Increased Fire Hazard & Ecology Open House

Increased Fire Hazard & Ecology Open House

Increased Fire Hazard & Ecology Open House plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. With all the rain we have been having here in the NW you might be thinking that the firefighters would be breathing a sigh of relief and you would be partly correct. According to Dan O'Brien, Manager for the NW Coordination Center the rain has delayed the start of the fire season. O'BRIEN: The rain provides the necessary moisture for vegetation at lower elevations to grow more profusely. You get out in the basin country and the grass crop grows a lot better than it normally does just because it has more moisture. The Washington Department of Ecology is holding an open house in Tacoma to gather input about what works and doesn't work with the state's current aquatic plants and algae permit. The Aquatic Plant and Algae Management General Permit covers the discharge of products used to control aquatic plants and algae in Washington lakes. The permit also allows treatment of nuisance emergent plants along roadsides and ditch banks. Control products include aquatic herbicides, algaecides, biological clarification products, aquatic dyes, adjuvants, and products such as alum. The open house marks the beginning of a public process to update the permit and is scheduled for Tuesday, June 22. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. It really seems at times that California is intent on cutting its nose off to spite its face. First they drive egg producers out of the state with Proposition 2, and now they're forcing dairy producers to relocate in order to stay in business. In other states getting a permit to form a new dairy takes ninety to one hundred eighty days, in California it takes five or more years. Large food producers such a Nestle who may have entertained the idea of making California their base of operations have opted to go elsewhere due to the excessive amount of regulations and red tape they have encountered in the "golden state". Several northwest and central plains states have made it known they would welcome California's dairy farmers and have made it a point to actively recruit them. Dairy producers everywhere have struggled to stay in business the last couple of years and most have lost large amounts of money. Feed prices have soared and milk prices have plummeted, so when California dairy farmers are offered affordable land and feed prices in a state that wants their business moving would seem a "no brainer". California bureaucrats may soon find themselves truly "crying over spilt milk". Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
Previous ReportPrimary Offense & New SNAP Tool
Next ReportPortland Commits to Green Technology & Dealing with Child Labor