State seeks to assess health of native pollinators while creating bee atlas.

The Washington Bee Atlas has been initiated to catalog native bee species in the state, engaging citizen scientists in the process. Volunteers, including those who participated in a collection event at Olympic National Park in July, are crucial to this effort. The project aims to establish a baseline for understanding the status of native pollinators, as noted by Karla Salp from the Washington State Department of Agriculture, which collaborates with Oregon State University and Washington State University. This is the first comprehensive attempt to assess the native bee population and their host plants, which will inform conservation and agricultural practices.