Northwest News

The state of Oregon is on the lookout for fraudulent fertilizer. State regulators say it’s a growing problem for indoor gardeners. The Oregon Department of Agriculture recently cracked down on a California company that it says was selling a potentially harmful product.

Property owners in central Washington are confronting a common issue after wildfires: safety around charred trees.

There’s been some speculation over the years as to how wind farms would hold up in the event of a large wildfire. Now, the verdict is in. From EarthFix, Courtney Flatt reports a central Washington wind farm was not damaged.

Scorched earth surrounds wind turbines just outside Cle Elum, Washington. A fire that drove through over the last week and a half destroyed more than 50 houses and has burned an estimated 23,000 acres. It did not burn 48 wind turbines.

Operations manager Eric Melbardis says gravel landscaping protected the turbines from the fire.

Law enforcement officers seized more than eleven thousand marijuana plants in Blaine County Idaho Thursday. The illegal grow operation was on public land in the Sawtooth National Forest near Galena Summit. Several agencies were involved.

Two Oregon conservation groups have a new idea for cooling down streams. Their plan is similar to the credits used to offset carbon emissions. And today, the federal government is backing the plan with a grant. Amelia Templeton of Earthfix explains.