okanogan

On Friday, Senators Maria Cantwell, Patty Murray and Representative Dan Newhouse as well as the rest of the Washington congressional delegation called on the USDA to declare a federal agriculture disaster for 12 counties.  The lawmakers called on Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue to declare counties where crops were damaged or destroyed by unseasonably cold weather.  ...

Earlier this year, the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a 90-day comment period on the proposed reintroduction of grizzly bears in North Central Washington.  That comment period comes to a close Friday October 24th, but before that window closes, a public meeting will take place where livestock producers and others in the Ag community can learn details of the plan

The Washington state Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications for Northeast Washington Wolf-Livestock Management grants.  The grants are used to create a local approach to providing assistance with non-lethal management methods to reduce livestock depredations by wolves in the four NE Washington counties (Okanogan, Ferry, Steven and Pend Oreille counties).  Th...

The USDA announced Wednesday it will reopen some FSA offices around the nation to meet the needs of farmers and ranchers.  Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue said unfortunately they won’t be able to reopen to normal operations.   “We will call back about 2,500 FSA employees to serve our customer’s needs.  That’s going to be in abo...

While the collection dates are a month away, the Washington State Department of Agriculture is encouraging you to sign up now for their free pesticide disposal days in Yakima, Prosser, Okanogan and Wenatchee.  WSDA’s Joe Hoffman said with many operations moving in the organic direction, as well as federal requirements regularly changing, there are a host of pesticides that need to be safely remove

Washington State University Extension for both the Colville Reservation and Okanogan County will host a trio of events aimed at teaching you how to grow your own groceries.  The first takes place Wednesday, May 25th at the Omak Dance Arbor.  The sec...

Representatives Dan Newhouse and Glenn Thompson will be in Okanogan on March 31st for a roundtable and tour of the area.   Newhouse says it’s important for legislators to be up close and personal with what happened last year noting, “I can tell the story and I do as often as I can, but I think it’s very important to get people out on the ground, see firsthand for themselves. The old picture is wor

The Washington State Department of Ecology is seeking public comment on shoreline plans in Pasco and in Okanogan County.   In Okanogan County, the plan will replace the shoreline master plan and is designed to help minimize environmental damage to shoreline areas, reserve appropriate areas for water-oriented uses and protect people’s access to public land and waters.   T...