Mission Statement: Sustainable Tri-Cities provides opportunities for people of the Tri-Cities to learn about and act on ways to protect our environment for a healthy and rapidly changing future.

EVENTS

May 2. First Saturday Bird Walk. 8 am. WE Johnson Park. LCB Audubon society. Please come a bit early so we can depart promptly at 8. Meet on Tanglewood Drive (near 621 Tanglewood Dr) at the south entrance of the park. We have binoculars to loan, and all levels of birders are welcome to join.

May 2. Bike Trail Clean up. 9-11am. May is Bike month! Let’s clean the trails. Meet at Ben Franklin Transit Parking lot, Columbia Trail. For more information contact sustainableTriCities@gmail.com. 

May 5. Webinar on legislative update for the geothermal energy collaborative process. 10 am. Registerhere.  WA Dept. of Ecology is hosting a virtual question and answer session on the draft legislative update and they would like our feedback on the update. The comment period ends May 15, 2026. Submit comments using this online form . Live Spanish interpretation provided in this Zoom webinar.

 May 6. Plant ID and Wildflower Walk with Janelle. 5 pm. Col. Basin Native Plant Society. Horn Rapids County Park.

May 7. Kennewick Comp Plan update. 5-7 pm. Highlands Grange Hall. Presentation at 5:45 pm. (See Actions, below).

May 8 & 9.  Master Gardener Annual Plant Sale. May 8^th, 9 am until 4 pm.  May 9^th, until 2 pm. Highlands Grange Park, 1600 S Union St., Kennewick.

May 9. Bike Tri-Cities 9th Annual Bike Expo. 10 am – 2 pm Learn how you can support building a more bicycle-friendly community. More info here.

May 13. Richland Transportation Survey findings: Richland Planning Commission Transportation Workshop. 6:00 pm, Council Chambers, 625 Swift Blvd.  May 27. Richland Draft Transportation Element & Draft Land Use Element. Richland Planning Commission Meeting. Same time and location.

May 14. Grow Garden Grow. Discover seeds, soil, roots, and garden growth. Little Explorers programs now run from 10:15–11:15 am in 2026. REACH Museum, 943 Columbia Park Trail, Richland.

May 16. Hike Through Time. 9:00 am–Noon. Candy Mountain Trailhead, 71004 E 669 PR NE, Richland. A free, guided 3.6-mile round-trip hike up Candy Mountain Preserve. visitthereach.us/events

May 23. Community Coffee Chat.10 am. Join Sustainable TC at the Tri-Cities Food Co-op, 1420 Jadwin, Richland. We will work together to prioritize the 2050 BFCOG transportation budget (see poster below) and/or do the BF Health District short survey together. (Their five priority areas for the next three years are: Access to Care, Safe Drinking Water, Housing, Food Insecurity, and Mental Health.) Let’s make change together!

May 23. Farm to Table. 10 am – 12 pm. How does food travel from a WA farm to your family’s table? This STEAM workshop explores the entire journey—from seeds and soil to harvesting, irrigation systems, and the science and technology behind modern agriculture. REACH Museum, 943 Columbia Park Trail, Richland.

May 27. TC Chapter Citizens’ Climate Lobby monthly meeting. 7 pm. Shalom UCC church Zoom . Participate in climate solution teams: Carbon Pricing, Healthy Forests, Building Electrification and Efficiency, and Clean Energy Permitting Reform, and help plan local educational events.

May 30. Plant-Based Bazaar. 11am–4 pm. Plant-based outdoor event for foodies, plant lovers & artists alike. Novel Coffee Co. 950 George Washington Way, Richland.  fb.com/events/1782540199105351

Actions for May

Do you remember this book?  Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) was based on her research on problems caused by pesticides, and it was met with fierce opposition from chemical companies.  But it swayed public opinion and led to a reversal in US pesticide policy and a nationwide ban on DDT for agricultural use. This week or next, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on a piece of must-pass legislation to guide farming policy and funding for the next 5 years.  It would grant the chemical industry a liability shield for dangerous pesticides and protect companies from lawsuits when their products harm people’s health.  OUR VOICES CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Say NO to the toxic FARM BILL (H.R. 7567 – Farm, Food & National Security Act of 2026). Personalize and sign this Center for Biological Diversity letter. From Lon Dickerson, Sacred Earth Matters.

Comprehensive plans and Climate Action:

We have been writing a lot this past year about giving your input to state and local comprehensive plans for climate action. Below is more information on the State and regional plans.

1. Washington Climate Partnership’s Comprehensive Climate Action Plan. The Washington Comprehensive Climate Action Plan  (CCAP) is now available. This plan was developed by the WA State Depts of Commerce and Ecology, with input from Tribes, communities, workers, businesses and others. The plan provides a comprehensive assessment of where the state is today and outlines pathways to meet required greenhouse gas reduction limits through 2050. CCAP identifies strategies across all sectors of the economy to reduce emissions, improve air quality and public health, strengthen the economy, and ensure an affordable, reliable, and equitable future. The next phase for the WA Climate Partnership is to work with partners across the state to implement the CCAP and share progress with WA residents. Learn more at  Home – Washington Climate Partnership

• Local Comprehensive plan updates: Benton and Franklin County and each city is working on updating their comprehensive plans, which are due December 2026, including adding a climate element. The plans guide decision-making, regulations, and investments towards meeting community goals over the coming 20 years. Now is your chance to speak up!

Kennewick Comprehensive Plan update. If you don’t attend the May 7 event, you can still send comments to senior planner matt.Halitsky@ci.kennewick.wa.us    See suggestions in attached doc.

Benton County Comprehensive Plan Updates.   Use planning.department@co.benton.wa.us to send a comment and to add your email address to their distribution list so future notices are sent directly to you. You can also attend monthly meetings at 6pm, Commissioners’ Hearing Room 303, 3^rd floor Building E, 7122 W. Okanogan Place, Kennewick.

BFCOG Regional Transportation Plan 2050

The Benton-Franklin Council of Governments (BFCOG) invites you to participate in an online interactive prioritization exerciseon our region’s long-range vision for transportation investments over the next 25 years.

For this quick and fun exercise, we want community members to step into the role of a decision-maker and, with a limited budget, choose which transportation projects they would fund from a list of real projects submitted by local agencies. Your input will help us understand better what matters most to our community and will directly inform how future transportation investments across Benton and Franklin Counties are prioritized. Link to the exercise here: https://bfcogrtp2050.com/rtp-2050-priority-mapping

Link to Facebook post here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14Vo4LGMFz1/ Due June 30, 2026.

BF Health District  Environmental Health Assessment Community Survey: what matters most to you about your environment – the places we live, work and spend time- and how it impacts your health. You can click “cancel” to go right to the survey, at the “select certificate for authentication” message.   This short survey is open through July 2026.  

Reminders

Get your Heritage Garden Certified this spring!  Main certification requirements . Take the Heritage Garden Program survey on how they can better help you meet your waterwise, native gardening needs:  https://forms.gle/RBDJqwuyKSQMLz8cA   See the Heritage Garden Website Garden Tours page to virtually tour all the 2025 gardens certified! Native plants are only available for pick up during Spring and Fall, but plant reservations can be placed anytime at https://www.taptealnativeplants.com/place-an-order

See the Sustainable Tri-Cities Resource Directory and let us know what needs to be added.  Send your events and volunteer opportunities to SustainableTricities1@gmail.org   so we can post them on our website and put them in this newsletter.

What we did in April

Attended the Badger Club forum -The Future Flows Here: Eastern Washington Water Resource Management. April 16.Watch the video HERE. Or read 4th WA drought emergency. ‘No way to sugarcoat’ power, fish and fire risks – NewsBreak.

4th Annual Earth Day at the REACH Museum, April 18. Jenni and Bill played a key role in planning and organizing the event for many months.  Jenni created an Earth Day 2026 Guide to promote the event, featuring Nick Zentner, a popular Youtube Geology professor.  The event was very successful, with an estimated 1k in attendance.  The Sustainable Tri-Cities table saw a steady stream of people interested in our ecofriendly landscape model, the article Is Recycling Still Worth It, and the free books, trees and plants. Many took our survey to help our cities prioritize sustainable living. Results to be published soon.

WSU – TC Environmental Club Earth Day Event. April 22. STC had a table along with about 12 other organizations. We discussed Data Centers, and opportunities to be heard with the state and local comprehensive plans. Lists of events with a description of our online directory were handed out.

 April 25 Community Coffee Chat- Discussed attending city workshops together, combined with a gathering for food, i.e. May 7.  Identified comments for the City of Kennewick and Benton County Comprehensive Plans. See page 4, below.

News and Things to Read

Key Questions to Ask When Considering Data centers in Your Community. Here is the newest resource from the AAAS Center for Scientific Evidence in Public Issues (EPI Center), in partnership with the National League of Cities and the GovAI Coalition, empowers local leaders and communities to ask developers how new data centers will impact energy, water, air, and economics in the area. Vetted by technical experts for accuracy but written for local and state leaders and community members, this resource will help decision makers uncover the information needed to make evidence-informed decisions about data centers proposed in their communities. 

LCB Audubon newsletters: https://www.lowercolumbiabasinaudubon.org/lcbas-curlew-newsletters

March 2026 issue: it has been illegal since January 2024 to transport birds across the Oregon border to Blue Mt. Wildlife due to Avian Influenza. Our only current option is to call the Washington State University Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Pullman at 509-335-0711.

Faith and science can work together to protect the Earth  by Richard Badalamente April 19, 2026.

Tumbleweird Magazine (May)

Pg. 20. Boots in the Basin. Unconventional pollinators.By kawanyanya. “The Peace Corps website has some simple recipes [to control garden pests] here.

Pg. 26. Is it time to go fare-free? By Dori Luzzo Gilmour

Pg. 30.  Good news on climate change, Part 3: Targeting atmospheric carbon dioxide at 350 ppm

will help us get control of the Earth’s greenhouse gas effect. By Steve Ghan and Bob Wegeng. “More about emission reduction trajectories next month, including more specific discussions on solutions.”