Ellensburg students get behind effort to name basalt cactus as WA's official cactus

By: Erick Bengel, Olympia Bureau

Outlets: Yakima Herald-Republic

Published: March 6, 2026

Words: 703

Last Updated: 2 weeks, 1 day ago

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OLYMPIA — Grade school students at Discovery Lab in Ellensburg are pushing to see a prickly plant with colorful blooms recognized as the state’s official cactus.

In doing so, they are bringing lawmakers’ attention to the shrub-steppe ecosystem while getting a lesson in how a bill becomes a law.

A bill the students have backed would designate the basalt cactus, which is native to Central Washington’s shrub-steppe, as the Washington State Cactus.

Why the basalt …

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