Loggers' clear-cutting causes floods, droughts for ranchers downstream; Vancouver, BC

Struggling rancher at loggerheads over clear-cutting:
Randy Saugstad is waiting for the flood. Then he'll be waiting for the drought. The Williams Lake-area cattle rancher says the Liberals' controversial makeover of the province's logging regulations is going to spell disaster at his off-the-grid beef operation.
So he's been fighting Tolko Industries, the Vernon-based logging company that last month started cutting trees in the watershed above his ranch.
On Dec. 23, Saugstad used his pickup truck to block Tolko's crew from putting in a bridge. On Wednesday, he received a letter from high-powered Vancouver law firm Bull Housser Tupper promising to sue him for damages if he does it again.
'All I can do is wait until they finish logging, and then in the spring when the flooding starts, I can go to court,' says Saugstad, 59.

Program provides technical assistance to backyard fruit tree growers, connects harvests with food banks; Seattle, WA

Home & Garden Volunteers help homeowners with fruit trees Seattle Times Newspaper:
Even in a typical year, the plum tree in Monica and Heidi Risse's front yard spawns more plums than they can use.
Plums have gone to their Beacon Hill neighbors and to family. Monica used to take bags of them to work. The sisters have made plum sauce, attempted oven-dried plums and have plans to make plum jam. But this year, by their estimate, there are 20 times as many plums as usual.
Not bad for a tree they barely tend to. So when they heard about City Fruit, they jumped at the chance not only to have their fruit harvested but to learn how they could be better tree stewards.