.

The Biden administration has released a report outlining its vision to conserve and restore land, water and wildlife with recommendations for locally led, voluntary efforts to conserve 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. The 24-page report outlining the administration’s “America the Beautiful” initiative recognizes the contributions of farmers, ranchers, forest owners, private landowners and fishers and commits to supporting those efforts.

WASHINGTON, May 6, 2021 – Today the Biden-Harris administration outlined a vision for how the United States can work collaboratively to conserve and restore the lands, waters, and wildlife that support and sustain the nation. The recommendations are contained in a report released today (PDF, 540 KB) outlining a locally led and voluntary nationwide conservation goal to conserve 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.

SEATTLE - The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than twice as many people around the world as the official death counts show, according to a new analysis by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. The official global death toll as of Thursday stands at about 3.26 million, but the new analysis found that COVID-19 has actually caused about 6.9 million deaths worldwide.

The first time salmon were released above Chief Joseph and, later, Grand Coulee dams, Hemene James watched elders from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. Many weren’t even old enough to remember when salmon last swam in those waters. In their faces he saw pure emotion, as salmon slipped into the waters where they hadn’t been since Grand Coulee Dam blocked their path in 1942. Then, he looked at the children. Their excitement was infectious. They jumped and ran into the water, trying to catch the fish swimming upstream.

We recently spoke to a CEO who was feeling anxious about public speaking in the hybrid office. “When I give presentations now, it’s simple. Everyone’s on Zoom,” he told us. “What happens when some people go back while others still work from home?”

Wildfire season has started extra early this year, and Gig Harbor Fire is reminding everyone to double-check and make sure your home is ready in case of an emergency. May is Wildfire Community Preparedness Month, and in keeping with the season, Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One is sharing a few home safety preparedness tips.

Precipitation amounts from the Pacific weather systems that moved across the West this week were patchy and not enough to erase months of deficits. Half an inch to locally 2 inches fell across coastal areas and coastal ranges of Oregon, Washington, and northern California; in the Sierra Nevada; northern and central Rockies; and Great Basin ranges. Rainshadow areas and valleys, and much of the Southwest, received little to no precipitation.

A few weeks ago, USDA climate adviser Robert Bonnie used a variant of “walk before you run” to describe the Biden administration goal of bipartisan support for climate mitigation in agriculture. On Monday, a sector-spanning coalition said the USDA “needs to crawl before it can walk” into a carbon bank that would help farmers adopt climate-smart practices. The Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance (FACA), a carbon bank advocate, said the USDA should lay the foundation for the climate bank by first setting up a series of pilot projects to identify fruitful avenues for future action. The alliance did not suggest how long the pilot projects would run but said they would aid the development of carbon markets and the direction of the carbon bank.

Over the past year, many of us have found things to love about working from home like flexibility, the ability to focus, and no commute. Now that offices are starting re-open, you might start to remember that there is a lot to love about the office, too: social interaction, the joys of collaboration, and of course, that endless pot of coffee. Many companies intend to give us the best of both worlds by allowing employees to split their time between home and the workplace. But it will only give you the best of both worlds if you figure out how to combine home and office time in a way that maximizes your productivity and personal wellbeing. That means figuring out which days to spend at home, which days to spend at the office, and just as crucial, how to sell your boss on that plan.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is expected to order new restrictions next week for several counties, likely including the state’s largest, that would force businesses and churches to reduce their indoor gathering capacity from 50% to 25%.

RICHLAND, Wash. — Smoke billowed through the air near the Yakima River Delta and Highway 240 through the entire afternoon into Wednesday night, but local authorities say that the brush fires are under control. According to Richland Emergency Services, the wildfire is being monitored by two dedicated fire crews tonight. Though the fire hasn’t been fully extinguished, it’s expected to fizzle out naturally in a specified burn zone. Richland Police confirmed that there is no active threat posed to the public.

Pensions are a type of “defined benefit” plan. Typically, you’d pay into it (or technically your employer would pay into it on your behalf) during your working years, and once you retired, you’d have a guaranteed income stream for life...“Defined contribution” plans like 401(k)s encourage employees to save on their own while offering tax-deferred savings features. Plus, employers often match a percentage of their employees’ contributions, which both encourages them to save more and provides an added benefit in the form of additional money from the employer in excess of a salary.

Harter, a member of the Soil Science Society of America, is trying to solve one of the most complex puzzles in farming: how to track nitrate as it moves through farm fields....They found that a complex quilt of different soils lies underneath the almond orchard. These different soil types made it very hard to predict how nitrogen from one part of the farm would affect another area. Nitrogen levels varied widely across the farm, even though it was managed consistently by a single grower.

To help the state prepare for what she calls a potentially catastrophic wildfire season, Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz recently kicked off the Wildfire Ready Neighbors! program. The campaign connects those in wildfire prone areas with efforts and tools to help home and property owners take proactive step action to better protect their belongings from wildfire.

Once you know something, it can be difficult to take the perspective of someone who doesn't. This phenomenon, known as the curse of knowledge, can lead to miscommunication, conflict, and professional stumbles. To avoid this pitfall, one should slow down, think about what their audience needs to know, and try to catch themselves making assumptions.

At their San Francisco headquarters, Plenty is working on perfecting vertical farming of kale, arugula, bok choy, beet leaves, fennel, and mizuna. According to chief executive and co-founder Matt Barnard, Plenty’s technology uses a fraction of the land and one to five percent of the water compared to traditional agriculture. Additionally, all of Plenty’s facilities are powered by 100 percent renewable energy.

Human-caused climate change was putting humanity’s future in peril, she said in recorded remarks. Survival would depend on Earth’s original carbon-capture machines, the most effective tools for getting rid of greenhouse gases. People needed to find new ways to grow plants — and soon.

NOTE: Great interactive map of RCPP projects around the country!

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington lawmakers adjourned their legislative session Sunday after giving final approval to a two-year state budget, a new capital gains tax and a low-carbon fuel standard. As was the case for the entirety of the 105-day session, just a handful of lawmakers were in the Senate and House for the last day, under remote rules established for the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Democratic leaders in each chamber noted the pandemic’s impact, not just on their workplace with a new focus on remote testimony and voting, but on the details within the spending plan.

This spring, biologists discovered something they weren’t expecting to see. Male sage grouse proudly strutting during their quirky mating dances. The strange thing was, these birds were puffing up the bulbous air sacs on their chests, their songs calling out to nearby hens, right in the middle of a giant burn scar. “You’ll see these males displaying out in a completely burned, barren landscape. And they seem to be able to handle it,” says Michael Schroeder, who’s been working on sage grouse issues for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for nearly 30 years.

BEND, Ore. — Seven months ago, Central Oregonians felt the impact of some of the worst wildfires in this state’s history. Now there is growing concern that dry fuels across the region could ignite even bigger fires this year. Tinderbox conditions have already ignited several fires around Central Oregon this year, even as higher elevations are still blanketed with snow. Part of that is due to a drying out of the forests at lower elevations, which are experiencing some of the lowest moisture levels recorded in years.