Cascadia today: WA preps for megafire + naloxone in BC schools + author's winemaking journey
Is WA ready for the next megafire?
The New York Times reports on how western Washington is preparing for a potential mega-wildfire thanks to drought and climate change. Dense forests of the western Cascades aren't as adapted to wildfire as the drier, ponderosa-pine forests of the eastern side, the article notes. As a result, fires such as the human-caused Bear Gulch fire in the southeast Olympics are harder to contain and are potentially more destructive. Speaking of Bear Gulch, Washington state Department of Natural Resources director Dave Upthegrove recently noted that fires like Bear Gulch are getting harder to contain thanks to a 50 percent cut to wildfire fighting and prevention the legislature passed this year, KING5 reports. And also on the topic of Bear Gulch, the recent photo making its way on social media of a deer walking in front of the Staircase ranger station, wrapped in foil to protect it from wildfires hits me pretty hard – I was one of the last people to hike in that region during the Fourth of July weekend before the 5,000-acre fire near Lake Cushman forced closure of the area.
More than ever, Cascadia needs to lead on climate action.
Oregon knows about legislative walkouts
As Democratic lawmakers in Texas fled the state in a boycott of Republican efforts to gerrymander the state's Congressional districts in their favor, Oregon legislators are reflecting on their own experience with walkouts, OPB reports. In four different sessions between 2019 and 2023, Republicans walked out of the Oregon legislature in an attempt to block legislation on COVID restrictions, abortion and gender-affirming care. Now they accuse of Oregon Democrats of hypocrisy for supporting the Texas walkout. Except: Texas is about DENYING FAIR REPRESENTATION TO PEOPLE, not a handful of bills you disagree with. If you were hoping Washington state would gerrymander its Congressional districts in favor of Democrats, leaders in the legislature say it's too soon for the process to happen before 2026, Washington State Standard reports.
Naloxone required at all BC high schools
Proving British Columbia's public health approach to the overdose crisis is way ahead of the rest of Cascadia, CBC reports that two live-saving technologies will be requires in all BC high schools by the end of the year: defibrilators and naloxone, a medication that can stop opioid overdose. Elementary and middle schools will be required to have them in 2026. After more than 16,000 people have died from overdose in the province since 2016, the latest data show the death rate fell slightly in May and June of this year, CBC noted.
A Cascadian author's journey in winemaking
The Inlander talks with longtime Pacific Northwest writer Nicolas O'Connell about his latest book, Crush: My Year as an Apprentice Winemaker, a memoir and account of winemaking in Cascadia. It includes interviews with pioneers of winemaking in Washington and Oregon and sets out to demystify the process.
"Before I started making wine, I thought of it as just something that showed up in a bottle. But there's so much that goes into it." – Nicolas O'Connell
--Andrew Engelson
