SALEM — A bill aimed at encouraging mediation over biotech crop disputes is poised to become law in Oregon, but the original idea has been scaled back substantially.

An amended version of House Bill 2509 is headed for a vote on the Senate floor after earlier passing the House despite some unexpected pushback from critics of genetically modified organisms.

Under the initial version of the bill, a farmer who refuses to engage in mediation but then loses a lawsuit over a biotech crop dispute would have to pay the opposing party’s legal bills.

Although HB 2509 quietly passed the House without attracting controversy, it met with resistance in the Senate, where GMO critics pounced on it as being unfair to non-biotech growers.

Friends of Family Farmers, Our Family Farms Coalition and the Center for Food Safety argued that growers shouldn’t be forced into mediation that could prevent them from obtaining timely legal relief if they’re threatened with cross-pollination from GMOs.

Critics also objected to the lack of time and cost limits on mediation, claiming it could become prohibitively expensive and thus discourage growers from approaching neighbors with concerns.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture’s oversight of the mediation program was also called into question, since some GMO critics claim the agency is biased in favor of genetic engineering.

An amendment to HB 2509, recently adopted by the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, gives farmers the option of seeking mediation through ODA or the USDA.

The time and cost of mediation is capped at four hours and $2,500, and the threat of liability for the opposing party’s legal expenses is removed from the new version.

Instead, if a lawsuit is filed, a judge “may impose sanctions” against a farmer who refuses mediation and “may consider that unwillingness when determining whether to grant or deny a preliminary injunction.”

These changes have convinced Friends of Family Farmers, which is closely involved in legislative negotiations over GMOs, to drop its opposition to HB 2509.

The group was nervous about the attorney fee provision because biotech companies like Monsanto and Syngenta have tremendous legal resources they could deploy to aid biotech growers, said Ivan Maluski, its policy director.

“I don’t think you need to encourage people toward mediation with stiff penalties,” he said.

While Maluski acquiesced to HB 2509, he said it’s “laughable” to consider the bill an important step in state oversight of GMOs.

He would prefer the legislature adopt a proposal that would create control areas where biotech crops are subject to restrictions, such as isolation distances.

“The legislature has really accomplished nothing significant on this issue so far,” Maluski said.

The Oregon Farm Bureau, which opposes stricter GMO regulations, is still supportive of HB 2509 even though it’s been toned down, said Katie Fast, vice president of public policy for the group.

“It doesn’t have as many teeth to push people into mediation” but the bill will still hopefully help them to find ways to coexist, she said.

The Oregon Farm Bureau isn’t aware of any lawsuits over cross-pollination among organic, conventional and biotech growers, so a more drastic approach is unnecessary, Fast said.

More stringent proposals debated this year appear to be a “solution in search of a problem,” she said. “We’re hearing of very few neighbor-to-neighbor conflicts.”

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A fake life-sized orca that spouts water and plays recordings of its real-life counterparts is being deployed to scare off hundreds of sea lions crowding docks off the Oregon coast, but it ran into a snag its first day on the job.

The orca was brought over land from Bellingham, Washington, on Thursday, but as soon as it hit the water at Astoria, its engine flooded, KGW-TV reported. Officials in Astoria say they have found a replacement motor and the fake orca will make it to the water near the docks within several hours.

The fake orca, named “Island,” belongs to a whale watching business and was originally built in the 1980s. It’s outfitted with a Suzuki eight-horsepower outboard motor and speakers.

The replica orca is actually a boat and will be driven around in the waters near Astoria, free of charge to the port. It will also tow a smaller, 7-foot-long orca behind it.

Sea lions have become a nuisance to the city and commercial fishermen because they damage docks, prevent boaters from using them and eat too many salmon.

In recent weeks, the Port of Astoria tried creative ways to keep the animals away, including installing beach balls, colorful tape, chicken wire and electrified mats — but were not successful.

The sea lion population has increased dramatically in recent decades. The animals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, but the law includes provisions allowing for deterrence of the sea lions to protect private property.

Officials said it’s not known if the sea lions will actually be scared of the phony killer whale. Wildlife official say sea lions are smart and might figure out it’s a fake.

“It’s a theory, we don’t know how it will work. An orca is a natural predator to a sea lion. But we don’t know if they will totally ignore it, or swim for their lives,” said Port of Astoria Executive Director Jim Knight.

Knight said one of the sounds the fake orca will emit is a “call to dinner” — usually emitted by the killer whales in the wild after they kill a sea lion or seal.

The famous insurance marketplace Lloyd’s of London is pulling out of the cannabis insurance business.  That’s surprised agents in Oregon who’ve used Lloyd’s for almost a decade to insure medical marijuana businesses. “It had been one of the oldest programs in the country,” said Todd Foster, an agent with Oregon Cannabis Insurance. Foster’s company has offices in Portland, Medford and Bend and provides liability, property and inventory insurance to a wide range of clients -- from warehouse grow operations to marijunana gelato makers. According to Marijuana Business Daily, in a memo explaining the decision, Lloyd’s cited the conflict between federal and state law in the United States.  The company concluded that money stemming from legal state marijuana sales could be subject to federal anti-money laundering laws. Foster said about 30 of his clients are insured through Lloyd’s. The policies protect against risks like general business liability — for example, a customer slipping and falling — and property and inventory loss from fire or robbery.Foster hasn’t yet heard whether Lloyd’s will actively cancel policies or will not renew them when they expire. He is working to switch his clients over to five other insurers who are willing to work with cannabis businesses. The only one Foster is willing to name is Hannover Re of Germany, a large insurer that recently launched a marijuana program to compete with Lloyd’s. “The other four I’m going to keep close to my chest,” Foster said. Amy Margolis, a cannabis attorney and a lobbyist, said the timing of Lloyd’s decision creates a challenge in Oregon where many people are preparing for a legal market and trying to legitimize their businesses.  She expects the OLCC will require legal cannabis businesses to carry liability coverage. That’s among the requirements established in Washington state.  “You can tack this issue up along with the banking issue. We’re asking cannabis businesses to be active participants in a traditional business market. They can’t access banking and now it has become much more difficult to access insurance,” she said.

OPB

In the event of a distant tsunami coming to the Oregon coast, you might not expect boat owners to head out to sea.

But that’s what many commercial and sports fishers do — to protect their vessels from the groundings, capsizes and collisions in harbors when tsunami waves near the shore.  In deep water, a passing tsunami is such an elongated hump that sailors might not even notice.

The state has released the first in a series of local advisories showing coastal boat operators where to go and what to do in the event of a distant tsunami.

Back in 2011, when boat owners heard a tsunami was on its way to the West Coast from Japan, many headed out to sea. The passing tsunami wasn’t a problem for them.  But in Crescent City, California, for example, the fleet couldn’t return because of harbor damage.

Jonathan Allan, with the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI), says to make matters worse, a storm was approaching.

“It presented some challenges because people were evacuating quickly and weren’t necessarily adequately prepared, both in terms of having support staff on their vessels, you know fuel, etc. to be out there for extended periods of time, or food etc.,” he said.  “And so they were having to come up with alternative options for where to safely move to.”Those who didn’t have enough fuel returned to Crescent City, but had to anchor in some unusual spots.

Others had to sail to Humboldt Bay or Brookings Harbor, in Oregon, ports that some captains had never negotiated before.

The new DOGAMI advisory’s focus on a distant tsunami is important.

When a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake hits right off the Oregon coast, the resulting tsunami is expected to reach land in about 10 minutes.  So there won’t be time for boaters to head out to deep water.

But if the earthquake happens in Alaska, boat operators will have about four hours; if it occurs in Japan, they have about nine hours.

In 2011, after the Japan earthquake, what boat owners did in the end was keep close contact and help each other out.

Allan says the state’s new advisories focus on Newport and Toledo, but other locations will follow. “The regionally-released map is the first of its kind on the Oregon coast for a specific port community,” he said “It’s providing information to recreation and commercial boat operators as to the types of responses they can take in the event of a distance tsunami taking place.”

Terry Thompson is a commercial fisherman and a Commissioner for Lincoln County, and he thinks the advisory will help boat owners make good decisions. “A lot of people think they’re just going to go a short distance off shore,” he said. “They don’t realize that in a major tsunami, they’ve go to get outside of 100 fathoms. In a distant tsunami - that would be one like in Alaska or Japan - they’re going to have to get a shorter distance.”

In Newport and Toledo, that “shorter distance” could still take a couple of hours to reach. Boat operators would have to reach an area where the water was 30 fathoms - that is water at least 180 feet deep.

Thompson says when the next tsunami hits, boat owners need to take account of more than just the new map — they need to ask themselves questions like: “What’s the weather forecast?” and “How much time do I have?”

“Can you get to port and get up the hill before the tsunami hits, is the question,” he said. “In a distant tsunami, I’d have a chance. In a near shore tsunami and I’m off shore, I may just gamble for going to the deep, but I may be out there for a while.”

Walter Chuck’s small fishing boat was out of the water in 2011, so he didn’t have to make any difficult decisions. But he served on the committee that put the new advisories together.

He said some people wanted more details included. But he disagrees.

“I think if the plan was too detailed and there were too many steps, I think that in essence you would give someone a false sense of security that if you followed this plan, you would be okay,” Chuck said. “And in the event of a disaster, everything is very variable.”

He says when the next tsunami hits, he’ll monitor the marine channels and take advice from the U.S. Coast Guard.

http://www.opb.org/news/article/state-issues-first-local-advisories-for-distant-tsunamis/

THURSDAY, JUNE 4

LANGLOIS — The Friends of the Langlois Public Library will present An Evening With Brian Doyle at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 6. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

SALEM — A bill to extend limited canola production in Oregon’s Willamette Valley will move to a vote on the Senate floor over the objections of a specialty seed growers’ group.

House Bill 3382, which allows canola to be grown on 500 acres in the region through 2019, had already passed the House and was approved on June 3 by the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources with a “do pass” recommendation.

Lawmakers contemplated banning canola in the Willamette Valley in 2013 due to fears of cross-pollination with related seed crops but instead opted for a six-year moratorium.

During the first three years, Oregon State University was directed to study volunteer plants, cross-pollination and disease issues associated with canola on 500 acres annually.

Growers who want to continue raising canola are now pressing lawmakers to extend that 500 acres of production through the final three years of the moratorium by passing HB 3382.

The Willamette Valley Specialty Seed Association and the Friends of Family Farmers group oppose the bill, fearing a larger “seed bank” of canola, among other issues.

Sen. Chris Edwards, D-Eugene, said that opponents have also expressed concerns with the integrity of OSU’s study, such as the amount of scientific peer review it will receive.

To assuage their concerns, an amendment to HB 3382 specifies that canola can only be grown in the region for another three years if it’s cultivated under the same restrictions as during the OSU study, he said.

Under the amendment, OSU’s study must also be reviewed by experts on vegetable seed production and include data on canola and brassica seed production in several other regions in the U.S. and around the world.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture must also make recommendations based on OSU’s study about what protections are necessary to ensure coexistence between the canola and specialty seed industries.

Opponents of HB 3382 said the revisions weren’t to overcome their objections, stating they’re afraid the ODA will intrepret the bill as authorizing the agency to allow unrestricted canola production after 2019.

Edwards said the legislature will inevitable have to make further decisions about canola after 2019.

Although the amendment did not result in a “Kumbaya moment” of agreement, it nonetheless has enough support among lawmakers, he said.

The committee unanimously referred the bill to a vote on the Senate floor, though Sen. Floyd Prozanzki, D-Eugene, said he will continue to analyze the bill and may ultimately change his mind.

Autumn Althof received the Charlie Jensen Music Memorial for $500, and the Jack and Margaret Dean Scholarship for $1,000 through the SWOCC Foundation.

PORT ORFORD — Though only 20 students make up the graduating Pacific High School Class of 2015, they commanded the stage Saturday night during commencement ceremonies and lived up to their cla…

March 7, 1922 – May 31, 2015

TODAY

SALEM — Farmers will face a lower risk of lawsuits over aviation and agritourism accidents under two bills that seem likely to become law in Oregon.

House Bill 2038, which absolves landowners of liability for aviation-related injuries on their property in most circumstances, was approved unanimously by the Senate on June 1 after earlier passing the House.

Legislation that protects agritourism operators from lawsuits, Senate Bill 341, was unanimously referred for a vote on the House floor with a “do pass” recommendation on June 2 by a key committee. The bill has already been approved by the House.

Both bills have overcome opposition from the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, which feared the proposals would deprive negligence victims of their day in court.

Under the original language of HB 2038, aviation was simply added to a list of recreational activities for which landowners cannot be held liable unless they charge an entrance fee to their property.

An amended version of the bill clarifies that this protection doesn’t extend to landowners who cause harm to aircraft operators through gross negligence after allowing the use of their private airstrips.

Farmers who own airstrips testified in favor of the bill, arguing they shouldn’t be held legally responsible for pilots who routinely land on their property without permission.

While much of the debate focused on planes and airstrips, the bill also protects landowners from liability for accidents related to aviation sports such as hang gliding and parachuting.

Under SB 341, agritourism operators wouldn’t face liability for death or injury as long as they post notices that warn visitors of the inherent dangers of being on a farm.

The bill wouldn’t apply to growers who demonstrate “negligence or willful disregard” for safety, intentionally harm visitors, don’t properly inspect equipment that hurts someone, know of an undisclosed danger, or don’t comply with land use laws for agritourism.

Supporters of SB 341, including the Oregon Farm Bureau and Friends of Family Farmers, hope that reduced liability will encourage more agritourism and persuade insurers to offer coverage for such activities, eventually lowering premiums.

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Oregon is expected to see above-normal wildfire danger starting in July, and fire seasons imposing restrictions on open burning are starting in the southwestern corner of the state.

The National Interagency Fire Center’s latest report on nationwide wildfire potential shows much of Oregon at normal in June, with drier areas of the state moving into above normal. By July, above normal fire potential spreads across the Northwest, and continues through September.

“The focus of above normal fire activity during the core of the fire season will likely be in the Northwest,” the report said.

East of the Cascades, more lightning than usual is expected in July and August, which the report says “will prove to be the deciding factor for the intensity of fire season 2015.”

Last year Oregon saw more than 3,000 wildfires burn nearly 1 million acres — about 1,500 square miles — of forest and rangeland, the fire center reports.

Long-range forecasts from the NOAA Climate Prediction Center call for summer to be warmer and drier than average.

In the short term, late spring rain has moistened trees, brush and grass, but as summer wears on, wildfire activity is expected to become “robust,” the report said.

“This will be amplified by the lack of snowpack at higher elevations, which should allow the conditions necessary for long duration timber fires to occur unusually early,” the report said.

Fire seasons are starting in the southwestern corner of the state. The Oregon Department of Forestry is declaring fire season starting Friday in Jackson and Josephine counties. That is about the same time as the past two years, said Department of Forestry fire prevention specialist Brian Ballou. Fire danger will begin at moderate. Outdoor burning and fireworks will be prohibited on state-protected lands.

“This will be the third drier-than-normal fire season in a row for southwest Oregon,” state District Forester Dan Thorpe said in a statement.

Fire restrictions also went into effect on the so-called wild section of the Rogue River, popular with whitewater rafters, the U.S. Forest Service said.

Six small lightning fires were put out after being ignited Sunday evening in Douglas County.

Pendleton Grain Growers sold or closed several divisions after losing nearly $8 milllion in 2014 but has refocused on core business areas and hopes to regain profitability this year, its chief executive said.

Rick Jacobson, a Pendleton native and former Norpac executive called out of retirement in 2012 to get PGG back on its feet, said restructuring and cost containment measures implemented over the past three years are paying off.

“I’m sitting here feeling pretty optimistic,” Jacobson said. “We’re positioned to make money in the 2015 crop year.”

PGG, a grain marketing and supply cooperative founded in 1929, spread itself too thin as it diversified, Jacobson said. The co-op jettisoned agronomy services, an auto shop, farm supply business and an irrigation service. The discontinued services accounted for about $7.5 million of the company’s losses in 2014, Jacobson said.

The co-op also sold excess inventory and recapitalized its debts into a new loan package. Jacobson said PGG has a $20 million line of credit and is in good position at this point.

The troubles came to light in 2012 when the USDA temporarily suspended PGG’s grain license. The suspension meant growers’ grain deposits were not guaranteed and was a “serious issue,” Jacobson said. The co-op’s board approached Jacobson and asked him to step in as manager.

Digging into PGG’s books revealed severe accounting problems, including earnings being overstated by about $10 million over the years. Jacobson said the co-op’s accounting procedures were “inadequate” but said there was no evidence of fraud or criminal malfeasance.

PGG will now concentrate on grain, seed, fuel and other energy products and transportation, Jacobson. A subsidiary irrigation business, Precision Rain, operates in Island City, Ore.

PGG has a network of 19 grain elevators and serves wheat, barley, corn and canola growers.

In a prepared statement, PGG board Chairman Tim Hawkins said the co-op will provide local market services for years to come.

“We have done the hard work together,” he said, “and although some of the steps were difficult, we are now in a stronger financial position and have put in place a meaningful foundation for the future.”

The Oregon Senate has approved a bill giving farm regulators the authority to revoke nurseries’ shipping permits to prevent the spread of plant diseases.

Senate Bill 256, which also raises the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s cap on nursery license fees, passed 23-5 during a Senate vote on June 2.

The Oregon Association of Nurseries supports the bill, which the group has likened to a “nuclear deterrent” against nursery producers who ignore plant health standards.

The risk is that a diseased shipment from a negligent company will create an out-of-state outbreak and endanger Oregon’s entire nursery industry, according to OAN.

The maximum license fee on nurseries would increase from $20,000 a year to $40,000 a year under SB 256 and the millage rate on their revenues would increase from five to 10 mills. A mill is a tenth of one percent.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture’s inspection authority is also revised under the bill to allow for a more “document-heavy” approach that focuses on prevention and auditing rather than on-the-ground inspection.

The legislation will now be considered by the Oregon House.

The legal battle over grazing on public lands has flared up in southern Oregon with a new lawsuit over the Fremont-Winema National Forest.

Environmentalists are accusing the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of signing off on grazing in the forest despite “incomplete and inaccurate information” about harms to the Sprague and Sycan river basins.

The plaintiffs — Oregon Wild, Friends of Living Oregon Waters and the Western Watersheds Project — claim cattle are trampling streambanks, widening channels and raising water temperatures to the detriment of fish.

Negative impacts to the threatened bull trout have resulted in violations of the Endangered Species Act, while the degradation in water quality contravenes the Clean Water Act and National Forest Management Act, the lawsuit claims.

Damage to the “scenic value” of the area also breeches the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, according to the plaintiffs.

The complaint alleges repeated problems with overgrazing, poor fence conditions and unauthorized cattle in at least 10 grazing allotments are within the bull trout’s “critical habitat.”

Some allotments also haven’t been monitored for grass stubble height and other parameters of rangeland health, the complaint said.

The Forest Service’s own data shows that water temperatures in the streams exceeded Clean Water Act standards in “multiple years,” but despite these issues the government concluded “livestock grazing was not likely to adversely affect newly designated bull trout critical habitat,” the plaintiffs claim.

The environmental groups have asked a federal judge to declare the government’s grazing authorizations to be unlawful and issue “temporary, preliminary or permanent injunctive relief” as necessary.

The Forest Service had no comment and a representative of the Fish and Wildlife Service said the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

Jerome Rosa, executive director of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, said he was disappointed that ranchers in the area will be subject to litigation at a time they’re already contending with water shortages.

The OCA will look into the situation and seek to assist ranchers in the area, said John O’Keefe, the group’s president-elect.

“We’re definitely concerned,” he said.

The recent lawsuit comes after a couple years of relative calm in the controversy over grazing on public land in Oregon.

In 2012, several consolidated complaints over grazing in the Malheur National Forest came to an end after the federal government established new conditions for ranchers to follow.

In 2013, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to block grazing in the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s half-million-acre “Louse Canyon” area while the agency re-evaluated grazing authorizations.

The Langlois Lions club thanks the following for the donations of time, enthusiasm and great plants for this year's Benefit Plant Sale:

Oregon State University plant pathologist Chris Mundt reported at Hyslop Farm Field Day May 27 that sharp eyespot is back infecting Willamette Valley wheat, and doesn’t appear to be leaving any time soon.

“We were hoping it would go away,” Mundt said, “but that’s not the case.”

Sharp eyespot appeared in the valley at unheard of levels last year, causing yield losses as high as 50 percent in one field and between 10 and 20 percent in others, according to Mundt.

The disease was indiscriminate last year, appearing in wheat fields up and down the valley and on nearly all the common varieties, he said.

This year appears no different. Sharp eyespot is just as prominent, he said, and has been spotted in Central Oregon wheat stands as well, dousing hopes that last year’s outbreak was an anomaly that wouldn’t be repeated.

Mundt said he is finding it in every clump of wheat he pulls up in the valley.

Plants infected with the disease will exhibit black areas on stems, Mundt said, and at high infestation levels will lodge.

Mundt is speculating that a new strain, or population, of the sharp eyespot fungus, Rhizoctonia cerealis, is responsible for the infestation. He said literature shows it also is appearing in China.

The disease has appeared sparingly in the valley over the years, Mundt said, but never at high levels.

Among research being conducted on the disease, researchers are studying whether certain fungicides, such as the strobilurins, are effective at controlling it. “We’ll know at the end of this year,” Mundt said.

Researchers also are planning to put out trials this fall to study whether delaying planting can lower plant susceptibility.

Mundt also reported that barley yellow dwarf virus is appearing at unusually high levels in Willamette Valley wheat this year.

“This is the worst barley yellow dwarf I’ve ever seen in the valley,” he said.

He speculated that last fall’s high temperatures facilitated aphid survival, contributing to the spread of the disease. Aphids transmit barley yellow dwarf virus between plants.

Mundt said certain varieties, such as Bobtail, are showing better resistance to barley yellow dwarf than others. And, he said, if growers can hold off planting wheat until the end of October, it can help slow the spread of the disease.

“If you have any way to back off seeding to mid- to late October, it would be good not only for your individual farm, but for the valley as a whole,” he said.

In general, Mundt said, planting late lowers plant exposure to diseases.

Keep with tradition

Keep with tradition