The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
54°F
Current Conditions
Scattered clouds
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Winds Push Idaho Smoke Into Valley South Spokane County Bluegrass Farmers Have Thousands Of Acres Of Fields Left To Burn

Ken Olsen And Karen Dorn Steele S Staff writer

An unexpected wind shift pushed smoke from burning Rathdrum Prairie grass fields into the Spokane Valley on Tuesday, prompting 90 complaints to the Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority.

“It’s one of those unfortunate deals when farmers have to rely on Mother Nature,” said Linda Clovis of the Intermountain Grass Growers Association.

Rathdrum Prairie growers, meanwhile, probably won’t burn the rest of the week, out of deference to people attending the Kootenai County Fair, which began Wednesday.

“I doubt they will burn unless conditions are so perfect, the smoke would absolutely immediately go up and out,” Clovis said.

Farmers in Spokane County and North Idaho did not burn fields Wednesday.

The farmers universally say they abhor burning their fields. They say there is no effective alternative that does so much for yields while eliminating pests and diseases.

The good news is that with Tuesday’s 1,900 toasted acres, more than half of the prairie grass fields are burned.

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe allowed burning on about 350 acres of bluegrass fields on the reservation Tuesday, but still has lots of burning left to complete the 19,000 acres in grass seed production.

Spokane County bluegrass farmers burned about 400 acres in the foothills near Mount Spokane, but that smoke went north, according to Mabel Caine of the Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority.

Only about 500 acres have been burned in Spokane County so far this year. That means most of the fields still remain to be burned, much of it in southern Spokane County.

“We’ve hardly begun over here,” Caine said.

Other SCAPCA officials say a total of 7,200 acres have been registered for burning year to date. They expect farmers to purchase permits for another 4,000 acres.

A clean air activist said her organization got a barrage of calls Tuesday.

Many people said they can’t get through on the Idaho or Spokane complaint hot lines, said Patricia Hoffman of Save Our Summers.

“Lots of people are getting busy signals,” said Hoffman, a Spokane Valley veterinarian.

Spokane’s experience with heavy smoke on Tuesday is what people in smaller towns suffer far more often during grass burning season, Hoffman said.

, DataTimes