Our Organic Northwest

Army Corps of Engineers At Work in WA's Nile Valley

YAKIMA, WA - Residents of the Nile Valley in Eastern Washington are getting some extra help from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps specializes in rebuilding infrastructure after natural disasters and war. The State of Washington is struggling to keep the Valley passable after a massive landslide destroyed a portion of Highway 410.

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Tree Farmers May Profit From Climate Regulation

(Photo: Small woodland owner Ken Falk hopes to sell carbon offsets tied to these trees in Monroe, Oregon.)

MONROE, OR - Some airlines are starting to do it. Some Northwest ski resorts, too. They’re inviting people like you to pay a little bit extra to offset the global warming pollution resulting from an activity such as a trip. A carbon offset is a bit like an indulgence... a polluter pays someone else to remove an equivalent amount of global warming gases from the atmosphere. In our region, private timberland owners, farmers, and some tribal governments are dreaming dollar signs.

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UI Agriculture Funding Plan Deadline Looming

MOSCOW, ID - The University of Idaho says early November is the deadline to have a funding plan in place for its agriculture and extension services. The problem facing the UI and the agriculture industry in the state is the $4.7 million cut in the university’s agricultural research and extension budget, stemming from two state budget cuts. The proposed closure of research centers in the state, including one at Parma, raised alarms earlier this year.

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Forest Service Tries to Resurrects White Pine in Idaho

(Photo: Forester David Cobb checks the status of a tiny white pine seedling that the Forest Service planted last June on a hillside above Priest Lake in north Idaho.)

COEUR D'ALENE, ID - A lot of small towns in Idaho date back to the 1800s, when loggers were drawn to the area by huge white pines. It’s a tree that towered over all the others and was so common that it became Idaho’s state tree. But 100 years ago, the Great Fire of 1910 burned three million acres of timber and marked the decline of the white pine. Now the US Forest Service is trying to help the tree regain its former prominence.

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Conservationists Disappointed by Aspects of New Oregon Forest Plan

EUGENE, OR - US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced a new plan for managing federal forests in Western Oregon. Conservationists say the plan is not ideal.

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Less Trash Generated in the Down Economy

RICHLAND, WA - The down economy has one silver lining. Across the Northwest people are throwing away less trash these days. That’s good for the environment, but it’s also forcing some cities and counties to lay off landfill staff or raise dump prices.

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The Devil's Staircase in Oregon Close to Winning Federal Protection

PORTLAND, OR - A pristine piece of the Southern Oregon landscape is closer to winning federal protection. The Devil's Staircase is a rugged forested place in the southern-most edge of the Coast Range, east of Reedsport. From time to time, timber companies have identified it as a possible site for logging. But its terrain is so steep, and hard to navigate, that its old-growth trees have remained intact.

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Washington, Oregon Ask for Federal Help for Dairy Farmers

The Washington and Oregon state agriculture departments are asking the federal government to buy massive amounts of milk and cheese. Washington has lost 39 dairy farms this year and Oregon 16 as milk prices have fallen sharply across the nation.

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Drug Busts at Outdoor Pot Plantations On Record Pace

(photo: Boise County chief deputy sheriff Dale Rogers with a haul of marijuana. Courtesy of Boise County Sheriff’s Office.)

BOISE, ID - The Northwest’s vast acreage of public land is proving attractive to marijuana growers. We’re not talking a dozen plants here and there but thousands of plants per grow site, tended by armed drug gangs. Federal and local drug agents are on pace to match or break the region’s previous record for seizures from outdoor pot gardens. That was set just last year. But it’s unclear if the vigorous eradication campaign is having an effect on the weed’s price or availability on the street.

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Impending Frost Means Bad News for NW Gardens

This week the first frosts of the season are expected across the Northwest. That means green thumbs should bring in their sensitive plants, cover up their produce at night and say goodbye to their marigolds and basil. But the coming of cold weather isn’t all bad news for gardeners and farmers.

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