WACD Reading List

After a devastating wildfire season that saw a baby boy die and 1,200 square miles of the state burn, Washington lawmakers are poised to fight fire with money. A lot of money. Legislation that’s received unanimous support would see Washington spend an additional $125 million over the next two years to extinguish, prevent and live with fires. Both legislative houses have passed House Bill 1168 and Gov. Jay Inslee is expected to sign the bill, which would see the state spend $328 million on the efforts by 2027.

THE USDA IS DAYS AWAY FROM ANNOUNCING “GREATER OPPORTUNITIES” FOR LANDOWNERS TO TAKE FRAGILE FARMLAND OUT OF PRODUCTION IN EXCHANGE FOR AN ANNUAL PAYMENT, SAID AGRICULTURE SECRETARY TOM VILSACK ON THURSDAY.

(CNN)The wildfire season "is coming quickly and it's coming earlier." That's the message from meteorologist Eric Kurth and the National Weather Service in Sacramento, California, as the state deals with a crippling drought and vegetation and grasses that are already beginning to brown. "We are seeing record levels of dryness for this time of year. It's more like what we would see later in June than mid-April," said Kurth.

USDA will permanently end its Farmers to Families Food Box Program at the end of May. The program, which bought meat, dairy and produce from farmers and directed it to hungry families, was created by the Trump administration during the pandemic. Over the past year, USDA has spent more than $4 billion on the program and delivered more than 156 million boxes through mid-April.

WASHINGTON, April 14, 2021 – USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) today announced it will extend the deadline for public comment on proposed revisions to 23 national conservation practice standards through a posting in the Federal Register. The proposed revisions were published March 9 with comments originally due April 8. Comments will now be due April 22.

“The fact that they were willing to do a sales tax that would dedicate funding to try to keep these ranches working, I think that’s pretty amazing. I think it’s something that could be duplicated throughout the state,” said Kelly, whose land was originally homesteaded in the 1870s.

Mike Petersen, a longtime conservation advocate and executive director of the Lands Council, was fired by the board of directors March 5. Petersen had worked at the council for nearly 30 years.

Today, 70 leading agriculture, conservation and wildlife groups delivered a letter to Congress requesting robust funding for conservation programs and technical assistance in fiscal year (FY) 2022 appropriations. In the letter, American Farmland Trust (AFT), the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD), the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and other signatories called upon House and Senate appropriators to provide needed robust increases to discretionary United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation funding and reject any cuts to farm bill conservation programs through the FY22 appropriations process.

CHEHALIS – Starting in summer 2021, construction will begin to remove a fish passage barrier on the West Fork Chehalis River. In partnership with Weyerhaeuser Company, Lewis Conservation District is sponsoring this river restoration project to open seven miles of previously isolated stream habitat for salmon and steelhead.

Nine counties across the state may be in danger of rolling back a phase in the state's Roadmap to Recovery plan next week, according to data on the state's COVID-19 phase and risk assessment dashboard. A decision about each county's future is expected on Monday, April 12.

Ne’er-do-wells leaked personal data — including phone numbers — for some 553 million Facebook users this week. Facebook says the data was collected before 2020 when it changed things to prevent such information from being scraped from profiles. The HaveIBeenPwned project, which collects and analyzes hundreds of database dumps containing information about billions of leaked accounts, has incorporated the data into his service.

Andy Billig: “I counted once and found there were 37 places that a bill could die along the legislative process, but really no place where it can get a direct route to becoming a law..."

Washington Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz was in Wenatchee Monday morning to announce the launch of the Wildfire Ready program.

The Lummi Nation and Nooksack Tribe have partnered to advocate for water rights resolution in the Nooksack River basin.

King Conservation District is seeking a qualified candidate to serve as Senior Director of Stewardship Programs.

Social Engineering is a technique that is performed by cybercriminals who indulge in exploiting human weaknesses. The act of Social Engineering involves various techniques all of which involve the manipulation of human psychology.

With leadership theorists offering encyclopedic volumes of advice, successful leadership may appear to be more of a hope—like finding the right book in the Library of Congress—than a goal one can actualize. Elusive as successful leadership practice may be, it needn’t be a vain hope…even in today’s uncertain times.

Earth's land ecosystems absorb a large portion of all the carbon dioxide emissions produced by human activities, helping to slow global warming. On average for a given year, plants and soil take up, or ...

It was clear humans were warming the planet for some time -- now we have official confirmation.

You see this in a new joint riparian habitat initiative that will provide a uniform, science-based management approach to salmon recovery. We need greater protection for the stream side vegetation that lowers water temperatures, filters pollutants and reduces sediment that smothers salmon eggs.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and private landowners have partnered to protect more than 5 million acres of wetlands, grasslands, and prime farmland — an area the size of New Jersey. Since October, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has enrolled 110,000 acres in new conservation easements, bringing USDA to this important conservation milestone.

This winter has been dominated by La Nina. a period of below-normal sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific. The implications of La Nina have been profound for the West Coast, with above-normal snowpack in the Northwest and dry conditions over the southwest U.S.

“Broadband is the new electricity,” said the White House. “It is necessary for Americans to do their jobs, to participate equally in school learning, health care, and to stay connected. Yet, by one definition, more than 30 million Americans live in areas where there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds. Americans in rural areas and on tribal lands particularly lack adequate access.”

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- It appears the extensive precautions Washington residents have taken to fight the COVID-19 pandemic have worked to prevent other illnesses from spreading as well, including the flu.

Residents of rural areas think working from home is temporary and as soon as the threat of the pandemic ends, everyone will return to the office.

DURING HIS CAMPAIGN, BIDEN SAID HE WOULD “EXPAND BROADBAND, OR WIRELESS BROADBAND VIA 5G, TO EVERY AMERICAN.

Producers in southcentral Washington impacted by a wildfire Labor Day weekend near Kahlotus may receive financial assistance from the FSA. The department is implementing the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) due to damage caused by this wildfire to livestock fence and livestock water troughs. The Monday September 7th fire was exacerbated by high winds and burned a large portion of Washington’s Franklin County.