Local leaders say they are dismayed with the renewed effort to demolish four Klamath River dams, three of which are in California.

Siskiyou County Supervisor Grace Bennett, District 4, said she feels like Siskiyou County, Calif., leaders were left behind in the decision-making process. Bennett said she believes lawmakers prioritize the needs of upper Klamath Basin communities and the downstream Basin tribes before Siskiyou County.

Bennett said she believes taking the dams out will have a negative impact on the county’s economy, especially in the summer months when the reservoirs attract recreationists from around the region.

“Siskiyou County has been working since 1986 to improve water quality and quantity. For them to take out the dams would be a shame. It would be devastating to Siskiyou County. It would impact us greatly,” Bennett said.

Bennett’s comments came on the heels of an announcement last week by the Department of Interior, stating the agency will work with Oregon, California and the dams owner, PacifiCorp, to amend the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement — known by the initials KHSA — and move forward with plans to remove the J.C. Boyle, Copco 1 and Copco 2 and Iron Gate dams from the Klamath River.

The renewed effort will rely on administrative processes governed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a news release said.

Siskiyou County Supervisor Ed Valenzuela, District 2, said he is concerned about property values declining after the reservoirs created by the dams disappear. He said although to him the benefits of dam removal are not obvious, he isn’t altogether contesting dam removal.

“I’ve always said it’s a private party matter. It’s not like it’s a government entity, where the county has a lot of say,” Valenzuela said.

Klamath County Commissioner Jim Bellet said he opposes dam removal, but supports private property rights.

“I don’t like tearing out infrastructure I think is important to the Klamath River, but a private company owns the dams and if they want to tear them out, it’s sure their right to do that,” Bellet said.

Malin Irrigation District Manager Luke Robison said his district supported the KHSA when it was being proposed as a joint agreement with the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, which is known by the initials KBRA.

“We were never in support of the KHSA as a stand-alone agreement,” Robison said. “The agreement (the KBRA) that benefited the irrigators expired on Dec. 31.”

Tulelake Irrigation District Manager Brad Kirby said the biggest concern shared by project irrigators is getting left behind without a path to water certainty and having the dam removal move forward. Kirby said like other irrigators, he does not support dam removal as a stand-alone effort.

“All the things that were part of the KBRA were a package deal,” Kirby said.

District 1 Siskiyou County Supervisor Brandon Criss agreed.

“There’s no need for the dams to be removed,” Criss said. “I see no benefit to Klamath Basin agriculture because it takes away water storage and replaces it with no water storage.”

Oregon Rep. Gail Whitsett, R-Klamath Falls, said she believes the decision about whether the dams should be removed belongs with FERC.

“I typically am not in support of removing dams, but I think to go through the FERC process is the way to go if we’re going to do it so it’s not a political decision.”

“FERC has traditionally decided if dams come out or if don’t dams come out. … Hopefully they will base it on the science,” she said. “To turn it over to FERC is the right path, versus deciding politically whether to do that.”

BANDON -- The Bite of Bandon Culinary Showcase and Auction will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at the Bandon Community Center/The Barn, 1200 11th St. SW.

BANDON -- The Bite of Bandon Culinary Showcase and Auction will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at the Bandon Community Center/The Barn, 1200 11th St. SW. Fifteen local restaurants donate their time and "bites" in support of…

LANGLOIS -- Margaret Grundstein returns to Langlois at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22, to talk about her experience living on a commune up Floras Creek in the 1970s.

LANGLOIS -- Shannon Applegate, descendant of a prominent Oregon pioneer family, will speak of her family's history at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 5, in Langlois at the old Cheese Factory.

LANGLOIS -- The Friends of the Langlois Library will hold their annual book sale from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, at the Langlois Lions Club, Floras Lake Loop, in Langlois. Coffee, tea and goodies are available while you browse.

LANGLOIS -- Margaret Grundstein returns to Langlois at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22, to talk about her experience living on a commune up Floras Creek in the 1970s.

LANGLOIS -- Shannon Applegate, descendant of a prominent Oregon pioneer family, will speak of her family's history at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 5, in Langlois at the old Cheese Factory.

LANGLOIS -- The Friends of the Langlois Library will hold their annual book sale from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, at the Langlois Lions Club, Floras Lake Loop, in Langlois. Coffee, tea an…

Cliven Bundy, the father of the jailed leader of the Oregon refuge occupation and who was the center of a standoff with federal officials in Nevada in 2014, was arrested in Portland, the FBI said.

Authorities arrested the 74-year-old Nevada rancher after he arrived at Portland International Airport from Las Vegas Wednesday night. He was booked into the lockup just before 11 p.m., according to Multnomah County Jail records. No charges were listed and his projected release date was listed as unknown.

The FBI confirmed Bundy was taken into federal custody but declined to provide a reason or other details, saying further information would be released by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Las Vegas, which did not respond to a phone call early Thursday.

The Oregonian reported Bundy will face a conspiracy charge of interfering with a federal officer related to the stalemate at his ranch in 2014.

In March of that year, Bundy clashed with federal officials over grazing rights on government land. Federal officials eventually backed away from seizing his cattle, but the dispute remains unresolved.

The Bureau of Land Management says the family has not made payments toward a $1.1 million grazing fee and penalty bill.

Armed group leader Ammon Bundy had been demanding that the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon be handed over to local control for ranching, mining, logging and other uses and that that two jailed ranchers in the area be freed.

Authorities arrested Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan Bundy and other group leaders as they traveled to a community meeting Jan. 26 north of the refuge when authorities set up a road block.

Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, the group’s spokesman, was killed in a confrontation with the FBI and Oregon State Police on the remote road.

Bundy and others arrested in conjunction with the standoff face felony charges of conspiracy to impede federal officials in their official duties through the use of force, intimidation or threats.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The FBI surrounded the last four occupiers of a wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon on Wednesday night as the holdouts argued with a negotiator and yelled at law enforcement officers in armored vehicles to back off.

The tense standoff between law enforcement officers and the four occupiers was being played out on the Internet via an open phone line being livestreamed by an acquaintance of one of the occupiers, David Fry.

Fry, 27, of Blanchester, Ohio, sounded increasingly unraveled as he continually yelled, at times hysterically, at what he said was an FBI negotiator.

“You’re going to hell. Kill me. Get it over with,” he said. “We’re innocent people camping at a public facility, and you’re going to murder us.”

“The only way we’re leaving here is dead or without charges,” Fry said, who told the FBI to “get the hell out of Oregon.”

Fry said the group was surrounded by armored vehicles.

A Nevada legislator, Michele Fiore, called in to try to get the occupiers to calm down. Fiore said she could help them only if they stayed alive.

“I need you guys alive,” said the Republican member of the Nevada Assembly who was in Portland earlier in the day to show support for Ammon Bundy, the jailed leader of the occupation.

Fry and the three others are the last remnants of an armed group that seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Jan. 2 to oppose federal land-use policies. The three others are Jeff Banta, 46, of Elko, Nevada; and married couple Sean Anderson, 48, and Sandy Anderson, 47, of Riggins, Idaho

Greg Bretzing, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oregon, said in a statement that the situation had reached a point where it “became necessary to take action” to ensure the safety of all involved.

The four remained despite the arrests of group leader Ammon Bundy and others Jan. 26 on a remote road outside the refuge.

Sandy Anderson said after the group was surrounded: “They’re threatening us. They’re getting closer. I pray that there’s a revolution if we die here tonight.”

Her husband, Sean Anderson, said in the livestream: “We will not fire until fired upon. We haven’t broken any laws, came here to recognize our constitutional rights. Help us.”

The occupiers said they saw snipers on a hill and a drone.

The standoff was occurring on the 40th day of the occupation, launched by Ammon Bundy and his followers to protest prison terms for two local ranchers on arson charges and federal management of public lands.

Bundy was arrested on Jan. 26 on a remote road as he and other main figures of the occupation were traveling to the town of John Day. Four others were also arrested in that confrontation, which resulted in the shooting death of the group’s spokesman, Robert “LaVoy” Finicum. The FBI said Finicum was reaching for a gun.

Most of the occupiers fled the refuge after that. Authorities then surrounded the property and later got the holdouts added to an indictment charging 16 people with conspiracy to interfere with federal workers. The four recently posted a series of defiant videos in which Fry shows a defensive perimeter they have built and takes a joyride in a government vehicle. Fry says the FBI told him he faces additional charges because of the barricades.

At first, Bundy urged the last holdouts to go home. But in response to the grand jury indictment, he took a more defiant tone from jail.

“Taking over the refuge was not only right, it was the duty of the people to do,” Bundy said in a recording released by his family on Feb. 4.

AP writer Lisa Baumann contributed to this report from Seattle.

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Lee and Glenda Stilwell of Country Inn Cattle Co. were surprised and pleased after their success in last weekend’s 56th annual Klamath Bull & Select Ranch Horse Sale at the Klamath County Fairgrounds.

The Stilwells, who have a small ranch in nearby Algoma, had the sale’s supreme bull that sold for $12,500, the champion halter Limousin bull that sold for $7,500, and the top judged pen of replacement heifers that sold for $10,250.

“We had an outstanding day,” said Glenda Stilwell, a fourth-generation rancher, who said the showing was unexpected because of the sale’s many outstanding bulls and heifers. “It’s always a surprise — and always a good surprise.”

Pleased, too, was Jolene Moxon, the sale’s cattle manager, who said 90 bulls were sold for a total price of $403,850, an average price of $4,487.22. Eight pens of replacement heifers, including the Stilwells’, were sold for $62,300, an average price of $7,787.50. Four horses were sold in the select horse sale for a total of $22,550, an average of $5,637.50.

In comparison, last year’s sale price for 56 bulls averaged $5,397, the select ranch horse sale averaged $6,090 for five horses while replacement heifers sale averaged $2,480 per head on six pens. She said this year’s sale will have nine pens of heifers.

Jason Chapman, a bull sale committee member, said he expected prices would be lower this year but noted the overall total sale prices, because of the volume of bulls, was up over 2015. “I expected it would be lower than it was,” he said of the decreased sale prices.

“We had a great turnout,” Moxon said, noting there were 114 registered buyers and strong participation in a variety of sale-related events, including a ranch rodeo she said drew thousands of spectators.

Other activities included stock dog trials, a Beef N Brews, brandings, Klamath County Cattlewomen’s dinner and dance, an “amazing” trade show and several kids functions, including goat roping and a stick horse boot race.

Erin Daughtery of Bly was named the contributor of the year for the four-day sale that began last Thursday and ended Sunday.

“People really seemed to enjoy the variety of activities,” Moxon said.

“The whole event ran really well,” Chapman agreed, who credited bull sale chairman Stan Gorden and other committee members. “We had great participation in all the events. It was really a well-run, smooth sale.”

Glenda Stilwell, who said her family has participated in sales for many years, shared Chapman’s and Moxon’s enthusiasm.

“We’ve participating in the bull sale as long as I can remember,” she said, giving credit to event organizers with the Klamath Cattlemen’s Association. “I think this year’s sale was an outstanding event with all the activities. I think the committee really stepped up. It’s a good event for the entire community.”

Winners in the ranch rodeo was Gorden Ranches of Bonanza with team members Clay and Steve Gorden and Flint Lee.

In the stock dog finals, Kathy Garner took first in the open and nursery divisions with Rango and Vaquero while Gayle Hybarger and her dog Zeva won the intermediate category.

The Stilwells’ supreme bull was bought by Don-Lo Ranch of Macdoel, Calif., which also bought their champion halter bull limousin. A third bull, another limousin, was bought by Jimmy Lyman of Tulelake, Calif. Drost Ranch of Klamath Falls bought the Stilwell’s pen of replacement heifers.

“We’re a small operation so we try to have good ones,” Stilwell said of Country Inn Cattle, which has about 60 cows.

Nicholas Sheridan, 15, of Yamhill, Ore., who was featured in a previous bull sale story and was the sale’s youngest ever consigner when entered and sold a reserve champion bull in 2014, again did well. One of Sheridan’s Angus bulls sold for $5,500 to Matt Merkley of Bly, Ore., while a second bull sold for $4,500 to Bryan Penterman of Santa Helena, Calif.

Stilwell had praise for Sheridan and other young participants in the various events, noting, “There were lots of young kids, lots of young families. It made my heart happy.”

Periodically it seems there can be a disconnect between the Oregon Department of Transportation and cities, counties or school districts.

Sundays

Sundays

Periodically it seems there can be a disconnect between the Oregon Department of Transportation and cities, counties or school districts.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture proposes to spray 8,674 acres in North Portland this spring to head off a potential infestation of destructive gypsy moths.

Aerial sprayings tend to cause public scrutiny and worry, however, even when it involves a biological insecticide that’s been successfully used against gypsy moths for more than 30 years. For that reason, the department is hosting a pair of meetings to explain the project. The first is Wednesday, Feb. 17, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at James John Elementary School, 7439 N. Charleston Ave., Portland. The second is Saturday, Feb. 20, from 9 a.m. to noon at the same place.

Gypsy moths are voracious eaters and multiply rapidly. Unchecked, they could kill trees and or heavily damage Pacific Northwest forests and crops such as Christmas trees. Agencies monitor their presence with traps and spray from time to time to control them.

Two Asian gypsy moths were found in North Portland traps this past summer and another was found across the Columbia River in Washington. Asian gypsy moths are more mobile than the European variety sometimes trapped in the Northwest.

The area proposed for spraying includes Hayden Island, St. Johns, and Forest Park in Portland. ODA proposes three aerial applications in late April and early May, using Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki, commonly known as Btk.

An environmental assessment of the project will be available Feb. 12 from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. It can be seen at www.aphis.usda.gov/planthealth/ea/. A comment period ends March 14. Comments should be directed to Christopher.Deegan@aphis.usda.gov or gypsymoth@oda.state.or.us.

Btk kills gypsy moths in their caterpillar stage. A publication from Purdue University said the product has several advantages over other means. First, caterpillars killed or sickened by Btk aren’t dangerous to birds or other animals that feed on them. The product breaks down within three to five days after application, so it doesn’t multiply or accumulate in the environment, according to the Purdue bulletin. Btk does not appear to pose a significant threat to humans or pets, according to Purdue.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man who had been with the armed occupiers at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has been arrested on an unrelated warrant.

The Oregonian reports that 31-year-old Brandon Dowd is being held in the Harney County Jail under a warrant from Kansas in connection to a theft case. He was not arrested for anything he might have done while on the refuge. He was arrested Monday.

Dowd was seen about three weeks ago guarding the main entrance to the refuge. He is not among the last four holdouts still occupying the space.

A Riley County, Kansas, Police Department spokesman says Dowd is accused of stealing a firearm worth about $600 from a 65-year-old man last May.

SALEM — Local government authority over genetically engineered crops is being reconsidered by Oregon lawmakers roughly three years after they prohibited most city and county seed restrictions.

Critics of biotechnology claim that lawmakers haven’t enacted meaningful policies for genetic engineering since adopting a 2013 law pre-empting local governments from setting their own seed rules.

The pre-emption bill was included in a broader legislative package that included public employee retirement system reforms that the Oregon Supreme Court later invalidated.

Proponents of House Bill 4122, which would repeal statewide pre-emption specifically for genetically engineered crops, claim local governments should be permitted to prevent cross-pollination between organic, conventional and biotech cultivars.

“In an ideal world, farmers will work together, but in reality, people are stubborn and do as they please,” said Jared Watters, a Jackson County farmer, during a Feb. 9 hearing before the House Committee on Consumer Protection and Government Effectiveness.

“Transgenic contamination” is recognized as an economic threat to organic and conventional producers who sell into markets that don’t accept biotech traits, according to supporters of H.B. 4122.

While opponents of the bill claim that genetic engineering is best regulated at the state level, supports of H.B. 4122 claim that local governments are in the best position to understand how farmers in their area are affected by biotech crops and restrictions on them.

“You don’t have to deal with any of that. This bill puts that decision with the local government,” said Elise Higley, director of Our Family Farms Coalition, which supports stronger regulation of biotech crops.

Physical barriers, geographic distances and staggered plantings can prevent cross-pollination among conventional crop varieties and work just as well with biotech cultivars, according to opponents of H.B. 4122.

“Farmers need to work that out among themselves, not by voters at the ballot box deciding what can grow on their own property,” said Scott Dahlman, policy director of Oregonians for Food and Shelter, an industry group that opposes the bill.

Lawmakers passed a bill last year that allows farmers of potentially conflicting crops to seek mediation, which the Oregon Department of Agriculture is now in the process of “fleshing out,” said Greg Loberg, manager of the West Coast Beet Seed Co. and president of the Oregon Seed Association.

H.B. 4122, by contrast, is meant to give preferential treatment to non-biotech crops, he said. “It’s not about co-existence. It’s about exclusion.”

Supporters of the bill say they’re not opposed to mediation, but claim it’s not enough to guard against cross-pollination or compensate for the lack of regulation by the state and federal governments.

However, the idea that rules for biotech crops would vary across county lines is one of the main arguments against H.B. 4122.

“Cities and counties are not equipped to micromanage which crops can and cannot be grown in the State of Oregon,” said Anna Scharf, whose family farms in the Willamette Valley.

Another proposal recently considered by the committee, House Bill 4041, would effectively have reversed statewide pre-emption entirely, not just for biotech crops but for all seeds.

However, that bill will not receive further hearings and would have to be resurrected in a future legislative session, said Shemia Fagan, D-Clackamas, who chairs the committee.

H.B. 4041 was written so broadly that it could have applied to non-biotech crops, including grass seed, said Marie Bowers Stagg, whose family farms in Lane and Linn counties

Crop decisions are based on soil conditions, market demand and available equipment but should not be complicated by government interference, she said during a recent hearing on the bill.

“We already have enough risks in our day-to-day life,” Bowers Stagg said.

ONTARIO, Ore. — Two long-time leaders of the Idaho and Oregon onion industries who worked side by side on many issues important to onion growers in both states have been inducted into the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Hall of Fame together.

Reid Saito, past president of the Malheur County Onion Growers Association, and Ron Mio, past president of the Idaho Onion Growers Association, were inducted into the group’s joint hall of fame on Feb. 2.

Both farmers said it was appropriate they entered the hall together since they worked together on issues important to the onion industry for almost 14 years while they served as presidents of the states’ respective onion growers associations.

“It was an honor to go into the hall of fame with Reid,” said Mio, who farms in the Fruitland, Idaho, area. “We worked side by side for so many years and I really appreciated going into the hall of fame with him.”

“I was really honored to be considered for the hall and going in with Ron made it even more special,” said Saito, who farms in Nyssa, Ore.

Saito, who grew up on his family’s farm, plans to retire from farming this year.

Mio stopped growing onions in 2013 because pressure from the iris yellow spot virus, an onion disease, has greatly reduced onion acreage in that area, but he still grows mint, seed beans and wheat.

Saito said the two worked closely on several issues that were critical to the industry, including a successful effort to bridge the once wide communication gap between onion growers and shippers.

That paid off in a major way nine years ago, he said, after several growers in the area were investigated and fined for using carbofuran, a pesticide that controlled onion thrips but wasn’t approved for onion use.

“Growers worked with shippers, the state and EPA and got that worked out,” Saito said. “The way we worked that out, it was the best outcome for consumers, for growers and for shippers.”

More recently, onion growers and shippers worked together to provide input to the Food and Drug Administration on the agency’s proposed produce safety rule. Onion industry leaders said the rule’s strict agricultural water standards would put many onion farmers in the region out of business.

But the FDA altered those rules after hearing the outcry from onion farmers and shippers in the region and visiting the area in 2013 and the rules are now something the industry says it can live with.

Paul Skeen, current president of the Malheur County Onion Growers Association, said Saito’s and Mio’s practical and forthright leadership skills were most evident during the carbofuran crisis.

“They are real leaders who stood up and called a spade a spade and did what we had to do,” Skeen said. “On top of that, they are both really good farmers.”