Washington Agriculture

As the new Americorps Intern at Cascadia Conservation District, I have taken over teaching our environmental education programs, Wheat Week and the Water on Wheels, in the schools throughout Chelan, Douglas and Okanogan Counties. I really enjoy being able to get out and teach these lessons, not only because they are educating students about crucial environmental concepts, but also because they are teaching the students about farming. Farming is something we have become further removed from as the number of small family farms have decreased across the country.

                However there is hope! In Washington, 89% of our farms are small farms. This is much higher than the national average where only 49% of farms are considered small farms. This impressive figure helps to bridge the gap between the production of food, fuels, and fibers and the consumer. Being aware of what goes into the production and the hard work, dedication, and care put in by farmers is extremely important. This is one of the many concepts I try to teach and convey to my students. It is not just going to the grocery store. I try to get them to think on a larger scale.

     Between crops and livestock, Washington agricultural products were valued around $10.7 billion for 2015. That figure represents only the products that are grown and raised here in Washington, it does not include the food processing industry that is also crucial, contributing more than $20 billion to the economy. Apples are a huge part of the agriculture industry here. Washington produces 70% of the apples in the USA. Here in Wenatchee, the apple capital of the world, we have rich volcanic soils combined with irrigation fueled by the Columbia River basin, providing quality growing conditions for ample yields.

                Farmers are not just growing the food that will end up on our tables, they are growing the fuel we use and the fibers we need. Farmers are crucial to our society and we are lucky to have as many amazing farmers as we do in our state. We depend on the agricultural industry not only to provide us with the food, fibers, and fuel for our day to day lives but we also rely on them for environmental stewardship, as they are caring for and managing many acres of land.

                Taking good care of the land is critical to farmers. They depend on healthy productive lands to grow their crops and keep their operations sustainable into the future. By implementing environmentally sound practices more commonly referred to as “Best Management Practices” or BMPs, farmers are protecting our soil, water, and even the air we breathe. 

If you are a famer and are interested in making improvements to your land by implementing some more Best Management Practices, check out our landowner assistance page on our website,  http://cascadiacd.org/landowner-assistance_239.html and see if any of the cost share programs might be for you and your land. Contact Sandy Letzing at (509) 436-1601 or sandyl@cascadiacd.org if you have any questions regarding the landowner assistance programs.

If you are missing the amazing farmers markets that we have here in Washington, check out http://wafarmersmarkets.org/washingtonfarmersmarketdirectory/ for more information on where to find farmers markets during the year and look forward to the spring to come.

Thank you for reading, please leave any comments, questions, or concerns below!

-Justine 

Did you Know? The modern domestic apple originated from what is now Kazakhstan in the Tien Shan Mountains. The only apple native to North America is the crab apple. Works Cited https://agr.wa.gov/aginwa/ http://www.appleorchardtours.com/hist14.htm http://theplate.nationalgeographic.com/2014/07/22/history-of-apples/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/kazakhstan/7978486/Kazakhstan-the-home-of-the-apple.html https://bestapples.com/washington-orchards/crop-facts/

What Cascadia Does, Part II

Two weeks ago we took a look at how Cascadia Conservation District is an asset to the community through its Landowner Owner Assistance Program. Continuing with that theme, we’re going to take a quick look at the Family Forest Fish Passage Program, which is run by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources- one of Cascadia’s partnering organizations. Cascadia’s roll in this program is to help Chelan County landowners determine eligibility, file the application and finally oversee implementation once funding is made available by the DNR.

Culverts like these block fish passage,
especially for juvenile fish.

A good portion of Washington’s forested land, 3.2 million acres (http://www.dnr.wa.gov), is privately owned by small forest landowners. These 3.2 million acres are an important habitat component in a state with federally protected anadromous fish populations. This is where the Family Forest Fish Passage Program comes in.

Working with qualified landowners, the purpose of the Family Forest Fish Passage Program is to replace culverts and other barriers with new structures that allow fish easy passage and reduce habitat degradation while improving access for land owners. Common culprits, culverts can degrade and dissect fish habitat in several ways. A culvert can deter fish passage if there is a drop, similar to a water fall, from the output of the culvert. Similarly, a culvert can become a barrier if it is undersized, creating high water velocity and pressure so great it prevents fish, especially juveniles, from advancing upstream.

Unlike our Landowner Assistance Program, there are several conditions for eligibility. You must be a private small forest landowner and harvest less than 2 million board feet of timber annually from your property. The barrier must be associated with a road and on forested land capable of supporting a merchantable stand of timber. Finally, the barrier must be in a fish-bearing stream, typically wider than 2 feet with a gradient less than 20%.

If you’d like to learn more about this program, visit the Washington State Department of Natural Resources website, call our office at (509) 436-1601 or come to our office at 15 N Mission St. Wenatchee, WA.

Today’s snowpack in North Central Washington is down to 55% of the 34 year average (http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov).

What Cascadia Does

“Oh yeah, the conservation district… That must be, uh, some interesting work?” Verbatim, my loquacious uncle’s reply when I told him what I’ve been up to and where I’m working. Like most, my uncle had no idea what a conservation district is. Surprisingly, I’ve had a hard time getting people to understand just what a conservation district does. There is no easy elevator speech for conservation districts. So I’d like to use the next few blog posts to highlight some of our programs.

 Officially, from the National Association of Conservation Districts’ website,"Conservation districts are local units of government established under state law to carry out natural resource management programs at the local level. Districts work with millions of cooperating landowners and operators to help them manage and protect land and water resources on all private lands and many public lands in the United States" (http://www.nacdnet.org/). In short, it is an organization that seeks to help people take care of the land and environment around us. Cascadia’s landowner assistance program is one of several ways we do this.

A hedgerow, planted to attract pollinators and other beneficial insects.

 The landowner assistance program is for landowners in Chelan County, excluding those within Wenatchee and Chelan city limits, who are looking for technical and/or financial assistance in installing best management practices (land use practices which mitigate environmental degradation). This could mean replacing outdated irrigation, restoring buffers or riparian zones or even soil testing. Because of this area’s predominant agriculture industry, its proximity to anadromous fish habitat and its proclivity for wildfires, much of our landowner assistance is for landowners with streamside, farmland, orchard or forested property. That said, if your land does not fall in one of these categories, it does not disqualify you for such assistance.

An excellent example of landowners who not only took advantage of our landowner assistance program, but also became role models for environmental stewardship, was highlighted in a blogpost of ours from November 21, 2011.

If you’d like more information on landowner assistance you can call us at (509) 436-1601, email us at www.cascadiacd.org or just come by our office at 14 N Mission St. Landowner assistance is only a fraction of what we do here at Cascadia, so please come back next week for a look at the Family Forest Fish Passage Program.

With all of the warm weather and rain we’ve had in the last week, today’s snow pack in our area is a measly 63% of the 34 year average.  

Landowner Assistance Program

A hedgerow, planted to attract pollinators and other beneficial insects.

Congratulations to Jerry and Junell Wentz who just received the Wildlife Steward of the Year award!

They were chosen for nomination because they have enthusiastically installed numerous projects on their commercial farm that enhance wildlife habitat. Read on to find out about the projects they have done!


In 2005, Junell and Jerry began working with Cascadia Conservation District through our Landowner Assistance Program.  They received partial funding for the installation of a new, more efficient micro-irrigation system for their cherry orchard. This initial project was a great success as erosion on their property nearly disappeared and managing irrigation became much easier.

 A barn owl nesting box.

In 2008, the Wentzes started working with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Cascadia’s partner agency, to begin managing and addressing other natural resource concerns they had on their farm. They received funding for soil testing and nutrient management, an integrated pest management plan, soil moisture monitoring, and an insect-attracting hedgerow.  Nesting boxes and perching poles that were erected have so far hosted kestrels and red-tailed hawks.  Beneficial insects have found new habitat in the two hedgerows planted with native, drought-tolerant plant species. Bats and native mason bees also have structures waiting for them to move in.

Introduced barn owls help control rodent populations.

In 2011 Jerry and Junell agreed to release several baby barn owls on their farm with hopes that they would make use of the nesting structures. The owlets were rescued from hay stacks in George where they were displaced when the stacks were moved after sitting over the winter. The Wentzes placed feeder mice around their farm for the first few weeks to help the owlets learn to hunt and to help them feel comfortable in their new home. Jerry and Junell reported seeing the owls often early on and have continued to see signs of them living in a nearby spruce tree.


The Wentzes went above and beyond the programs’ expectations.  Junell wrote to more than fifty neighbors, sharing what she has learned about alternative rodenticides, and urging them to adopt similar practices that are less harmful to birds and other wildlife.  Junell and Jerry put in many hours of hard work researching, building structures, planting hedgerows, and monitoring wildlife.  In return, they can now enjoy living and working with and as part of a more balanced ecosystem.  Inviting back natural predators of mice and cherry-eating birds and bringing in pollinators and other “good” insects has had a positive impact on the overall health of their orchard.

Because of their dedication, Cascadia nominated Jerry and Junell as Wildlife Stewards of the Year within our district boundary and that nomination entered them into a statewide ranking process. They
were also chosen as Wildlife Stewards of the Year for the entire state!

Mason bee nesting structures (left) and bat boxes (right).

“Lots of farmers aren’t willing to take the risk, but I hope to bring
awareness to fellow farmers through my success with the bird boxes and
hedgerow… Because I got help through these programs it detracted worry from finances and I didn’t feel like I was going at it alone. I learned a lot and got great support.”   

–Junell Wentz

Cascadia’s Landowner Assistance Program provides a way for landowners and leasees to get technical and, in many cases, financial assistance to start or continue managing natural resources on their land. 

Check out our Landowner Assistance Program Handout for additional information.

Please call us at (509) 664-9370 if you are interested or would like to learn more!  

For more information and application forms for this and other awards, visit the Washington Association of Conservation District's website, http://www.wadistricts.org/our-programs/2011-wacd-annual-awards.html

Your friend in conservation,
Julia