On the same day that Washington eliminated its tourism promotion funding and shut down its state tourism office, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, in her new role as chair of the Western Governors Association, announced that her initiative for the year will be a “Get Out West!” campaign, promoting outdoor recreation, conservation, tourism and volunteerism across the 19 western states. “This is a wonderful opportunity for us to do it collectively with governors in the West,” she declared. Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com, which also includes a wrap-up of today's final day of the Western Governors Association's annual meeting in Coeur d'Alene, at which Gregoire took over the chairmanship from Idaho Gov. Butch Otter.

Not in the story: This tidbit from Otter. He says this is the first WGA meeting he can remember to which Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer didn't bring his dog. Why not? "He said he rolled in some dead fish, and so he wasn't going to bring him."