U.S. Department of Agriculture
New tree-planting projects to sprout in Washington with help from $36M in grants
Call it seed money. More than a dozen Washington communities will receive a combined $36.3 million from the federal government for urban forestry projects. The funding is part of about $1.1 billion in competitive grants the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded across the country last week to plant and maintain trees in urban areas. The […]
USDA’s climate grants for farms and forests run into Republican buzzsaw
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is spending more than $3 billion to cultivate more American farmers and forest landowners as partners to mitigate climate change — even while some Republicans on Capitol Hill try to stop the program entirely. The administration launched a new farm program, Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities, this year. It is the […]
Preparing for an invasive insect that is destructive to crops
The spotted lanternfly might not be here yet, but Washington officials are beginning to take steps to prevent the spread of the crop-damaging bugs. Since first appearing in the U.S. in Pennsylvania in 2014, the invasive pest has quickly spread west, harming wine grapes, other crops and trees in its path. It’s now known to […]