06/20/07 No Smoking & Auction Winner

No Smoking & Auction Winner plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Oregon is on the verge of becoming smoke free. The Oregon State legislature has given final approval to a bill banning smoking from bars, taverns, bingo halls and bowling alleys. The bill now lands on Governor Kulongoski's desk and he has already said he will sign it. Washington State has been smoke free for some time now and one hospital in Everett has taken that to an extreme. Providence Hospital does not allow any smoking on their campus and is now stating that any patient who leaves a room to smoke will be forcibly discharged. Another hospital in Edmonds put the same policy in force last year saying they want to create as healthy an environment as possible. It's official. Trent Stewart of Redmond, Oregon is the 2007 World Champion Auctioneer. STEWART: It feels great. How could you not feel great, I feel very lucky. Stewart has competed for the last 8 years in the competition sponsored by the Livestock Marketing Association. This was LMA's 44th competition. Contestants must qualify in one of 4 regional's before attending the World Championship which was held last week in Springfield, Missouri. Stewart says it takes a lot of dedication. STEWART: It's just a lot of dedication. If you love it you won't give up on it. Find a company, go to work for them and just get dedicated. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Susan Allen. First there was landscaping, next came xeriscaping, now if you really want to be an "avant-garde" gardener you had better be practicing wildscaping. Wildscaping is basically bird feeding on steroids. It is inviting all the natural kingdom, the birds, bees, bugs, critters indigenous to your neighborhood for a picnic in your backyard. Like any good host you had better serve what your guests like. A true "wildscaper" doesn't fall for every plant labeled "wild" or "native" they thoroughly research the habitat specific to their region but within reason. If I was a literal "wildscaper" I wouldn't set foot in my back yard as it would be filled with sagebrush, rocks and rattlesnakes. The wildscaping movement grew as a response to the devastation reaped by suburbia and the habitat restoration examples set by government and environmental groups like Trout Unlimited or the Isaac Walton League. So this summer have fun wildscaping and don't sweat or swat the bees and bunnies in the garden they are all a part of your new backyard safari. Thanks Susan. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.