Steven Link stands in front of the three new greenhouses built at Washington State University’s Tri-City campus in Richland. They open Monday.
Posted: Monday, August 4, 2008
RICHLAND, WA - A greenhouse that will help scientists learn more about the Columbia Basin’s native plants opens Monday in Richland. It’s part of Washington State University’s Tri-City campus. The three structures were paid for by a federal contractor after mistakes were discovered at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Correspondent Anna King reports.
Steven Link is wild about native plants. The WSU botanist now he has three sparkling new greenhouses. They’ll be used to study plants from Northwest deserts. Link wants to find out how to grow the finicky native plants better. That way commercial operations can reproduce more plants for restoration projects. Link says the need is urgent.
Link: With development our landscapes here are being taken over by us building houses. So the properties where a lot of these native species exist are being taken away or they are disappearing. So this resource is becoming more limited.
The half-million-dollar greenhouses are being paid for by a Hanford contractor. It’s part of a fine issued by the Environmental Protection Agency for mistakes made at the nuclear waste site.
Copyright 2008 Northwest Public Radio