SATURDAY, MAY 6

Saturdays

ONTARIO, Ore. — Every sixth-grader in Malheur County was introduced to the locally available ag-related careers involving aviation during a May 4 field day at the Ontario Municipal Airport.

About 400 students got a chance to learn about aviation, speak with pilots who fly helicopters and airplanes to spray farm fields, and experience flying using virtual reality goggles.

They also learned about some of the locally available jobs centered around aviation, including crop duster pilots and associated engineering jobs.

“We really want to get the kids thinking about the careers available locally, including careers in agriculture, and keep them in our community,” said event organizer Barbara Brody, Oregon State University’s local 4-H coordinator.

She said 4-H did a community needs assessment five years ago and found that many kids did not know what careers are available in the area, which is heavily agricultural.

Brody began working with Frazier Aviation to expose kids to some of the jobs available locally and has recently partnered with Treasure Valley Community College, one of the few colleges in the nation where people can obtain an ag applicator license.

Part of the field day involves teaching the students about agriculture, which drives the local economy.

“A lot of these kids are not aware of what our local farmers do so it was a great way to expose them to the ag industry,” Brody said.

In this area, farming and aviation go hand-in-hand, said Tommy Frazier, owner of Frazier Aviation.

Three ag applicators are based at the airport, a lot of area ranchers utilize helicopters in their operations and employees of many of the region’s biggest farm companies regularly fly in and out of the area, he said.

Careers in aviation and associated industries, such as drones, are going to expand in the near future, Frazier said, and TVCC’s aviation program will allow local residents to participate in those careers.

“There are going to be some excellent opportunities here locally,” he said. “And those kids are not going to have to go out of state to do that. They can do it right here.”

Aviation has always been a career that many people want to be in but are not sure how to go about getting into, said Paul McAlvain, president of Pauly’s Helicopter Services.

McAlvain spent the field day showing kids his helicopter and explaining how the boom attached to it is used to apply chemicals to farm fields.

He said not one of the students, or their teachers, knew that helicopters were used to spray farm fields.

He said the field day is an excellent way to introduce area youths to careers available in the aviation field.

“It’s fabulous they’re doing this,” he said. “People just need to be introduced to it.”

After visiting the airport in the morning, the students toured the TVCC campus to learn about some of the aviation and engineering courses available there.

PORTLAND — A long-standing dispute over cattle impacts on bull trout has been roused from dormancy, with environmentalists seeking an order prohibiting grazing along two Eastern Oregon rivers.

The Oregon Natural Desert Association and the Center for Biological Diversity initially filed a complaint challenging federal grazing authorizations along the Malheur and North Fork Malheur rivers in 2003.

That lawsuit was combined with two later grazing cases that were eventually closed, but the environmental groups were unable to settle the original litigation with the U.S. Forest Service and the affected ranchers.

During oral arguments on May 5, the plaintiffs asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Papak to declare that grazing authorizations in seven allotments of the Malheur National Forest violated the National Forest Management Act and the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

“The bull trout is in serious trouble in these two watersheds,” said Mac Lacy, attorney for ONDA. “We are at an important point here. Immediate action is needed to stave off that damage.”

Trampling by cattle erodes soil along streams, harming bull trout egg nests, as well as widening river channels and reducing vegetation, which raises water temperatures to the detriment of fish, the plaintiffs claim.

Bull trout were listed as a threatened species nearly two decades ago, resulting in protections for their in-stream habitats across the Northwest.

“On-the-ground conditions are relevant to the Forest Service’s decision-making, or they should be,” Lacy said.

However, only about 50 bull trout inhabit each of the two rivers in question, which shows the Forest Service’s approach isn’t working, he said.

“The populations themselves are dropping precipitously,” Lacy said.

The bull trout’s fortunes have continued to decline even though the agency reports that conditions are improving, he said.

The Forest Service bases this conclusion on proxy measurements, such as stubble height and stream bank alteration, Lacy said.

Meanwhile, the areas continue to fall short of the actual “riparian management objectives” that are integral for fish recovery, he said.

“The proxy doesn’t mirror reality,” Lacy said.

For example, cattle generally haven’t altered stream banks along a portion of the North Fork Malheur River beyond allowable annual standards, Lacy said.

Nonetheless, stream banks in the area went from 95 percent stable in 2005 to 51 percent stable in 2010, he said.

“These failures, to the extent they’re showing up in the record, are getting worse over time,” Lacy said.

Steve Odell, attorney for the Forest Service, said the plaintiffs have zeroed in on problem “hot spots” and then assuming that grazing is to blame.

“Cherry picking is easy to do in these situations,” he said.

The plaintiffs chose problem sites to prove a point, but those “hot spots” don’t reflect overall conditions, he said.

Attributing the challenges facing bull trout entirely to grazing also isn’t tenable, Odell said.

A forest fire, debris from a storm and low stream flows were likely culprits in one area, he said.

“These are natural events,” Odell said.

The Forest Service’s scientists have determined that monitoring stubble height in pastures and the alteration of stream banks by cattle hoofs are permissible indicators of progress, he said.

These measurements indicate that grazing plans are in compliance with the agency’s strategy for inland fish recovery, he said.

“The record does not show ongoing negative effects from grazing,” Odell said.

The environmental groups are impermissibly attacking the agency’s entire system for regulating grazing, rather than distinct actions, he said.

It’s up to the executive branch or Congress to overhaul the grazing program, but the role of federal courts is limited to specific agency decisions, according to the Forest Service.

“Judges have to take a very narrow view because we have a separation of powers issue here,” Odell said.

Grazing isn’t allowed to deter the areas from achieving “riparian management objectives,” or RMOs, at the watershed scale, he said.

It’s not practical, or required, to show that RMOs are being met every year in every pasture or reach of a stream, according to the agency.

“The Forest Service would have to have an army of 300 people to be able to do that,” Odell said.

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Officials with BNSF Railway say mudslides have forced the suspension of train traffic on a heavily traveled section of rails between Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon.

Gus Melonas, spokesman for the railroad, said early Friday that 10 slides just north of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge have halted rail traffic. The slides came hours after a series of thunderstorms rolled through western Washington.

He says a 48-hour hold has been put on Amtrak trains between Seattle and Portland, and that hold is scheduled to last until 11:30 p.m. Saturday. On its website, Amtrak says it is seeking alternate transportation.

Melonas says the slides consisting of mud, rock, trees and debris coming from a 100-foot cliff started at about 9 p.m. Thursday. He says crews are using excavators and cranes to remove debris and that a ditch has been constructed to allow water to flow. He says it has been an extremely wet seven months in the area.

Melonas says about 60 trains per day from Amtrak, BNSF and Union Pacific use the tracks.

COOS BAY, Ore. (AP) — The Port of Coos Bay has stepped up its public outreach efforts in recent weeks to promote its proposed $400 million channel modification project.

“This city, this bay was built on shipping. It’s a valuable resource,” Mike Dunning, the Port’s director of maritime operations, told Coos Bay city councilors Tuesday night. “One of the important numbers to think about is 1986: we had almost 400 vessel calls a year, (now) we are down to 50.”

The project would involve dredging the current channel and deepening it 8 feet along more than 8 miles of river, beginning near Roseburg Forest Products. The same stretch west of the McCullough Bridge would likewise be widened 150 feet.

A 1,400-foot-long by 1,100-foot-wide “vessel-turning basin” would also be created at the upper end of the proposed modification.

Currently, the channel sits at a depth of 37 feet with a width of 300 feet.

Those numbers would change to 45-feet deep by 450-feet wide at the project’s conclusion.

If completed, the work would be the largest and deepest dredging project in Coos Bay’s history.

Filling A Need

Dunning argued the modifications are necessary to stay relevant in an evolving market.

“We want to build a robust shipping port in Coos Bay but ships are getting bigger,” he said, adding that ports like Los Angeles and Charleston, South Carolina, were already dredging to make their channels more than 50 feet deep.

According to Dunning, the larger ships do have a benefit however, they can carry more product.

“It makes us more competitive (with bigger ports),” he said.

And while Coos Bay will never operate at the same level as behemoths like Long Beach and Los Angeles, there is still a niche for the largest deep-water channel between San Francisco and Puget Sound.

“(The logging industry) is not really going to be our concentration (for shipping),” Dunning said, explaining that the target was bulked goods. “Maybe boutique containers, potentially some small containerized vessels — we don’t ever really see ourselves being a large container port.”

Dunning noted that Coos Bay is optimally located for trade with Asia and other international markets and possesses a comprehensive multimodal transportation network that included rail, highway, maritime and air.

He said the Port operated rail network would benefit greatly from the influx of cargo.

“We run about 6,500 to 7,500 (rail cars) a year but it was built in 1914. It needs a lot of work.”

According to the Port’s Finance and Administration report, rail operations earned less revenue than planned in January of this year.

The report blamed lower volume and less cargo for the rail’s weakness and estimated the Port would fall short of an estimated $286,000 additional surplus for the year to date because of the rail’s consistent underperformance.

“To maintain that rail and maintain all the bridges and structures we have on that system, we have to get more than 7,500 cars,” Dunning said. “That’s the reality and we do that by increasing our shipping.”

On Tuesday night, Coos Bay City Councilor Phil Marler said he recognized the importance of a well-maintained rail system in relation to imports and exports but called on the Port and its partners to consider the wear and tear on surrounding highways that will come from increased trade.

“I think about that accident in Scottsburg,” he said, referencing a semi-truck crash that shut down bridge traffic for several days last month. “It really concerns me about the state of that bridge and sections of that highway. We all have to look 20 years down the road, not tomorrow.”

Dunning assured the council that road and highway health was a priority and that the Port is required to work with Oregon Department of Transportation.

“Multi-use” Terminal

Port officials say the project will also help foster development of 1,000 acres of Port-owned property on the North Spit.

Dunning said the land could be converted into a multi-use terminal.

“We have a gem here when it comes to shipping,” he added. “There’s not a lot of greenfield or brownfield property ready to build on the West Coast with deep water access like Coos Bay. It really is a gem.”

When asked by The World if Jordan Cove or its parent companies, Veresen and Pembina Pipeline Corp., would be beneficiaries of the work, Dunning said a variety of parties stood to gain from the presence of a vibrant port.

At the moment, the Port is working collaboratively with the state and “various private partners” to fund the project.

While Dunning would not comment on Jordan Cove’s involvement with the project, he did say, “there have been discussions” between the port and the energy company.

Timeline

The process to modify Coos Bay’s channel has spanned more than a decade and will take at least the better half of another before completed.

Beginning in 2006, the Port began preliminary design and studies for a terminal and deepening the channel. Since then, Port officials have worked with the US Army Corps of Engineers and consultants to evaluate and analyze methods.

In 2016, the Port submitted tentatively selected plans to the Corps and expects to submit draft reports and a draft of an Environmental Impact Statement by the end of this year.

The Corps will then evaluate and scope the draft EIS as part of the National Environmental Policy Act. At that time, the public will be able to provide input through meetings and other opportunities.

If approved by the Corps and public, permits will be issued in 2019 before construction begins sometime that next year.

Port officials say they hope construction would then be completed by 2022.

But as Dunning noted, there is still much to be done.

“This is not the end-all, be-all,” he said. “This is the beginning.”

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A small business owner in southwestern Idaho says he plans on selling oil extracted from marijuana despite operating in a state with strict drug laws.

Mike Larsen, who co-owns Welcomed Science, tells KTVB-TV (http://bit.ly/2qw1reJ ) that he believes Idaho law allows businesses to sell the mature stalk of a marijuana plant. Larsen says that his oil is made from that matured stalk and will be tested in a lab to ensure it is does not have the hallucinogenic chemical found in marijuana.

However, Elisha Figueroa with the Idaho Office of Drug Policy says that the extract, also known as cannaboid oil, is illegal under state and federal law. She declined to talk specifically about Larsen’s business.

Larsen says that the law is on his side and will open his store soon in Garden City.

RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — A new report says Congress should consider authorizing the Department of Energy to use grout to stabilize some of Hanford’s radioactive waste, rather than a more expensive plan to turn it into glass.

The Government Accountability Office report was released Wednesday.

The Tri-City Herald says the report argues that grouting is less expensive than turning the waste into glass logs, and might allow the waste to be treated sooner.

But the state of Washington has long insisted that any waste disposed of at Hanford be turned into glass to best protect the environment.

The waste is left over from the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons.

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation contains the nation’s highest volume of waste, about 56 million gallons stored in underground tanks. Some tanks are leaking.

The Canadian company behind the Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas project is getting bigger. A larger Canadian energy company announced plans to buy it for nearly $7 billion U.S. dollars.

 In a deal announced this week, Pembina Pipeline Corp will acquire Veresen.  Veresen is the energy company that wants to build the export terminal near Coos Bay in southern Oregon. Veresen is also proposing a 235-mile-long pipeline that would tie the terminal to natural gas supplies in the inland West. The pipeline route runs across public and private land in four Oregon counties.

In a media call Monday announcing the merger, the companies indicated that their combined financial strength puts them in a better position to get the Jordan Cove project done.     

 Federal energy regulators blocked Veresen’s bid to build the terminal and pipeline last year, but the company has re-applied and hopes to get a better reception from the Trump Administration. An administration official voiced support last month for the project.

 Local efforts to block the Jordan Cove project continue.  Landowners along the pipeline route have been outspoken in their opposition to the use of eminent domain.  Climate activists oppose further fossil fuel development.  And some community members have argued that Oregon is taking on all the safety risk for the pipeline and terminal, but most of the reward will be reaped in Canada.   

 The merger of Pembina and Veresen will create one of the largest energy infrastructures in Canada. Pembina expects the merger to be finalized by the end of the year.

The USDA’s agreement to kill wolves on behalf of Oregon wildlife regulators isn’t a “major federal action” warranting environmental review, according to a federal judge.

Even if USDA’s Wildlife Services was required to study the impact of killing wolves in Oregon, the agency properly concluded it would have no significant environmental impact, U.S. District Judge Michael McShane ruled.

Several environmental groups filed a lawsuit last year arguing that USDA’s Wildlife Services insufficiently studied the effects of its contract to kill wolves with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The plaintiffs — Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity, Wildearth Guardians, Predator Defense and Project Coyote — claimed the agency’s decision violated the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.

Wolf management is governed by state wildlife officials in Eastern Oregon, where the predators aren’t protected under the Endangered Species Act.

In 2009, ODFW directed USDA Wildlife Services to kill two wolves, bringing about a lawsuit from environmental groups.

The resulting settlement obligated USDA to conduct an environmental assessment of the agreement, but the analysis found the federal agency’s involvement didn’t have significant environmental consequences.

McShane has now rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that USDA should have conducted a more extensive “environmental impact statement,” or EIS, due to the controversy and unknown risks of killing wolves.

The agency took a “hard look” at the issue and allowably concluded that “due to the high reproductive rates of wolves and the ample prey and territory in eastern Oregon, wolf populations are expected to grow despite wolf removal, regardless of the source,” the judge said.

Some of the studies submitted by the environmental plaintiffs supported the concept that killing wolves eliminates “genetic or behavioral traits” linked to livestock depredation, McShane said.

However, the USDA wasn’t even mandated by NEPA to perform this environmental analysis, he said.

The decision to kill wolves ultimately rested with ODFW, not USDA Wildlife Services, so the action doesn’t trigger an environmental review by the federal agency, the judge ruled.

“Because Wildlife Services provided only marginal federal funding and lacks the requisite discretionary control, Wildlife Services’ actions in assisting with wolf removal as part of Oregon’s Wolf Plan does not constitute ‘major federal action’ and NEPA does not apply,” he said.

ONTARIO, Ore. — EPA has approved a special local need label for an herbicide that is effective in controlling a genetically engineered creeping bentgrass that has taken root in Malheur and Jefferson counties in Oregon after escaping field trials in 2003.

The label is approved for only those counties.

The bentgrass was genetically engineered by Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. and Monsanto Corp. to resist applications of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer, which makes it hard to kill.

The special label will allow growers, irrigation districts and others to spot spray glufosinate over water during the growing season.

Glufosinate has proven the most effective herbicide for controlling the bentgrass but it previously could only be used over waterways such as canals during a short period at the beginning and end of the growing season.

“This is a huge tool in our tool box,” said Dan Andersen, co-chairman of a working group of farmers, irrigation district representatives and others that was developed in Malheur County to coordinate with Scott’s in its continuing efforts to control or eradicate the grass.

Some farmers worry the bentgrass could clog irrigation ditches and affect shipments of crops to nations that don’t accept traces of genetically modified organisms.

The bentgrass has proven difficult to control near canals and irrigation ditches because of the previous lack of an herbicide approved for use over water.

Malheur County farmer Bruce Corn, a member of the Owyhee Irrigation District board of directors, said having the ability to use glufosinate over waterways for the entire growing season will be a big benefit.

“It should really help efforts to eradicate it,” he said. “It’s a big deal.”

USDA in January deregulated the bentgrass and some growers have questioned Scott’s commitment to continue controlling it.

But Andersen and other members of the Malheur County working group told Capital Press the company is living up to its promise to continue helping growers and irrigation districts control it.

Les Ito, a farmer and working group member, said his biggest fear when USDA deregulated the bentgrass was that Scotts would walk away from the issue.

“I’m much more comfortable with them now than I was prior,” he said. “They’re showing that they are putting out a great deal of effort to work with us.”

Andersen said Scotts led the effort to get the special need label, which is valid through 2022, and the company has also designated an employee to coordinate with the working group and address concerns as they arise.

Andersen said no crops have been contaminated by the grass to date and he feels good about Scotts commitment to continue controlling the bentgrass.

“The relationships we have built up with Scotts are sound. I’m going to trust them to do what they say they are going to do,” he said. “And yet we are also going to keep their feet to the fire and we’re going to keep asking questions and we’re going to keep on them.”

BEND, Ore. (AP) — Deputies arrested a man following an investigation into the care of animals at a Central Oregon farm.

Court records show 40-year-old Joshua Larkly of Culver faces numerous counts of animal neglect.

Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputy Steve Keever told The Bend Bulletin the investigation began last month when four pigs got loose. Deputies went to the farm to see if they lived there.

He says they discovered 110 farm animals living in deplorable conditions, and more than a dozen animals were dead.

Keever says the chickens, cows, ducks, goats, pigs and sheep were confined to two pens. A vet called to the scene said the animals lacked water and proper food.

Keever says the suspect was taking care of the animals for a brother who’s away working as a trucker.

CANYON COUNTY, Idaho — Two major onion packing sheds are moving from Oregon’s Malheur County to Idaho.

Golden West Produce and Owyhee Produce, both located in Nyssa, Ore., have taken out building permits to construct packing sheds and several storage facilities across the Snake River in northwestern Canyon County, Idaho.

Golden West Produce is one of the largest of the 29 packing sheds in the Idaho-Oregon onion growing region and Owyhee Produce ranks in the top third.

Golden West had been planning to move its onion packing operation to Idaho in the next three to five years and Owyhee Produce had been seriously considering moving to Idaho.

Officials from both companies said the heavy damage their businesses sustained this winter was the impetus for the move happening sooner rather than later. Both companies lost main packing sheds and several storage facilities when roofs collapsed under the weight of snow and ice.

“We had some big decisions to make and we had been contemplating going to Idaho anyway,” said Owyhee Produce General Manager Shay Myers. The damage “really forced the opportunity upon us.”

Golden West built a refrigerated onion storage in Idaho last year and had planned to move its onion packing operation to Idaho within the next five years, said Troy Seward, CEO of sales.

“The impetus (for speeding up the move) was when we lost our packing facility and several storages this winter,” he said.

There are 16 onion packing sheds in Idaho and 13 in Malheur County, Oregon.

Several onion businesses have in the past told Capital Press that Oregon’s much higher minimum wage was pushing them to seriously consider moving to Idaho. But Seward and Myers said that didn’t play a major role in their decision.

“The minimum wage issue is ... definitely something we keep an eye on but it wasn’t the primary reason we moved to Idaho,” Seward said.

He said Golden West is experiencing growth and a lack of room for expansion at their Nyssa premises is what ultimately drove the company’s packing operation to Idaho.

Myers said Oregon’s rules and regulations are more onerous to businesses than Idaho’s and that is ultimately what drove Owyhee Produce across the river.

Paul Skeen, president of the Malheur County Onion Growers Association, said Oregon has not been as friendly toward agriculture as Idaho has in the past but he’s hopeful that could be changing somewhat.

After visiting the region in February to view this winter’s heavy damage, Gov. Kate Brown ordered state agencies to cut through red tape as much as possible to speed the rebuilding process for onion businesses and others who suffered heavy damage, Skeen said.

And a proposed bill co-sponsored by House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, who visited the area last summer at Skeen’s request, would create a special economic development region in Eastern Oregon with the goal of helping Oregon businesses there compete fairly with their Idaho counterparts.

“At least they are trying to help,” Skeen said. “They ... are trying now to change this around and I am hoping we can keep the number of businesses moving from Oregon to Idaho to a minimum.”

NAMPA, Idaho (AP) — On a recent slightly chilly, sun-soaked morning, Canyon County Mosquito Abatement larvicide technicians Scott Arbon and Jaron Lakey suit up with long wader boots, small plastic sample baggies and long poles with ladles attached on one end.

They hop a fence surrounding Deer Flat Wildlife Refuge near Lake Lowell and begin scooping up marsh water.

Tiny worm-like creatures squirm in the murky water, along with small beetles and shrimp. But on this day, Arbon and Lakey found only a few samples of what they were looking for: mosquito larvae. For now, that’s good news.

But unfortunately, other areas in Canyon County may not be so clear of mosquito larvae. Due to flooding from the Boise River that have left pools of standing water, many tracts of the county have become prime habitat for mosquito larvae, and larvicide technicians like Arbon and Lakey are canvassing the county in hopes of keeping a looming mosquito threat at bay.

Ed Burnett, director of the Canyon County Mosquito Abatement District, said the high water this spring is creating perfect conditions for a big mosquito summer. Since taking over as director in 2005, Burnett says 2017 is setting up to be the worst year he has seen so far and he’s cautioning county residents to prepare for the potential of large swarms of the pesky bugs in coming months.

“We are treating areas now while the temperatures are low,” he said. “But if temperatures get warm quickly, we could have a problem.”

Burnett said eggs from mosquitoes laid in dirt as long as seven years ago have likely been activated by floodwaters and can thrive in stagnant water. Larvicide technicians have found such high numbers of mosquito larvae in spots along the Boise River and at Deer Flat Wildlife Refuge that in April, Burnett issued a press release warning of the threat.

“We are seeing extremely high concentrated numbers of mosquito larvae and as temperatures warm up, the mosquito larvae found in many of the flooded areas around the county may turn into swarms of adult biting mosquitoes,” he said.

Luckily, the mosquitoes that appear early in the spring and summer seasons don’t harbor West Nile Virus, but as Burnett said, they are “very aggressive and will swarm in very high numbers.”

BATTLING CANYON COUNTY’S MOSQUITOES

Mosquito abatement efforts in Canyon County first began in 1997. Those early efforts focused on controlling the mosquito population around the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge near Lake Lowell. Called the Lake Lowell Mosquito Abatement District, it had no funding and relied on the work of volunteers.

“Home and landowners near Lake Lowell got together to address the mosquito problem,” Burnett said.

That first year’s efforts were considered a success and showed area residents that mosquito abatement meant they could enjoy a backyard barbecue without being eaten alive by the winged pests.

Then the mosquito threat became more serious in 2000 after cattle grazing in private pastures adjacent to the wildlife refuge tested positive for Western Equine Encephalitis, a mosquito-borne virus that can affect the nervous systems of horses and humans.

Infants and small children are most vulnerable to infection and can suffer permanent brain damage or death.

Also, another mosquito-borne disease was looming on the horizon: West Nile Virus.

In 2005, the first mosquito in Idaho tested positive for the virus and 21 people in the state died from infection in 2006, prompting the Canyon County Mosquito Abatement District to expand its reach from 24 square miles around Deer Flat Refuge to 80 square miles. At the time, Nampa and Caldwell were annexed into the district.

Canyon County Commissioners issued emergency declarations due to West Nile Virus in 2006 and 2007, then signed a resolution to make mosquito abatement a county-wide effort after Canyon County residents overwhelmingly approved the measure at the polls.

According to the Center for Disease Control, the first West Nile Virus case in Idaho was reported in 2003. That number spiked to 996 in 2006 but then dropped significantly in following years with only 13 cases reported in 2015.

Between 1999 and 2015, roughly 44,000 cases of the virus have been reported nationwide with about 2,000 deaths.

FINDING BALANCE WITH NATURE

At Deer Flat Wildlife Preserve, Arbon said the county doesn’t use standard insecticides to combat mosquito larvae. Instead, they’re relying solely on the bacteria bacillus thuringiensis israelensis, or Bti, which only affects the pH levels in the gut of mosquito, black fly and midge larvae.

Once ingested, the bacteria kills the mosquito larvae by using toxins to break down cell walls in the larval gut. The bacteria, discovered in Israel in 1976, is considered safe for humans, animals and crops by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Arbon said Mother Nature helps kill off many mosquitoes before they reach maturity, as the larvae are an essential link in the food chain.

“We are trying to protect a lot of organisms here because it is a refuge,” he said. “There are helpful bugs that kill the mosquitoes. Damselflies, dragonflies, whirligig beetles, predaceous diving beetles and a lot of other organisms out there that help with integrated pest management.”

Arbon said he and fellow larvicide technicians spot-treat areas with Bti granules that they spray with a device that operates like a leaf blower.

“We come out as a team and treat the area,” Arbon said. “But if we find lots of mosquitoes in a large area, we’ll have a pilot come in and do a low passover.”

KEEPING FLYING INSECTS AT BAY

Frankie’s Aerial Application is one of the two air service companies that help with mosquito mitigation in Canyon County.

Frank Amen, the company’s owner, has been distributing Bti larvicide over waterways in Canyon County in his 1100 horsepower M-18 Dromader turboprop plane for a decade. He is a crucial component of Canyon County’s mosquito abatement program because he can cover large, hard-to-reach areas of shallow larvae infested water.

He spreads 8 to 10 pounds of dry Bti material per acre. His plane, used for agricultural application of pesticides and fertilizers, is already equipped with a dry spreader, which is controlled by the pilot and monitored by electronic equipment.

Using a GPS system, he programs the coordinates of application areas, which are determined in the field by technicians like Arbon and Lakey.

“Ed (Burnett) gives us a Google map with the coordinates, and the boundaries are outlined so the pilot knows where to spread the granules,” he said.

Amen has been flying for 36 years, since he was 17 years old. He said spreading Bti on problem areas is much like crop dusting dry fertilizer.

“The hazards for the pilot are still significant because obstacles such as towers and guy wires penetrate the airspace he flies in,” Amen said. “There are also large birds like pelicans and eagles to avoid around the waterways.”

Clear, sunny weather is ideal for flying, Amen said, but he can also apply Bti granules in a light rain. He said his company is on call with the Mosquito Abatement District from March through November.

Amen said he is thankful to be able to serve the people in his community by helping keep mosquito-caused infections like West Nile Virus to a minimum.

“My wife is a nurse and has taken care of people who were sickened by West Nile virus. It can be a very mild or very devastating illness,” he said. “So when Ed tells us that the application was effective, we are happy.”

HOW THE COUNTY FINDS THE VIRUS

Burnett said that mosquito abatement employees place mosquito traps filled with 2 to 3 pounds of dry ice in areas throughout the county. The carbon dioxide released by the dry ice attracts mosquitoes, as does a light in the traps. Once mosquitoes are drawn into the trap, a small fan keeps them from escaping.

Those trapped mosquitoes are then collected by county employees and separated by species. About 50 mosquitoes of each variety are crushed, then tested for West Nile virus at a lab at the Canyon County Mosquito Abatement headquarters on Booker Lane in Nampa.

“We can set traps in the evening, retrieve them in the morning, and we can know if we have West Nile virus by that evening,” Burnett said.

If West Nile is detected in mosquitoes, the district immediately issues a press release informing the public of the infected area. Officials also create a Facebook post informing county residents where night spraying will occur.

Burnett said the “fogging trucks,” used to spray, are calibrated by a private company to ensure they are putting out a safe amount of the insecticide as required by federal law, which for the trucks is about three-quarters of an ounce per acre.

He said roughly 313 acres of the Boise River in Canyon County has been treated with Bti via airplane this year. He said another 264 acres of the Boise River, between south Notus and Highway 95, was scheduled for treatment at the end of April.

In 2016, 2,725 acres of Deer Flat Wildlife Refuge were treated with Bti, with most of that area treated by air. The total cost of mosquito abatement efforts last year was roughly $136,000.

Burnett said that even though the mosquito problem is especially bad this year, the abatement district should still be on track with its budget.

“We are prepared to handle an above normal outbreak,” he said.

Wheat farmers in the Walla Walla Valley are experiencing more soilborne wheat mosaic virus this year, a researcher says.

Researchers have identified 16 fields that tested positive for the disease since March 5, said Christina Hagerty, assistant professor of cereal pathology at Oregon State University.

“It really seems as though we have an increase of the virus this season,” Hagerty said. “Growers who have not dealt with this disease in the past, it has shown up in their fields this year. Growers who have dealt with this disease in small patches of their fields are now seeing it in much larger areas.”

Hagerty blames wet conditions and the likely transportation of infected soil for the increase in the disease, which causes severe stunting in wheat.

“We think about equipment sanitation and boot sanitation, and while those things are crucial, this can be picked up in a dust storm by wind,” she said. “I think about the elk tracks in my plots in Walla Walla County.”

The disease was first identified in 2005 in the Hermiston, Ore., area, and in the Walla Walla, Wash., area in 2008.

Hagerty credits OSU professor emeritus Dick Smiley and Washington State University professor and extension plant pathologist Tim Murray for leading research efforts. In a moderate infestation, Murray estimated the virus would reduce yields by four bushels an acre. In a severe infestation, it can cause a 20-bushel reduction in yield.

“Some locations are quite severe, some are moderate,” Hagerty said.

Planting a resistant wheat variety is the best option for growers, Hagerty said.

Breeding programs are screening for resistance to the virus, she said.

Hagerty recommends understanding conditions favorable for the disease. OSU is studying possible effects of an extra nitrogen application to boost the plant.

Farmers who suspect they have the virus need to send their wheat to a plant clinic for molecular analysis, Hagerty said.

Growers whose neighbors are dealing with the disease should also be on the lookout, she said.

SALEM, Ore. — A record–breaking crowd attended the 30th annual Ag Fest April 29-30 at the Oregon State Fairgrounds.

Tami Kerr, executive director of Oregon Dairy Farmers Association and 2017 Ag Fest chair, was enthusiastic about the record-breaking results of this year’s event.

“It was a record-breaking year in every way,” Kerr said. “The trade show filled faster this year than ever before, we had more local food producers selling cheese, salsa, pies and meat ... new cooking demonstrations from Bob’s Red Mill and there were more hands-on experiences than ever in both Ag Country and the animal barns.”

When she first joined the board 17 years ago, the even drew 7,000 and 8,000 attendees.

“This year,” Kerr said, “we nearly hit 22,000 — 21,964 to be exact. No other state that I know of has a premier agriculture education event that matches this one, and it is a thrill to see entire families learning together about where their food comes from.”

Part of the event was the presentation of the Oregon Ag Fest Agricultural Education Awards. Top award winners were members of the Echo, Ore., FFA, the Henley FFA near Klamath Falls and the Oregon Dairy Women.

To extend their mission beyond the annual two-day event, Ag Fest organizers decided to award student organizations, nonprofit groups and others who promote agriculture and educate Oregonians about it.

Echo FFA members — Echo is a small town 8 miles south of Hermiston in Eastern Oregon — took home the first place prize of $1,000 for their 2,333 “agricultural learning moments” they advocated between January 2016 and March 2017.

Those projects included presenting Ag in the Classroom lessons to elementary classrooms in the Echo School District, hosting a petting zoo for elementary- through high school-age students, teaching a lesson at Rocky Heights Elementary School in Hermiston and taking part in work stations at the Eastern Oregon Agriculture Field Day at the Sustainable Agriculture and Energy Center in Boardman.

The 10 Echo FFA members who attended Ag Fest to accept their award also spent the morning assisting with pedal tractor races, parking cars and the Ag Challenge scavenger hunt.

Henley FFA took home the second place prize of $600 for working with the local Klamath Falls Farm Expo, hosting an Ag Field Day for students at a local elementary school, participating in the Oregon Ag in the Classroom Spring Literacy Project, as well as other community service efforts that included working with PLAY — Promoting Lifelong Activities for Youth — and the Klamath County Forestry Tour.

Accepting the $400 prize for third place was 2017 State Dairy Princess Ambassador Kiara Single and Jessica Kliewer, state director of the Dairy Princess Ambassador Program for the Oregon Dairy Women. Since 1959, the volunteer organization has been telling dairy’s story to the public through the princess ambassador program and other efforts.

LANGLOIS — The Langlois Lions Club will hold their annual Mary Hildebrand Memorial Plant Sale from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at the Langlois Lions Club, 48136 Floras Lake Loop.

Capital Bureau

SALEM — In an expression of solidarity on a day honoring the world’s workers, supporters of Oregon’s immigrants rallied and marched Monday at the state Capitol.

The rally reflected the current attitude of resistance from the left in the wake of the election of President Donald J. Trump, who pledged during his campaign to “build a wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border, and whose administration has reportedly stepped up federal immigration enforcement efforts.

For decades, Oregon has had a sanctuary law that prevents state and local officials from enforcing federal immigration laws if a person’s only crime is being in the country illegally.

Advocates say that immigrant communities in Oregon are seeing heightened enforcement of immigration laws, including arrests of people who are recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, an Obama-era policy that allowed some undocumented immigrants who came here as children to receive temporary relief from deportation and a two-year work permit.

State Rep. Teresa Alonso Leon, D-Woodburn, also cited a ballot measure proposal from three state lawmakers filed April 25 to repeal the state’s decades-old sanctuary law by amending the state constitution.

That proposal, Initiative Petition 22, was filed by three Republican state Reps. Greg Barreto, of Cove; Mike Nearman, of Independence; and Sal Esquivel, of Medford.

Alonso Leon, who argues that the president’s enforcement actions threatens public safety by undermining relationships between police and immigrant communities, said the petition would “divide our state and amplify Donald Trump’s harmful and hateful policies.”

The petition will need 88,184 signatures to qualify for the ballot, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

Andrea Williams, executive director of Causa Oregon, said immigrants need to learn their rights and “fight back” when those rights are violated.

“We need to continue to advocate for better protections here in our own state,” Williams said.

Suad Elmi, a mother of five who emigrated from Somalia, described her harrowing journey by boat and on foot from her war-torn home to a refugee camp in Kenya.

“We should be united,” Elmi said. “Our president should be a uniter, not a divider. We should use that money he’s trying to build a wall and build houses, you know?”

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, who has been a prominent voice advocating for progressive social issues since Trump’s election, reaffirmed her support for immigrants in a brief speech at the event.

In February, the governor signed an executive order barring the use of state resources to enforce federal immigration policy; she’s also advocated for expanding Medicaid to children who are also undocumented immigrants, an initiative called Cover All Kids.

“I know that this is an uncertain and scary time for Oregon’s immigrant and refugee families,” Brown said. “I want you to know that my support for you is unwavering.”

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Wildfires this summer are expected to be most severe in southwestern U.S. states, Florida, Georgia and in some parts of California and Nevada, forecasters said Monday.

The summer 2017 fire outlook issued by the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise also said heavy winter snow and spring rains that flooded many Western states will probably delay the onset of this season’s worst wildfires.

“In the broadest sense, some parts of the country with higher elevation could see a lighter fire year,” said Ed Delgado, the office’s head of predictive services. “In other parts, there may not be a huge risk right now but things could dry out really quickly.”

The threat of wildfires is expected to be normal or below normal for northwestern states, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Wyoming and most of Utah.

The forecast could change if temperatures soar late in the summer and grasses and other vegetation that grew due to wet weather and flooding dries, turning it into fuel for wildfires.

“There is concern regarding elevated fire potential in July and August across the lower elevations of much of western and northern Nevada and possibly into southwest Idaho,” the report said.

Forecasters noted that south-central Alaska could see a burst of intense fire activity sometime this summer due to ongoing drought conditions. In the northwestern U.S. states, fire risks could also surge if temperatures rise in July and particularly in August — forcing the state’s fire season to stretch into the fall.

In California, infestations of bark beetles that kill trees in forests in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada could cause the wildfire risk to increase in May and June.

“Drought is a two-sided coin,” Delgado said. “You tend to get a lot of finer fuel growth in lower elevation areas during wet years. But adding that lower level fuel has the potential to help carry fires to stressed forests, areas that have a lot of dead or dying trees already from the dry years.”

Wildfires have already broken out in Florida, southeastern Georgia, Arizona and New Mexico. Ten new large wildfires were reported as of last week, burning more than 300 square miles (780 square kilometers). Eight of those fires are currently burning in Florida.

“Heavy growth of fine fuels across southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico have led to above normal fire potential along the Mexican border that should persist through June before the monsoonal rains arrive in early July,” forecasters wrote in the report.

Delgado said too many factors are involved in predicting fire seasons to make direct comparisons to various years.

Last year, 8,600 square miles (22,300 square kilometers) were scorched across the U.S., mostly in western states. Six fires burned more than 156 square miles (400 square kilometers) each.

The cost suppressing last year’s wildfire season was $1.97 billion.

The Willamette Valley Agriculture Association has extended the application deadline for its college scholarships until the end of May.

Each year the association, producers of the Willamette Valley Ag Expo in Albany, awards several scholarships to students in Oregon. The award amounts range from $1,500 to $3,000. Proceeds from the annual event help to fund this scholarship.

The purpose of the scholarship is to support students pursuing a career in agriculture production. Students must possess a 3.0 grade point average or higher. The Willamette Valley Ag Expo scholarship is open to students who are sophomores and above majoring in the field of agriculture.

Potential applicants must read the scholarship application and fill it out in its entirety. The application can be found online at http://wvaexpo.com/scholarships/.

Please send completed applications and required materials to: WVAA at P.O. Box 307, Albany OR 97321.