- Elk River Natural Resources Conservation Area (dnr.wa.gov)
Totaling 5,560 acres, this area is the largest, highest quality estuarine system remaining in Washington or Oregon. Elk River Natural Resources Conservation Area includes diverse habitats, ranging from tide flats and sloughs, saltmarsh and freshwater wetlands, to forested uplands. As part of the Pacific Flyway, the Elk River estuary is an important spring and fall stopover area for shorebirds and waterfowl, such as the common loon, tundra swan, and various species of ducks, plovers, and sandpipers, supporting up to 1 million shorebirds annually. The NRCA also includes a nesting site for bald eagle and significant habitat for elk, bear, beaver, river otter and other mammals.
- Afghanistan - The World Factbook (cia.gov)
Ahmad Shah DURRANI unified the Pashtun tribes and founded Afghanistan in 1747. The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian Empires until it won independence from notional British control in 1919. A brief experiment in increased democracy ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 communist countercoup. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support the tottering Afghan communist regime, touching off a long and destructive war. Internationally supported anti-communist mujahidin rebels forced the USSR to withdraw in 1989. A series of subsequent civil wars saw Kabul finally fall in 1996 to the Taliban, a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement. Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, a US and Allied military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Usama BIN LADIN.