Editorial policy

The Tamarack Ledger publishes one kind of page: an entry that answers a single question about a house, a lot or a public record in the Inland Northwest. Everything on the site is written by the desk and checked against sources a reader can obtain.

Sources

An entry rests on records and publications, not on opinion. In practice that means the county assessor's parcel record and tax roll, the permit file kept by the building department, the flood insurance rate map published for the community, the state or county wildfire risk layer, the building code the jurisdiction has adopted, and publications from the land-grant university extension service. Where a manufactured part is involved, the manufacturer's own installation instructions are read and named.

Each entry lists what was read. Where two sources disagree, the entry says so and names both.

The date

An entry carries the date its sources were last checked. When a code, a map or a record changes, the entry is revised and the date moves. A reader should treat the date as the freshness of the check and not as the day the page was created.

Corrections

A correction is made when a reader sends a source that settles the point, or when the desk finds the error itself. The entry is revised in place, its date changes, and the substance of the correction is described in the entry rather than hidden.

Privacy of the reader

The ledger has no account, no comment form and no newsletter. It records no reader profile, and the only message it receives is the one a reader chooses to send to the address on the contact page.