While employment in the rural West's traditional industries is certainly declining, it's too simple to say these industries are dying. Instead, they are under pressure to add value, find new markets, and become more environmentally sustainable. The number of bankruptcies filed in eastern Washington dropped last year for the first time since 1994, though the number of filings on farms doubled. The Nevada company AgriBioTech Inc., one of the largest grass seed companies in the world, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, leaving Idaho growers unpaid and threatening an already weak farm economy. Irrigation on Colorado's west slope is carrying toxic selenium into the region's rivers, in some cases, raising selenium levels to five times the state's allowable threshold.
Dissolved selenium is toxic to birds and fish, and state officials are talking about controls.
Farm groups see Santa Fe's water purchase as threatening precedent. Irrigators have filed protests against Santa Fe County's plan to buy the water rights of a farm near the Colorado border and transfer them south, saying it's the first step in siphoning off northern New Mexico's agricultural water for the state's thirsty cities. More and better technology meant that Idaho generated more income from wood products last year, though employment was down slightly. Mont. The plant presses wood shavings and sawdust into a smooth-faced board. The expansion will add about 20 jobs.