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The problem with Cascade wildfires is there aren’t enough

A new study from Oregon State University confirms what seems counter-intuitive: fewer natural wildfires are leading to unhealthy forests and more catastrophic fires. According to a report from Oregon Public Broadcasting, only ten percent of forests in the eastern Cascades have burned in the past thirty years. Low intensity fires, it turns out, help create open spaces, reduce insect damage, and build resistance to drought.

Orca whales headed toward extinction

At Crosscut, Allegra Abramo reports that marine biologists saw an alarming drop in orca sightings in the Salish Sea this summer. It was the worst year on record in 40 years. Declines in salmon runs, the food that fuels these magnificent creatures, are to blame. Scientists predict if no action is taken, orcas could be extinct in thirty years.
In related news, a WA state senator introduced a bill to phase out salmon farming in Puget Sound. Escaped Atlantic salmon can out-compete native salmon runs orcas depend on.

Filmmaker prevails in lawsuit brought by Vancouver Aquarium

Documentary filmmaker Gary Charbonneau won a defamation lawsuit brought against him by the Vancouver Aquarium, which claimed his exposé of the aquarium’s treatment of beluga whales and dolphins was hurting business. “It’s a huge win for artists across Canada, the director said, “It’s a huge win for the poor animals in captivity.” You can watch the full documentary on YouTube.

The “other” Vietnam War Veterans

At Northwest Asian Weekly, Assunta Ng writes a fascinating account of Vietnamese-American war vets and how their experiences fighting for the South Vietnamese army are often ignored or kept silent. Many former refugee veterans deal with PTSD, medical issues, and shame at having to “tell people that you were defeated.”

Tracy K. Smith reads Mathew Dickman’s poem “Minimum Wage”

In a podcast from New Yorker, U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith reads and comments on Portland poet Matthew Dickman’s poem “Minimum Wage,” a poignant vignette of people the economy has cast aside. It’s a great conversation about poetic process, and in addition Smith reads a poem of her own, an “erasure” of the U.S. Declaration of Independence that transforms it into a powerful demand for racial justice.

Writers + Pie + Whiskey = Spokane’s gift to the world

I had the pleasure of attending a reading from the anthology Pie and Whiskey last night at Seattle’s Washington Hall and it was amazing. Nearly a dozen writers read essays, poems, and stories about booze and butter, including Kim Addonizio, Anastacia-Reneé, Shawn Vestal, and Kristen Millares Young. It’s a road show for the event that was born in Spokane in 2012, and is the brainchild of Samuel Ligon and Kate Lebo. The Dry Fly rye was scrumptious and the marionberry pie to die for. Spokane seems to be having a moment. Even long-time Spokane congressional rep Cathy McMorris is facing serious challenge. I highly recommend a poem Lebo wrote about McMorris, not to mention the time Sam Ligon imagined sitting down for a cocktail with the conservative politician.

–Andrew Engelson