Army helicopters could be used for the vegetation study but would scare away birds. portions of shrub-steppe habitat in Washington state. The Hanford Reservation is the other. "It's a bit ironic ...

Called Columbia River Processing, the unmarked, windowless plant is actually a Tillamook factory, recognizable for its stainless-steel milk silos and double-tanker Milky Way trucks parked outside.

This year the event partnered with the Shrub Steppe Trails Alliance, a nonprofit group that works locally to secure local land use and trails while preserving the area's unique ecology.