#WashingtonState #wildfires threaten animals, homes, #crops

Story by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, July 27, 2023

"A wildfire that started in #Klickitat County, Washington, on Friday afternoon destroyed more than 30,000 acres in less than a day and continues to grow as it feeds on brush, grass and forest vegetation.

"Fire crews are working to extinguish the #NewellRoadWildfire near #Bickleton, which has resulted in the evacuation of residents in the rural area, and is threatening #farms, #livestock, #homes and #wind and #SolarFarms, reported KOMO News.

"'It's very difficult terrain to fight fire,' said Allen Lebovitz, a spokesperson for the state's Department of Natural Resources, as Reuters reported. 'We are under a red flag warning. That's a #firefighter's worst nightmare because the #humidity is dropping precipitously. The winds are picking up. And so the fire carries extremely fast.'

"The wildfire is burning just to the north of where the #Oregon-Washington border is represented by the #ColumbiaRiver. It has destroyed several structures and is threatening a #NaturalGas #pipeline.

"Lebovitz said the fire was heading in the direction of the #Yakama Indian Reservation."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/washington-state-wildfires-threaten-animals-homes-crops/ar-AA1er4ah?rc=1&ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=981bee14b02942c4bb3675d430fab3a1&ei=9

WA Lawmakers Work on Issue of Missing and Murdered #Indigenous Women

https://www.chronline.com/stories/washington-lawmakers-work-further-on-issue-of-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women,307874

Nationwide, more than 80% of #AmericanIndian and #Alaskan #Native women reported experiencing violence in their lifetimes, and those populations made up a disproportionate percentage of missing people in the U.S., according to a 2022 report prepared for Congress.

Lekanoff is sponsoring House Bill 1177 to create a cold case investigations unit in the state Attorney General's Office focused on missing and murdered Indigenous people. Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, is sponsoring the companion Senate Bill 5137.

Annie Forsman-Adams, policy analyst for the attorney general's task force and a member of the #Suquamish #Tribe, said unresolved homicide or missing people cases have a large cultural effect on #tribal communities, since it can be difficult to perform ceremonies when the remains of loved ones have not been identified or recovered.

In Washington, one of the earliest recorded cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women took place in 1855, when miners murdered a #Yakama woman, her daughter and baby, igniting the Yakama War, according to some accounts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_handprint

"What our nuclear history means for indigenous food: Two stories about the loss of land and the persistence of hope"

Excellent #podcast episode of Things that Go Boom, by @laicie

Available now on apps and online: https://shrtm.nu/vLn2

Guests include: Robert Franklin, Associate Director of the #Hanford History Project; Marlene Jones, Marylee Jones, and Patsy Whitefoot, #Yakama Nation members; Kali Robson, Trina Sherwood, and McClure Tosch, Yakama Nation’s Environmental Restoration/Waste Management Program; Togzhan Kassenova, Senior Fellow at the Center for Policy Research, SUNY-Albany; Sarah Cameron, University of Maryland

#indigenous #nuclear #radiation #histodons @histodons #STS #food