Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
Winter wheat is the state’s leading crop and a major export from the Columbia basin, which also grows barley, dry peas, lentils, and hay on dryland farms. Irrigated crops include potatoes, vegetables, fruits, hops, and mint. Washington markets more apples than any other state and is a major producer of pears, cranberries, and wine grapes; winemaking, which began on a small scale in the early 1900s, began to flourish in the late 1980s, and Washington is now one of the country’s largest wine producers. Vegetable seeds, berries, vegetables for canning or freezing, and flower bulbs are specialties of the Puget Sound Lowland.
Dairying is a leading rural industry of the northern Puget Sound Lowland, which is also noted for poultry. Beef cattle and sheep graze on the eastern grasslands and the open forestlands of mountain regions.
Farms vary from a few acres to hundreds of acres; since the mid-20th century the tendency has been toward larger and fewer farms, owned by corporations instead of families. Former agricultural land near large cities has been converted to urban use at an increasing rate.
About three-fourths of Washington’s forested land is usable for commercial timber production, although development is restricted in many places by laws instituted to protect the environment or endangered species. A little more than half of the commercially viable forestland is owned privately, including by Native American tribes; the rest is under federal or state ownership, much of it in national forests and national parks. Forests support both wood-product industries and wildlife and recreation. Multiple use and sustained yield have been primary management objectives on both private and public forestlands since early in the 20th century.
Commercial fisheries are another significant sector in the state’s economy. Salmon, halibut, cod, and herring are the principal species landed at ports on Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, and Puget Sound. Developments in aquaculture supplement the harvest with salmon, trout, and shellfish.
Resources and power
Water is Washington’s most valuable and most versatile natural resource. The leading freshwater source is the series of dams on the Columbia River drainage system that impound water for irrigation, hydroelectric power, and flood control while also providing for navigation, fisheries, recreation, and industrial uses. The Columbia and the rivers of western Washington, blocked by hundreds of dams, account for one-third of all hydroelectric production in the United States. Grand Coulee Dam ranks among the largest power plants in the world. Groundwater resources are exploited for domestic and industrial use and limited irrigation in the Puget Sound Lowland and, to a lesser extent, along the main river valleys of the Columbia basin; groundwater aquifers supply a significant proportion of water in the drier eastern portion of the state.
Sand, gravel, and clay are the most valuable of the state’s limited mineral products. Magnesite, lead, and zinc are produced in the Okanogan Highlands. Coal production in the Cascades and Puget Sound Lowland declined during the 20th century and finally came to an end in 2006 with the closing of the state’s last coal mine, an open-pit mine near Centralia that provided fuel for a thermoelectric power plant. A limited amount of precious-metal mining (including gold) occurs in the eastern Cascade Range, notably in the Wenatchee area. The state’s several aluminum refineries depend on hydroelectricity and imported alumina to produce about one-fourth of the primary aluminum in the United States.
Agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and mining have furnished materials for Washington’s processing plants since the 19th century. By the mid-20th century, aircraft and aerospace production in the Seattle area had risen to first place among the state’s fabricating industries. The Boeing Company, formerly headquartered in Seattle, has commercial aircraft manufacturing operations based in the state, with assembly facilities at Everett and Renton. U.S. Navy facilities on Puget Sound provide for the construction, repair, and demolition of ships; major installations are the U.S. naval submarine base and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on the Kitsap Peninsula. Petroleum refineries on northern Puget Sound process Alaskan and foreign crude oil.
In the late 1970s high-technology manufacturing of electronic systems and computer software emerged as an important component of the state’s economy. Microsoft Corporation, established by Seattle natives Bill Gates and Paul Allen and headquartered in the onetime farming community of Redmond (now a Seattle suburb), is a world leader in computer operating systems and applications; its presence attracted hundreds of smaller businesses and generated much new wealth, and growth was especially rapid in the 1990s. The high-technology and Internet sector, however, was affected by an industry-wide downturn at the turn of the 21st century, and recovery was slow. This was followed by a smaller boom in the early 21st century that was precipitated by the massive growth of Seattle’s other major technology company, Amazon.com.
Services and taxation
Tourism has become a major source of income in Washington. The variety of scenic areas, including three national parks, draws increasing numbers of visitors to the state. Seattle and other cities of the Puget Sound area have worked to develop new cultural facilities—concert halls, theatres, art museums and galleries, and sports arenas—as well as to renovate historic properties. Boating, hiking, skiing, whale watching, sports events, and local festivals are other major tourist attractions around the state.
The state constitution prohibits a tax on personal income. Washington derives more than one-half of its tax revenues from a general sales tax, which accounts for less than one-third of the state’s total income. Excise taxes are also important sources of funding.
Harbours on Puget Sound and the outer coast afford year-round access to world ocean routes, and a state ferry system serves the San Juan Islands and Canada’s Vancouver Island. Navigation locks allow boats to pass between Puget Sound and Lake Washington in Seattle. Barges carry grain and raw materials along the Columbia-Snake route.
Airlines link the state’s cities with one another and with transcontinental and world air routes. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport ranks among the leading U.S. airports in international passenger travel.
The state has a well-developed system of highways and interstate freeways. Pontoon bridges span Hood Canal on the Olympic Peninsula and Lake Washington in Seattle. Select areas of Seattle and Tacoma are serviced by a light-rail system, which also runs from Seattle to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Railways crisscross the state but rank behind trucks in freight transport. Several Amtrak passenger routes provide rail service across the state. Pipelines move oil and natural gas from out of state and distribute refined products.
Government and society
Washington’s constitution of 1889, reflecting the distrust of government that was characteristic of the time, contained many restrictions on state power. One reflection of this was the creation of a divided executive branch, which has nine elected offices, from the governor and lieutenant governor to the attorney general and state auditor.
The legislature comprises the Senate, with 49 members elected to four-year terms, and the House of Representatives, with 98 members elected to two-year terms. Important limitations on legislative powers include the earmarking of certain funds for specific purposes. Initiative and referendum on legislation and recall of elected officials give the voters a check on the legislature. The governor’s veto power has been expanded to include all legislation, except referenda and initiatives, to the extent of eliminating lines in budget acts or sections of other laws.
The courts are divided into four levels. Courts of limited jurisdiction—justice, municipal, and police—are local and hear traffic cases, minor criminal and civil cases, and small-claims actions. Superior courts are general trial courts, having original jurisdiction in felonies and in civil cases not delegated to the limited courts. The Supreme Court and the appellate courts are almost solely courts of review. All judges, except some classes of appointed municipal and police judges, are elected on nonpartisan ballots. Grand juries, created by a superior court, are used mainly to investigate political corruption, though their legal powers are considerably broader.
The composition of the government in each of Washington’s 39 counties depends upon a population-based classification system established by the legislature. The governing body in most counties is the board of county commissioners, whose three members act as both the chief executive officers and the legislative body for the county. The Optional Municipal Code was adopted in 1969, substantially expanding the powers of cities choosing to come under it. Cities with populations of 10,000 or more can adopt a home-rule charter if such a referendum is approved by the electorate, while municipalities of 300 to 10,000 are granted optional noncharter home rule by statute.
Elections and political parties are regulated by state law. The unique feature of the nomination process in Washington is the “blanket primary,” which replaced the closed primary in 1935 and permits citizens to vote for any candidate without disclosing their party membership. This law reflects a characteristic independence among the state’s voters. Split voting has been reported by three-fourths of the voters in both primaries and final elections.
Washington has a history of political activism and progressivism that dates from the turn of the 20th century, when the radical unionism of the Industrial Workers of the World gained a strong following among the region’s migratory and seasonal workers (loggers, railroad workers, and farm labourers), whom more conventional unions had trouble organizing. Washington has long been a stronghold for the Democratic Party, and overall the state usually favours the Democratic candidate in presidential races. The Republican Party does well in rural and less-affluent areas, such as the traditional lumber-producing regions and east of the Cascades. Seattle and its suburbs tend to be strongly liberal. Democrat Dixie Lee Ray became one of the country’s first women governors (the second elected in her own right and not simply to succeed her husband) when she won the election in 1976, and from the 1980s through the early 21st century the Democratic Party held the governorship, though sometimes by the slimmest of margins. Two of Washington’s notable representatives in the U.S. Congress have been Democrats Warren Magnuson and Henry Martin (“Scoop”) Jackson, who both served from the 1940s until the 1980s, first as members of the House of Representatives and then in the Senate. Jackson also ran for president in 1972 and 1976.
Health and welfare
In 1936, responding to the federal Social Security Act of 1935, the state assumed broad responsibilities for welfare programs. The Department of Social and Health Services administers benefits for children, seniors, and families; it oversees both private and public medical services, including Medicaid, and offers basic health care to low-income families. Washington ranks among the top states in public aid to families with dependent children. Separate agencies provide aid to the blind and to veterans. There are also commissions for human rights and insurance consumer protection. The Employment Security Department assists those who seek jobs and disburses unemployment insurance payments.
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