State wildlife and health officials urge people to be cautious when approaching animals acting strangely, following disclosure that a gray fox involved in a Dec. 11 biting incident tested positive for rabies.

Foxes and raccoons in particular may show signs of convulsions, excessive drooling, or aggression, or may appear uncoordinated or walk in circles. Rabies is a viral disease that attacks the nervous system. It can be spread to humans, livestock or unvaccinated pets by bites, scratches or saliva. Bats, coyotes and skunks can also carry the disease. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said people should not approach animals that show symptoms of the disease.

If bitten, wash the wound with soap and water for at least five minutes and seek medical attention.

The biting incident happened in the Alazlea-Glen Road area of Douglas County. Additional details were not immediately available.

People who see wild animals acting strange should call the ODFW Wildlife Health Lab toll-free at 866-968-2600 to report the animal to one of ODFW’s veterinary staff. Douglas County residents who encounter pets or stray cats or dogs acting odd should contact Douglas County Animal Control at 541-440-4471.

Registration is open for Organicology 2015, the annual gathering of organic farmers, retailers, activists, policy experts and others.

The event will be held Feb. 5-7 at the downtown Hilton Hotel in Portland. To register, visit http://www.organicology.org

The gathering features a trade show, displays, discussions and workshops on issues ranging from climate change and food safety to organic food production and the next generation of organic leaders, according to organizers.

Speakers include Matthew Dillon of Seed Matters, LaDonna Redmond of Campaign for Food Justice Now and Arran & Arjan Stephens of Nature’s Path Organic.

A pre-conference event, a Feb. 4 “Food Lovers Excursion” tour of Ayers Creek Farm, the Fraga Farmstead Creamery and Momokawa sake distillery, requires a separate registration. (http://www.organicology.org/farm-and-tasting-tour) The tour will be led by Lane Selman, an Oregon State University ag researcher and director of the Culinary Breeding Network.

Snowfall is seriously lagging rainfall in Oregon and Washington, creating a precarious situation for irrigators as winter approaches.

Experts say that snowpacks must increase substantially in early 2015 to ensure adequate water supplies for next year’s irrigation season.

“We are behind the eightball,” said Scott Pattee, water supply specialist in Washington for the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Snowpacks are roughly 60 percent below average in Washington and 70 percent below average in Oregon while precipitation has been above average in both states, according to NRCS data.

At this point, however, the numbers signal a late start to the snow season rather than a dire outlook for irrigators, since there’s still the potential for significant snowfall in the early months of 2015, Pattee said.

“Right now, it’s not that worrisome,” he said.

Above average rainfall is good news because the soil is now saturated, which means the ground won’t have to absorb a lot of melting snow in springtime — contributing to healthier streamflows, Pattee said.

The downside is that rains have melted some snow at the mid-elevation level, he said. “The mid-elevation is probably the most critical because it has the most land mass.”

The current situation is nonetheless a marked improvement from last year, when inadequate rainfall caused a deficit in soil moisture, aggravating the effect of poor snowpacks, said Julie Koeberle, hydrologist for NRCS in Oregon.

However, rain cannot compensate for snow, which effectively provides water storage and allows irrigators to better plan for their season, she said.

“We were hoping for a better start,” Koeberle said.

Snowpacks reach their peak in early April, but in some areas they top out in mid-March, she said. “The writing is on the wall by then.”

Right now, there’s no reason to panic, but irrigators really need snowpack levels to improve by early February, Koeberle said.

If snowpacks remain low at that point, “we would be a lot more concerned,” she said.

Irrigators have less reason to be nervous in Idaho, where rainfall has been about average and snowpacks are only 20 percent below normal.

Above average snowpacks in western Wyoming are an important plus for irrigators in Idaho, as this region strongly contributes to water levels in the Snake River, said Ron Abramovich, water supply specialist for NRCS in Idaho.

“It all starts in the headwaters of the Snake, which is Wyoming,” he said.

The Boise basin, which feeds the Snake River in the western part of Idaho, has an average snowpack, which bodes well for irrigators in that part of the state, Abramovich said.

It’s too early to celebrate, though, as snow must continue accumulating through winter, he said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association has cast doubt on the prospect of heavy Northwest snow storms in the coming months.

The agency said there is a 65 percent chance of an El Niño ocean atmospheric pattern developing in the Pacific Ocean, which is usually associated with milder Northwest winters. Its long range weather forecast also predicts warmer conditions across the West this winter.

A federal appropriations rider that prohibits spending money to list the greater sage grouse as endangered appears to protect on-going voluntary conservation measures.

The distinction is important. Private landowners and soil and water conservation districts in eight Oregon counties are adopting voluntary agreements that enhance sage-grouse habitat without unduly burdening ranchers.

Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances, of CCAAs, have become popular in sage grouse country. Under such agreements, so named because sage grouse are a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act, ranchers and other landowners agree to do such things as mark fences, put escape ramps in water troughs and remove juniper trees, which suck up water and crowd out sage and native grasses. In return, they get protection from additional regulations for 30 years even if the bird is listed as threatened or endangered.

The soil and water districts, trusted by local landowners, forge the agreements with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The service had been scheduled to decide whether to list greater sage-grouse by September 2015, but a rider added to a stop-gap funding bill prohibits the use of funds to list the bird next year.

But Elizabeth Materna, spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service in Portland, points out language in the rider that recognizes the “unprecedented collaboration regarding sage grouse conservation.”

The rider language continues, “This provision is not intended to impede current conservation efforts; it is imperative that stakeholders continue on-the-ground conservation and monitoring activities.”

“Therefore, it would not prevent us from completing our multi-county CCAA or other CCAAs,” Materna said in an email.

Ryan Yates, congressional relations director for the American Farm Bureau Federation, said a listing delay gives voluntary conservation efforts more time to take hold.

“There’s a lot of good work being done by the states, counties and landowners and industry groups,” Yates said during a visit to the Oregon Farm Bureau convention Dec. 10. “Hopefully we’ll be able to demonstrate what that means to the sage grouse population.”

Mail Tribune

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — The agriculture arm of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians has transformed the Rogue River Ranch in a matter of 18 months.

K-BAR Ranches Corp., established in 1976 and acquired by the Cow Creek Band in 2001, purchased the 1,700-acre cattle ranch at the base of the Table Rocks in May 2013. Since then, Rogue River Ranch has expanded its cattle herd and reached new levels of alfalfa, wheat and corn production.

“There is unbelievable potential for the crops we grow,” General Manager Tim Bare told a Chamber of Medford/Jackson County Forum audience recently. “We think there is tremendous potential for the protein markets. We choose to raise beef because we can grow forage so abundantly here in the mild, temperate climate in Southwestern Oregon.

“I can tell you there are a lot of people who would absolutely love to bring their livestock to this area. The only limiting factor I can see is that we just don’t have the vast acreage they have over in Central and Eastern Oregon, but the ground we do have is extremely productive.”

Bare said later that K-BAR Ranches Corp. has leased adjoining parcels for farming, pushing the firm’s Jackson County operation to nearly 2,000 acres.

After surveying the lay of the land on the mile-and-half-wide, 4-mile long ranch, Bare told the tribe 2013 would be a salvage year, primarily because the watering system was inefficient, using 45 quarter-mile wheel lines.

“That was the good news,” he said. “The bad news was that it was half-enough. It was a daunting task, I was pushed out of my comfort level. You couldn’t physically irrigate this ranch with 45 wheel lines.”

The irrigation problem was remedied by the purchase of eight circle pivot units, augmented by 20 wheel lines that weren’t sold off. That allows the operation to handle 400 head for finishing at a given moment while running 1,500 head of calves. The finished beef supplies most of the K-BAR Steakhouse at the Seven Feathers Casino.

“When you start selling a product that is worth $2.50 to $3 per pound and it only costs you 30 cents a pound to produce, that’s a win-win,” Bare said. “So there is tremendous potential.”

In 2013, he said, the ranch produced 5 tons of hay to the acre. This year in three cuttings, the yield was 8 tons per acre. Between K-BAR’s Douglas County and Rogue Valley holdings, he anticipates 15,000 tons of hay in 2015.

“You can imagine how long it takes to mow your own lawn at home,” he said. “Well, our lawn is substantially bigger.”

Bare said more automated irrigation is integral to production at the ranch, which has five full-time employees and long-established water rights.

“That is extremely important, no question about it, more so here in Jackson County probably than Douglas,” Bare said. “Over in Central Oregon they don’t even raise one crop without water. Here with alfalfa and some of the different crops we grow we can actually get pretty good production, but without water you’re pretty challenged. Currently, there is still enough forage still growing in our pastures that we don’t have to supplement them and we probably won’t have to supplement those cattle until January.”

K-BAR just finished planting 400 acres of winter wheat, which will be harvested next July.

“A lot of these fields haven’t been farmed for 40 years and the sod was six inches thick,” Bare said. “With some of the new varieties that are out, my goal is to produce 200 bushels of wheat here in Southwest Oregon. It is very much going to be a reality, and no, it won’t be GMO.”

The cattle raised in Jackson County are transported to Crystal Creek Meat in Roseburg for slaughter.

“They are limited to how many animals they can handle,” Bare said. “They can only handle about 20 a week. Right now that’s enough for the restaurant. As we grow that won’t really handle it.”

He said K-BAR sometimes uses processing plants in Springfield or in Northern California.

“We took a hard look at maybe opening our own (slaughterhouse) but we haven’t decided to go down that road yet.”

Responding to questions from the Capital Press, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided some answers regarding crop damage and its management of geese. Questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity. Answers were provided by the agency’s public affairs personnel and wildlife biologists.

Q: A 2014 USFWS population report estimates 281,300 Cackling Canada geese winter in the Willamette and Lower Columbia River valleys. The management goal is 250,000 — a number that appears to be routinely surpassed. At what point does the population number trigger a review or change in management?

A: The June 2014 Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta survey and associated population index ratio for cackling Canada geese produced an estimate of 281,300 individuals in the population. The Pacific Flyway Management Plan for Cackling Canada Geese was last updated in 1999. Since 1999, the Cackling Canada goose population estimate has exceeded the plan goal of 250,000 in six of 14 years. Currently the Pacific Flyway Council is in the process of determining a schedule for revising the Cackling Goose Management plan. As with all management plans produced by the Pacific Flyway, the plan will be revised cooperatively among participating state and federal wildlife agencies and will include input from non-government stakeholders.

Q: Farmers would like to see extended hunting seasons and greater latitude in hazing birds off their fields. What needs to happen for those changes to come about?

A: The annual process for setting migratory bird hunting regulations is conducted as a cooperative effort between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state wildlife agencies.

Waterfowl management is conducted primarily at the flyway level. There are four administrative flyways in the United States (Atlantic, Mississippi, Central and Pacific). Each flyway is managed by a flyway council consisting of representatives from state governments. Flyway councils make regulation recommendations to the Service for waterfowl as well as migratory shore and upland game birds.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act stipulates that regular hunting seasons of migratory game birds will last no longer than 107 days and be closed between March 10 and Sept.1. Changes to Willamette Valley goose hunting regulations within the frameworks allowed by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act must originate as a recommendation by the Pacific Flyway Council and then approved by the Service Regulations Committee.

To assist with alleviating conflicts, depredation permits are available to Willamette Valley producers that would allow lethal take of up to 20 cackling Canada geese per permittee outside of open hunting seasons, and until May 31 (for more background on this answer, see Flyways.us website: http://flyways.us/regulations-and-harvest/federal-regulations-background)

Q: It is government policy to protect and maintain large populations of migratory birds, but the burden of feeding them essentially falls on farmers. They have asked for the refuges, for example, to plant feed crops that would keep geese off farm fields. What needs to happen for that to take place?

A: The Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex (WVNWRC) is made up of three National Wildlife Refuges — William L. Finley, Ankeny and Baskett Slough, and was created in the 1960s, particularly to provide wintering habitat and sanctuary for the dusky Canada goose (duskies).

The dusky is a subspecies of Canada goose that breeds only in the Copper River Delta area on the south-central coast of Alaska and on islands in the Prince William Sound and Gulf of Alaska. They winter primarily in the Willamette Valley and along the lower Columbia River of Oregon and Washington. The dusky has one of the smallest populations of geese in North America and the Willamette Valley NWRC provides key winter habitat for a majority of these birds.

The rest of the Willamette Valley is also the wintering home for the cackling, Taverner’s, lesser, and western subspecies.

At the refuges, we work with local landowners, Oregon State University and other partners like the Farm Bureau, to identify ways to provide feed for geese.

Approximately 5,000 acres of fields are planted and maintained specifically to provide food for the geese (i.e. grass, hay, etc.) and these important feeding areas and associated wetlands are closed to public access from Nov. 1 through March 31 to provide a sanctuary to hold as many geese on the refuge as possible, in an effort to reduce depredation on private land. Many of these acres are farmed under a cooperative agreement with local farmers. The Service is always open to feedback on ways we can work with partners and the community to provide increased foraging opportunities.

Q: What can be done to compensate farmers and other landowners for wildlife damage? They believe the requirements are difficult; are they? How much money is paid annually to Oregon and/or Southwest Washington farmers or other landowners for damage caused by geese?

A: Cackling geese populations and associated depredation issues on private land have been an ongoing multi-state issue for many years. Folks with concerns about cackling geese are encouraged to contact APHIS-Wildlife Services for information about their depredation programs or the Service’s Migratory Bird Permit Office for information on obtaining depredation permits. ODFW can be contacted for information about their cackling goose hunting season in the Willamette Valley.

Proponents of Oregon’s genetically modified organism labeling initiative are finally throwing in the towel more than a month after election day.

Measure 92, which would have required labels for food containing GMOs, lost by about 800 votes but the margin was so narrow that it triggered an automatic recount.

A judge Tuesday rejected a request by supporters to force state officials to count 4,600 ballots that were excluded due to discrepancies between voter signatures on ballot envelopes and registration cards.

Supporters have now conceded defeat in this campaign but hinted that the fight over GMO labels is far from over.

The Center for Food Safety, a chief supporter of Measure 92, noted that ballot initiatives to legalize marijuana were rejected by voters repeatedly before ultimately passing in Washington, Colorado and Oregon.

Biotech companies and other opponents of Measure 92 had to spend record $20 million to prevail, the non-profit said in a press release.

“How long do they plan to keep up this absurd spending? Because the food movement isn’t going anywhere,” said Andrew Kimbrell, the group’s executive director, in the statement.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — High winds are forecast to hit the Oregon coast Thursday morning and move inland Thursday afternoon and evening.

The National Weather Service says the winds will be strong enough to bring trees down onto power lines, causing outages. Holiday decorations could go flying.

Forecasters are warning of winds gusting as high as 85 mph on the coast, including the coast of southwest Washington.

Winds in the Willamette Valley and Portland-Vancouver area are expected in the 20 mph to 30 mph range with gusts up to 60 mph possible.

Forecasters also are warning of 25 mph to 40 mph winds and gusts to 60 mph in parts of central and eastern Oregon, including Bend.

As a youth, Mary Anne Nash had a front-row seat to the devastation environmental regulations can inflict on a natural-resource business.

She watched as the federal government booted her parents off their Central Oregon grazing allotment to protect salmon. Then, after relocating to what she described as “the driest part of the Oregon,” she watched as her parents struggled to obtain a county building permit in sage grouse country.

“It was tough to deal with,” she said, “particularly for my parents, who weren’t interested in the legal side of running a ranch. They just wanted to run their operation.”

Nash, the new public policy counsel for the Oregon Farm Bureau, today is embracing an opportunity to help ease regulations for farmers and ranchers who, like her parents, just want to run their operations.

She and Jenny Dresler, the Farm Bureau’s new government affairs associate, joined Oregon’s largest farm organization earlier this month. Dresler replaced Ian Tolleson, who left the Farm Bureau to take a similar position with Northwest Food Processors Association. Nash replaced Mike Freese, who left to join Association Oregon Industries as vice president of government affairs.

“One of the biggest reasons I wanted to work with Farm Bureau is to see if we can’t make it a little less frustrating to be in this business,” Nash said.

Nash traces her interest in natural resources policy to the experiences of her youth. In high school, as a member of FFA, she even won a state public speaking contest, speaking about opportunities for the environmental community and the natural resources community to work together.

“I think it still is one of the biggest challenges (for the two communities to work together), but I don’t think the solution is as easy as I thought it was when I was 18,” she said. “There is such a fundamentally different perspective about the right way to use the land.”

Nash graduated from Oregon State University, where she studied environmental economics, then from the University of Oregon’s School of Law, before joining the Portland law firm Schwabe Williamson and Wyatt, where she advised clients on natural resources issues.

Nash said she thoroughly enjoyed working with individual farmers and ranchers while at Schwabe Williamson, but she believes she can better affect natural resources policy at the government level than at the court level.

“I thought that working on the front end, and seeing if we can’t actually fix some policies that can be ineffective, would be the most effective way to serve the industry,” Nash said.

Dresler, formerly policy analyst for the Senate Republican Caucus, brings an equal interest in natural resources industries to her position as government affairs associate.

“I have focused on agriculture and natural resources policy throughout my career to date,” she said. “I see this (position) as a really good fit.”

In addition to working with Senate Republicans, Dresler said she has also worked extensively with Senate Democrats.

“Being in the caucus office gave me a lot of exposure on the floor,” she said. “I was on the floor every day with all the members, and I have built relationships on both sides of the aisle.”

Katie Fast, vice president of public policy at the Farm Bureau, said she is looking forward to working with both Nash and Dresler.

“Both have the perfect combination of life experience and work experience, and they are able to hit the ground running at Farm Bureau,” Fast said. “We’re excited to have them on board.”

KENNEWICK, Wash. — The new president of the Far West Agribusiness Association wonders why he waited so long to get involved.

“I’ve been working for 35 years and the first 31 years, we reaped the benefits and other than paying dues, never giving anything back,” said Tom Wimmer. “The networking opportunities, the educational opportunities — I’ve gotten more involved on our state issues, committees with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, regional deals and finding out what’s happening nationally and internationally. It’s a global society. It’s been fantastic.”

Wimmer, business manager for Marion Ag Service, Inc., in St. Paul, Ore., assumed the presidency from Brian Becker of the McGregor Company during the association’s winter meeting in Kennewick, Wash.

Wimmer expects legislative issues in Idaho, Oregon and Washington to take precedence in the next year, including GMOs and water quality.

He wants to maintain extended hours of service for commercial truck drivers during prime agricultural times.

“Agriculture can be a highly seasonal occupation,” he said. “You have a window of opportunity to get crops in, to do the maintenance to the crops and for harvest. Sometimes that involves long hours.”

Wimmer hopes to keep the organization’s momentum going to maintain a favorable legislative and regulatory environment for agricultural retailers

“We want to provide the latest information to our members, to keep them current, to meet the fast-changing environment we do business in,” he said.

Wimmer also hopes to inform youth about career opportunities in the industry. Far West offers a program to connect businesses with college students seeking internships.

Wimmer intends to reach out to the general public about the benefits of agriculture.

“We’re good neighbors, we’re responsible,” he said. “We want to continue to provide a healthy environment around us, because we live in it too.”

LINCOLN CITY — Oregon Farm Bureau President Barry Bushue said a “whirlwind year” for agriculture will be followed by more of the same, as the state’s and nation’s farmers face continuing challenges over water, pesticides, GMOs, labor and other issues.

Speaking at the bureau’s annual convention on an appropriately blustery day at the Oregon Coast, Bushue said agriculture is often at odds with regulatory agencies, lawmakers, activist groups and a public that either doesn’t understand it or wants to change it.

“People love farmers but they do not trust agriculture,” Bushue said. “We have a battle on our hands with public perception. We have become the scapegoat for the evils of agriculture.”

Bushue said the Environmental Protection Agency’s attempt to extend its authority over waterways, for example, “may be the most dangerous threat U.S. agriculture faces.”

“There’s a stream in Arizona that’s had water in it for seven minutes in the last seven years,” and the EPA wants to declare in a navigable waterway, he said.

The bureau must work within the political structure and accept that it won’t get its way with the Legislature every time, he said. Policy decisions are not always clear and easy, he said, and in the upcoming Oregon legislative session “We will not be able to be all things to all people.”

Bushue praised the efforts of bureau members who battled against the mandatory GMO labeling measure in the November election and are trying to overturn the “draconian” biotech crop ban in Jackson County.

The organization’s work with Oregon’s congressional delegation to say “not only no, but hell no” to the U.S. Department of Labor in the “hot goods” blueberry case was a high point of the year, Bushue said.

On other issues, Bushue said he is concerned about divisions among farmers and “attempts to protect one market at expense of another” — an apparent reference to wine grape growers complaining that spray drift from other producers has damaged vineyards.

“Somehow we have descended into discussions of, ‘My crop is more valuable than yours,’” he said. “We are better than that, we have to be.”

Bushue also said the bureau is facing declining numbers, with county seats unfilled nationally and in Oregon. The organization must work harder to connect with young farmers and to help members bring issues forward and share information, he said.

“I am always optimistic and excited about the future of agriculture, it’s a great place to be,” he said.

SALEM — A bill that would end property tax exemptions for crops, livestock and farm machinery in 2018 will be considered by Oregon lawmakers next year.

Legislative Concept 1674, which the House Revenue Committee recently voted to introduce as a bill in 2015, would sunset numerous exemptions that apply to agriculture, potentially driving up property taxes for farmers.

“It’s one of the top bills we have to stop this next session,” said Katie Fast, vice president of public policy for the Oregon Farm Bureau.

Currently, many on-farm items are indefinitely excluded from the assessed value that farms are taxed upon in Oregon, including:

• Nursery stock, whether growing in the ground or in containers.

• Annual and perennial crops.

• Christmas trees.

• Harvested crops that are in the farmers’ possession, including hay, grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and dairy products.

• Poultry, livestock and bees.

• Farm machinery and equipment.

Under the legislative concept, these exemptions would effectively expire on July 1, 2018 unless they’re renewed by the Oregon legislature.

The value of roads on farming, grazing and forest land isn’t currently assessed as taxable property, and this exemption would be removed permanently by the proposal, which makes many other changes to Oregon tax law.

For agriculture groups, the bill is worrisome because even the exemptions subject to renewal would require the passage of new legislation.

The exemptions are thus vulnerable to ceasing, which creates tax uncertainty for farm businesses.

“It is a huge hit for farming operations,” said Fast, noting that the bill could burden farmers with mountains of paperwork on top of tens of millions of dollars in added tax liability.

Similar proposals were floated twice in the Oregon legislature over the past decade and soundly defeated but Democrats strengthened their majority in the legislature in the November election so there’s a different dynamic, she said.

Increased revenue generation is likely to be a major point of discussion during the 2015 session, so farm advocates can’t take the bill’s defeat for granted, Fast said.

“We’re taking it seriously because of the impact it would have on family farms,” she said.

PORTLAND — About 4,600 contested ballots will not be added to the current recount involving Measure 92, which would require labeling of food sold in Oregon containing genetically modified organisms.

Judge Henry Kantor denied the request by Measure 92 supporters after a hearing Tuesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Supporters filed suit Monday, arguing that county elections officials erred in excluding the 4,600 ballots on the basis that the signatures on the return envelopes did not match those on their registration cards.

The suit contended that some voters were not notified of the discrepancies in signatures, and others did not have a chance to explain to officials that disabilities or mental problems may have affected their signatures.

Oregon has used mail ballots for all elections starting in 2000.

The denial of a temporary restraining order allows a recount to proceed, although about two-thirds of Oregon’s 36 counties — including Multnomah County, the state’s most populous — have already completed their recount. Secretary of State Kate Brown ordered the recount Nov. 24 after tallies showed Measure 92 failing by 812 votes of 1.5 million cast, well within the 3,000 required under law to trigger an automatic recount.

The recount so far has resulted in little change in the initial results, although both sides gained votes.

Brown has set a completion deadline of Friday.

Recounts in three previous statewide races dating back to 1992 have not reversed the initial results of the election. Two involved candidates, and one in 2008 involved a ballot measure.

Oregon voters rejected a similar measure in 2002.

Similar ballot measures failed in California in 2012, Washington in 2013, and Colorado on Nov. 4. Vermont has such a requirement, but it is being challenged in federal court.

SALEM — Members of the Oregon State Land Board said Tuesday they want to sell the Elliott State Forest to another government agency or public-private partnership.

The proposal would provide the State Land Board with a way out of the long-running arrangement of logging the Elliott State Forest to generate money for public schools. That system has generated more controversy and less revenue in recent years, as the state scaled back timber harvests following lawsuits over federally protected species in the forest.

Environmental groups and members of the public have also urged the state to manage the forest for conservation and recreation, goals that clash with the State Land Board’s duty under the Oregon Constitution to maximize timber revenue for schools.

The three members of the board, Gov. John Kitzhaber, Secretary of State Kate Brown and State Treasurer Ted Wheeler, said during a meeting Tuesday that they want employees of the Department of State Lands to continue to proceed with an option to request proposals from entities interested in purchasing the 84,000 acres in the Elliott forest which the state manages to benefit schools.

In a report to the board, Department of State Lands employees wrote that any new owners of the forest should include “some component of continued ownership by a public entity,” such as a local, state, federal or tribal government. John Potter, the Department of State Lands project manager overseeing analysis of options for the Elliott State Forest, said the agency outlined a broad proposal in order to leave it open to a variety of potential purchase arrangements.

The catch is that any buyer, whether it be a government or a consortium of government, nonprofit and timber entities, must pay fair market value for the Elliott State Forest because of its connection to the Common School Fund. The goal would be to “decouple the Elliott and its timber harvesting business plan” from public school funding, according to the state report.

That goal resonated with the land board. Wheeler said he heard from members of the public who want the state to find a better balance between economic, environmental and recreation interests on state forest lands. Some of those priorities clash with the current state system to manage the Elliott State Forest for the benefit of schools.

“I think the box the three of us find ourselves in is a hopelessly antiquated model,” Wheeler said, adding it is possible the Legislature could set aside funding and create a new entity to take ownership of the forest.

Brown said the state should continue to develop the process to solicit proposals for new ownership of the forest, but officials should also take the time to make a thoughtful decision.

“I’m not feeling like we need to make a decision tomorrow,” Brown said, adding that she was impressed by the importance of the forest as a spawning ground for coastal Coho salmon.

Kitzhaber said the current management of the forest to generate school revenue does not make sense, and the Department of State Lands should further develop the option to request proposals for ownership, then solicit more public input.

The land board also considered three other options for the Elliott state forest, which the Department of State Lands outlined in a report. This included continuing state ownership of the Elliott state forest but requesting proposals from parties interested in managing the forest. The state could also continue to have the Oregon Department of Forestry manage the land, or it could transfer the forest to a federal agency or tribal government.

Revenue from timber sales on the Elliott state forest historically helped pay for public schools, as part of a system set up by the U.S. Congress when it granted the land to the state. Oregon is required to manage the forest to benefit schools, both as a condition of accepting the federal land and under the state constitution.

The money goes to Oregon’s Common Schools Fund, which provides approximately 1 percent of revenue in the state education budget and is managed by the State Land Board. As a result, the state must receive the market value for any part of the forest that is transferred to new owners.

The Elliott State Forest has been losing money since 2013, when the state changed the way it manages the land in response to a lawsuit over the federally protected marbled murrelet habitat.

The forest lost $3 million in fiscal year 2013 and although it did better in 2014, the state still lost nearly $392,000 because management costs exceeded revenue, according to a state report. The state expects the forest will continue operating at a loss in the future. As recently as 2012, the forest district earned $5.8 million for the state school fund.

Earlier this year, the state auctioned off three parcels of land in the forest to offset lost revenue due to changes in management of the forest. Additional auctions are now off the table, according to the state report.

During public testimony Tuesday, representatives of the timber industry urged the State Land Board not to discard the option to sell off part or all of the Elliott State Forest in a public auction.

But a majority of people who spoke before the board said the state should shift the way it manages the forest, to focus more on conservation and recreation. According to the Department of State Lands, streams in the Elliott State Forest provide spawning habitat for more than 20 percent of the coastal Coho salmon in Oregon.

Potter said staff could bring back more details to the State Land Board on the process to solicit new ownership proposals as early as this spring. The current goal is for the state to have an agreement in place with new owners by January 2016.

HILLSBORO, Ore. — Ron Dobbins backs his red GM Sierra pickup into the field, climbs out and lets down the tailgate. “Go get ’em, girl!” he shouts, and his chocolate Lab, JD, springs to the ground. Within seconds the dog is pelting across the field toward a squad of geese 200 yards distant.

With noisy complaint, the birds rise up and whirl away, falling into V formation as they go. JD, tall, rangy and muscular, rounds off her chase as the last of the stragglers reluctantly leave the feeding ground.

Dobbins, with “Goose Patrol” logos on the doors of his pickup, heads to his next field. It’s a 30-mile circuit, picking his way through Hillsboro’s increasingly thick traffic, to keep geese from destroying his newly planted crimson clover, ryegrass, peas and wheat.

“We do this twice a day,” Dobbins said. At the peak of migration, one of his employees is a full-time goose chaser.

Agricultural damage from geese is a decades-old problem, and farmers in the Willamette and Lower Columbia River valleys of Oregon and Southwest Washington don’t expect help with it any time soon.

It’s government policy, they say, to protect and maintain large flocks of migratory birds. And it’s apparent, they say, that farmers are essentially expected to feed them.

They’ve come to believe that federal and state wildlife agencies don’t care if the birds lay waste to crops.

“Why is the burden put on us in the first place?” asks Marie Gadotti, who farms in neighboring Columbia County. “Everybody knows there is damage.”

A 1997 report by the Oregon Department of Agriculture — apparently no one has studied the problem since — estimated geese cause $14.9 million in crop damage annually. Gadotti, who won a 2011 Oregon Farm Bureau award for her work on the issue, estimates geese cost her $50,000 to $60,000 each year in labor and diminished yields.

Farmers would like to see longer hunting seasons and eased restrictions on hazing geese out of fields. Obtaining exploding noisemakers, for example, requires clearance by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Farmers also believe wildlife refuges, established as havens for waterfowl, should plant crops to feed the birds as well. They’ve asked for more hunting check stations, so hunters aren’t discouraged by having to drive far out of their way after shooting geese.

Dobbins would like to be able to leave dead geese in a field after hunting rather than take them to a check station. Coyotes and hawks drawn to the carcass would keep flocks from landing, he said.

The problems may be clear from farmers’ point of view, but changing the status quo is not easy. Roger Beyer, executive director of the Oregon Seed Council, said the situation is complicated by migratory bird treaties and compacts involving Native American tribes, the U.S. and Canadian governments and the states of Oregon, Washington, Alaska and California.

Alaskan natives, for example, are allowed a subsistence-level hunt and oppose any proposal to reduce goose numbers.

“It’s a long, slow process,” Beyer said.

Cackling Canada geese, the ones chased out of Dobbins’ field by JD the dog, are considered the biggest problem. A 2014 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report estimates 281,300 cacklers spend the winter in Oregon and Washington. The 2013 estimate was 312,200. Year-to-year population fluctuations are common; the wildlife service has set a population goal of 250,000 cacklers.

Geese don’t just nibble the tops of young plants, they pull them out by the roots. Even with patrols, Dobbins and Gadotti could point out bare spots in fields. Geese affect the timing of planting and choice of crop rotations as well, the farmers say.

“They like all the young crops,” Dobbins said. “It’s like when we go to the salad bar, we like all the fresh stuff.”

Dobbins and Gadotti say the problem is getting worse because many geese have become year-round residents and no longer migrate. Geese used to arrive for two weeks in the spring and two weeks in the fall, the farmers say.

“We’re saying they’re not leaving,” Gadotti said.

Farmers aren’t giving up, either. Dobbins says the “Goose Patrol” logos on his pickup doors are an effort to keep the issue in front of the public, especially urban residents who don’t make the connection between wildlife and crop damage.

A network of fellow farmers and other landowners help keep an eye on fields, and let Dobbins know when flocks are settling. Landowners allow each other vehicle access between fields to facilitate hazing.

At this point, the farmers will take help wherever they can find it.

Passing by one of his fields, Dobbins nods and smiles.

“In that grove of trees we’ve got a nice family of coyotes that take care of things for us,” he said.

Online

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Cackling Canada geese report: http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/NewReportsPublications/PopulationStatus/Waterfowl/StatusReport2014.pdf

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — The state has dropped a proposal to sell the Elliott State Forest, where environmental protections have made it impossible to log enough to generate money for public schools.

After seven months of meeting with the public, interest groups and experts, the Department of State Lands issued a report Monday that concludes most people want the forest in the Coast Range south of Reedsport to remain open to the public.

“The one thread that really went through most of the feedback we got from the public was keep the Elliott open to the public,” department spokeswoman Julie Curtis said.

The report, including four alternatives for a way forward, will be presented Tuesday to the State Land Board in Salem.

Among the possibilities are keeping the forest in state ownership while continuing to look for some way to log more without running afoul of endangered species protections, and finding a new owner, such as another state agency, a public-private partnership, a tribe, or the federal government.

Curtis said the Land Board, made up of the governor, state treasurer and secretary of state, is expected to provide some direction for more research. The goal is to come up with a preferred alternative in a year. If the choice is returning the forest to federal ownership, that could take a number of years.

The Elliott covers 90,000 acres and includes some of the last of the older forest in the Coast Range, where most forests are privately owned and heavily logged. As the state tried to increase logging to meet local demand for logs and revenue, it ran into difficulties meeting federal requirements to protect habitat for threatened northern spotted owls, marbled murrelets and coho salmon.

Most of the forest is made up of Common School Fund lands, which since statehood have helped pay for schools. The forest once contributed $6 million to $8 million a year to the fund but has turned into a $3 million expense.

Monday’s report was cheered by conservation groups, which had forced the state to withdraw timber sales that would have cut trees favored as nesting sites by the marbled murrelet, a threatened sea bird.

“I think they recognized the days of clear cutting old growth to fund schools is over,” said Josh Laughlin of Cascadia Wildlands. “There is no public appetite for it.”

Bob Ragon of Douglas Timber Operators said his organization suggested keeping the forest state owned and a Common School Fund asset, but managed by some outside entity to provide money for schools and meet environmental laws.

If none of the alternatives works, the forest would ultimately have to be sold, he said.

ST. HELENS, Ore. (AP) — Two Columbia County cattle ranchers convicted of animal neglect were fined $107,000.

William Holdner and Jane Baum were convicted in October and sentenced Friday to five years’ probation and the fine. They also are banned from owning livestock.

The Oregonian reports 170 cattle were rescued two years ago after an investigation by deputies and the Oregon Humane Society found many of them were malnourished and suffering from eye diseases and other illnesses.

YAKIMA, Wash. — Pacific Northwest cherry growers sold a record 23.2-million-box crop in 2014 at reasonably good prices proving the industry can successfully handle large crops and that there’s room to grow, says the president of Northwest Cherry Growers.

“Only 28 percent of produce shoppers buy cherries. That’s 76 million people out of a U.S. population of 319 million. People say our domestic market has plateaued. I don’t agree,” said B.J. Thurlby, president of Northwest Cherry Growers, an industry trade group.

The Northwest, mainly Washington, hit a new June record of more than 10 million, 20-pound boxes which led retailers to lower prices earlier than anticipated, Thurlby said.

“But overall prices were as good as could have been hoped for and better than 2012 and way better than 2009,” he said.

Those were the previous record years — 22.96 million boxes in 2012 and 20.46 million in 2009.

The average wholesale price per box was $28.49 in 2009, $35.67 in 2012 and $43.50 in 2011, Washington Growers Clearing House Association has previously said. It’s replacement, the new Washington State Tree Fruit Association, does not release prices.

Thurlby said he does not know average wholesale prices for 2014, but that a lot of growers moved twice the tonnage as the year before so “most get to stay in business for another year.”

U.S. retail prices averaged $3.52 per pound in June, $2.95 in July and $3.80 in August, he said.

The crop was compressed into 77 days instead of a more normal 90 days. The 2009 crop came off in 45 days, glutting packers, retailers and causing some fruit to be dumped.

A key to moving the 2014 crop was good volume in June instead of it being bottled up in July, Thurlby said.

Shipments averaged an unprecedented 34 days averaging 502,000 boxes per day from the end of June to late July, he said. A new single-day record was set at 665,936 boxes on July 11. More than 2 million boxes of Rainier cherries were shipped, a large amount.

Rain was the main weather issue in 2009 through 2013 crops, but growers spent more time trying to manage heat in 2014, Thurlby said. There were 19 days in July and 10 in August that exceeded 100 degrees, he said.

A record 7.5 million boxes were exported, 32.4 percent of the crop. Of that, 2.4 million was Canada, 1.2 million was China and 1.1 million was South Korea.

The crop and aspects of growing and selling sweet cherries will be discussed at the 72nd annual Cherry Institute at the Yakima Convention Center, Jan. 16. Pre-registration is available through Dec. 29 at www.nwcherries.com.

The luncheon speaker will be Chris Balzer, an associate client director at Nielsen Perishables Group, Chicago, on trends and opportunities in cherry marketing.

PORTLAND — Supporters of Measure 92 said Monday they are going to court to compel officials to count an estimated 4,600 ballots from voters who say they were denied inclusion.

They are asking a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge to halt a statewide recount of the ballots until a question is resolved over whether the signatures of those voters must match those on file with county elections offices. They also say those ballots should be deemed valid anyway and included in the recount.

Measure 92 on the Nov. 4 ballot would require labeling of food sold in Oregon that contains genetically modified organisms.

Before the start of the recount, which Secretary of State Kate Brown ordered Nov. 24, the measure failed by 812 votes of about 1.5 million cast. The difference was well within the margin of 3,000 — one-fifth of 1 percent — to trigger an automatic recount.

The lawsuit against Brown and Tim Scott, the Multnomah County elections director, was brought by eight people who say they followed all the instructions, but their signatures do not match those on file with county elections offices because of disabilities or mental conditions. Under Oregon’s mail ballot system, signatures on the backs of return envelopes are compared with file signatures before the ballots are processed.

Christine Seals, one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement that she has been using a stamp as her legal signature — and it was only after this election that officials said there was a problem.

“I take my right to vote very seriously, and I think it is very wrong that elections officials are disenfranchising me in this election because they’ve suddenly decided not to accept my stamp,” she said. “That is why I am joining this lawsuit. I cast a valid ballot, and it should be counted.”

Some said they were never told their ballot would not be counted, or that they tried to offer their signatures but were rejected.

Supporters, including some of the plaintiffs, announced their intentions at a news conference.

Although the hand recount is scheduled for completion by Friday, about two-thirds of the counties have reported their results, including Multnomah County, the state’s most populous, where it passed by a 63 percent majority.

So far the retallied results will not appear to change the outcome.

In a news release, Measure 92 supporters are frank about what they hope from the lawsuit — that inclusion of the 4,600 ballots will change the outcome.

Measure 92 generated the highest spending, at nearly $29 million, for a single ballot-measure campaign in Oregon history.

Similar measures failed at the ballot box in California in 2012, Washington in 2013 and Colorado on Nov. 4. Vermont has such a law, which is being challenged in federal court.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The AAA auto club reports the average price of a gallon of gas in Oregon has fallen to $2.93.

That’s down 8 cents in a week and 15 cents in a month.

Some metro prices from the AAA’s Monday survey: Portland $2.92, Salem $2.92, Eugene-Springfield $2.92, and Medford-Ashland $2.94.