SEATTLE (AP) — Federal and state funds totaling $1 million have been set aside to study a new endangered species protection plan in Oregon forests, a decade after a similar effort stalled amid controversy.

The money is earmarked to pay for the first step in laying out new rules for protecting endangered species in 630,000 acres of state-owned forest land west of the Cascades, including large tracts on the state’s northern coast.

The plan would consider species including the spotted owl and marbled murrelet, and set guidelines for timber harvesting and recreational use. Officials hope the study phase will take about a year, followed by a year to craft the rules themselves, and a final year of review, said Cindy Kolomechuk, leader of the project at the Oregon Department of Forestry.

Formally called Habitat Conservation Plans, the plans facilitate logging on lands where threatened species are found, essentially authorizing negative impacts in exchange for enhancing other protections.

Previous efforts have sparked controversy in the state. A plan laying out protections in the Elliot State Forest, in southwestern Oregon, became mired after disagreement over marbled murrelet rules. And an attempt to create a broader plan ended in 2008 without guidelines being adopted, amid controversy over balancing protections against logging revenues.

The conflicts reflect deeper tensions in the state, where businesses with ties to an historic logging industry have found themselves pitted against environmental groups.

Preservation efforts potentially have a new dimension amid a national focus on climate change, said Bob Van Dyk, of the Wild Salmon Center, a Portland conservation group.

“These are soggy, long-lived forests,” Van Dyk said. “They sequester enormous amounts of carbon.”

The forestry department announced the funding for the study Monday.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contributed $750,000 with the remainder coming from the state.

Despite a mercifully wet April, water shortages remain likely for farmers and ranchers across much of Oregon, especially in southern and eastern portions of the state that are dealing with the onset of drought.

Gov. Kate Brown has already declared a drought emergency for Klamath and Grant counties, while a request from Harney County is pending, according to a spokeswoman for the Oregon Water Resources Department.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service released its May 2018 Oregon basin outlook report, detailing stream flow forecasts heading into summer. Though statewide precipitation was 124 percent of average for April, most of the state is still below average for the water year dating back to October.

As of May 6, the Hood, Sandy and Lower Deschutes basins are holding onto 95 percent of their normal snowpack for the season. Nowhere else is even close to average, with the John Day and Owyhee basins at 2 and 5 percent, respectively.

“During a normal May, about 45 percent of our snow monitoring sites are snow-free,” said Julie Koeberle, snow survey hydrologist for NRCS Oregon. “This year, 60 percent are without snow.”

Just eight snow monitoring sites recorded above-average snow for the season — all on the west side of the Cascade Range. More than half of the sites failed to break 70 percent of average snowpack.

All of that combines for gloomy summer stream flow forecasts throughout much of the state. Stream flows in the Klamath Basin are projected to be 26-68 percent of normal through September. The John Day Basin should range between 38 and 84 percent of average, and the Owyhee and Malheur basins are forecast at 30-55 percent of average.

Farther north, higher snowpack should translate into healthier flows for local streams. Flows should be 89-100 percent of normal in the Hood, Sandy and Lower Deschutes basins; 79-97 percent in the Willamette Basin; 68-120 percent in the Umatilla, Walla Walla and Willow basins; and 41-103 percent in the Grande Ronde, Powder, Burnt and Imnaha basins.

Reservoir levels vary across the state, though most are at or near capacity, which may be the saving grace for farmers and ranchers who rely on surface water for irrigation.

“Water supplies will still need to be carefully managed, but healthy reservoir storage across the state will likely provide some buffer for the low stream flows that are anticipated this summer,” the NRCS reports.

As bad as water supplies are shaping up this year, conditions still are not as bad as they were before the 2015 drought. That year holds the record for the lowest snowpack in Oregon, which was just 11 percent of normal as of May 1 and peaked months ahead of schedule.

A local effort to study water resources in the Lower John Day Basin of north-central Oregon is garnering statewide recognition.

The Lower John Day Working Group is one of four pilot projects funded in part by the Oregon Water Resources Department to conduct water resources planning, led by local partners as opposed to agency officials.

Last month, the group received a Partnership Award from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board during the 2018 CONNECT Conference, hosted by the Oregon Conservation Education and Assistance Network.

OWRD awarded a grant for $190,000 in 2016 to establish the Lower John Day Working Group, focusing primarily on Gilliam, Sherman and Wheeler counties. The state also approved planning groups in the Upper Grande Ronde, Mid Coast and Malheur Lake basins.

Christina Kirwan, manager of the Gilliam Soil and Water Conservation District in Condon, Ore., said she was “beyond pleased” to be honored by OWEB.

“Water is important for everyone, in my field especially,” Kirwan said. “We have worked very hard to build a collaborative process to bring all of these stakeholders to the table.”

Partners in the Lower John Day Working Group include conservation groups, such as WaterWatch of Oregon and the Oregon Natural Desert Association; agricultural groups such as the Gilliam County Cattlemen; agencies such as the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; and local tribes such as the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.

Kirwan said the group is nearly finished writing its report detailing water resources available in the basin. From there, members will look to address demands and conflicts on the system before implementing a full water resources plan by 2019.

“We’re pulling data from municipalities in our area, agricultural data, recreation and every water use in the lower basin,” Kirwan said.

Steve Parrett, OWRD planning coordinator, said the local water resource plans are intended to mirror the state Integrated Water Resources Strategy, which was most recently updated in December 2017.

The agency fully funded the Lower John Day and Upper Grande Ronde projects, while partially funding the Mid Coast and Malheur Lake studies. The hope, Parrett said, is to expand place-based planning across the state.

“The idea is it could become sort of an addendum to the statewide strategy,” Parrett said. “I think the value is to get the local folks both interested and knowledgeable about their water and their water issues, and get them to work together.”

Sustainable Northwest, a Portland-based nonprofit, has helped to facilitate meetings with the Lower John Day Working Group. Program Director Lee Rahr said he has been impressed by the group’s effort and dedication.

“This is a place where people are planning ahead to avoid a possible water crisis,” Rahr said. “And that’s good news for anyone who cares about local economies, recreation, fish and wildlife.”

For more information about the group, or to request a copy of the latest report, email Kirwan at christina.gilliamswcd@gmail.com.

It arrived at 3 a.m on July 26, 2013. Dennis Sifford remembers details like this. They marked the beginning of his final shift as an incident commander on a wildfire.

“The lightning storm came in — dry lightning storm,” Sifford said, describing that morning. “It was unexpected.”

The storm touched down in mountainous terrain just north of the town of Glendale, Oregon. More than 80 fires started.

Twelve hours later Sifford got the call. He would lead the 3,000 people needed to fight what would be known as the Douglas Complex.

Sifford would retire afterwards, bringing an end to a long career in wildland firefighting. The Douglas Complex would eventually cover close to 50,000 acres — two large, ashy smudges on a landscape referred to as “the checkerboard” — because forest ownership alternates every square mile.

“Pretty much the fire area was evenly split between Bureau of Land Management land and private commercial timber lands,” Sifford said.

Fast forward five years and the scar of the Douglas Complex is at the center of new research looking at what causes some wildfires to creep along at low intensity and others to rip through the forest, scorching everything in its path.

“The perception for a long time has been that high-biomass forests will burn more severely,” said Harold Zald, forestry researcher at Humboldt State University in Northern California.

Zald is author of a new paper published in the journal Ecological Applications.

The checkerboard of ownership allowed Zald and his fellow researchers to compare different variables across property boundaries. He looked at weather during the Douglas Complex, and, not surprisingly, that was the dominant driver of fire severity.

But they also looked at things like how forest management and tree age affect how severely the wildfire burned.

And what they found flipped the common narrative.

“Management and forest age were really important, but oddly enough how much biomass was there before the fire was not important,” Zald said.

In fact, he found that the private timberland in the Douglas Complex burned 30 percent more severely than the public lands.

University of Washington Tacoma fire researcher Maureen Kennedy said these kinds of studies should be approached with a degree of caution.

“Each individual fire tells its own story. So a lot of these individual fires you’re going to find different factors in that moment … that are really more about the story of that fire,” she said.

Zald acknowledges this. He said he probably wouldn’t support extrapolating these findings to the Rockies or even northeast Oregon. But he says parts of the analysis should stand up across different landscapes and regions.

“Plantation forestry, due to both the tree ages and the homogenization of fuel … making things simpler. It’s easier for things to burn in a simpler pile of fuel. I think that basic finding holds,” Zald said.

Study co-author Chris Dunn of Oregon State University says federal forests (BLM- or Forest Service-managed) still burn severely. And the exclusion of fire in the 20th century likely means the wildfires across public lands are burning hotter than they did historically.

But he said tree plantations on commercial timberland play a larger role in severe wildfire than is often acknowledged.

“To me it means that they share in the responsibility in this checkerboard landscape to the overall picture of fire risk,” Dunn said. “It’s not the full picture, but it’s part of it. But if they contribute to part of it, then they share in that responsibility.”

Whether that means paying a greater share to help fight fire or changing how logging is done to reduce risk or something else entirely, what “responsibility” means here is not a question scientists will answer.

That will be up to communities, businesses and policy makers to decide how to deal with the increasing threat of severe wildfire going forward.

Capital Press

Farmers in parts of southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon were scouting their onion fields this morning looking for damage from a strong thunderstorm that swept through the region last night packing high winds and hail.

“We got a little bit of rain and thunder, but no hail at all,” said Dell Winegar, a Fruitland-based grower and president of the Idaho Onion Growers Association. “We have no damage this morning.”

Winegar had not received calls from other onion growers as of mid-morning May 7, but said he planned to call growers in various locations around mid-day to see how their crop fared.

Hail can wound onion plants and leave them susceptible to disease if not treated correctly and promptly, ultimately reducing yields.

Stuart Reitz, an Oregon State University Extension agent based in Ontario, said in a May 6 post on the Pacific Northwest Pest Alert Network that the National Weather Service reported the storm went from Nyssa, Ore., to the Fruitland and Payette areas in Idaho.

OSU’s Reitz, in the alert, said If onions sustained damage, plants will benefit from a protective bactericide/fungicide application. Hail can create wounds that leave the plants extremely vulnerable to disease, he said.

“As soon as you can get on the field, apply a copper-containing protectant spray,” he said in the alert. “Copper protects against bacterial and fungal diseases, so it is a better option than fungicides that do not contain copper. This will help prevent infections while those wounds heal. The sooner after any damage occurs, the better.”

In an interview, Reitz said a couple of growers on May 6 reported they were getting some hail. The National Weather Service alert at the time called for half-inch-sized hail.

“That would pack a wallop,” he said. And the windblown dirt and debris can nick and cut leaves, creating “an entry point for pathogens, just like if you cut your finger.”

Onion planting this year was in line with typical schedules and overall the crop looks good so far, Reitz said. Irrigation water is ample. Early on in a few fields, wind picked up drip-irrigation tubing, which was replaced, he said.

Last year’s late start to planting, following the harsh winter and subsequent wet conditions, factored into onion production that was 20 to 25 percent below normal, he said.

Salem, Ore. — Robert Kircher, a partner to two organic dairy farms, has been appointed to the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association Board of Directors representing producers in the Willamette Valley.

Kircher will complete the remaining two years of a term vacated by Pete DeHaan, according to an ODFA press release.

Kircher has a unique background for a dairy producer. He was born in Kodiak, Alaska, and moved to Oregon when he was two years old. His family invested in a brew pub, and when Robert was 11, he met Dan Bansen, the owner of Forest Glen Jerseys. Robert’s father was looking for a dairy to take the brewers grain leftover from the beer making process and Bansen was interested. He invited Robert and his two younger brothers to spend the day with him and learn about the farm. That one-day visit turned into a job after school, working weekends and during summer break.

Kircher graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in agriculture and a focus on dairy science. He spent a term on a conventional dairy in Hilmar, Calif. Following his graduation, he returned to the farm full-time. He worked his way up to farm manager and became a partner in the business with his brother, Stewart Kircher, and Dan Bansen. They currently milk 1,500 organic Jerseys on two farms.

Kircher and his wife Callyn have two children. Kircher graduated from ODFA’s Dairy Leadership Program and currently serves on Organic Valley’s Dairy Executive Committee.

The Oregon Dairy Farmers Association is governed by eight producers from across the state and one industry representative. ODFA was founded in 1892 to work on behalf of Oregon dairy farmers. ODFA represents Oregon’s 218 multi-generational Grade A dairy farming families.

Online

www.oregondairyfarmers.org

Donata Doornenbal is the 2018 Marion County Dairy Princess Ambassador.

Her coronation was May 1.

This is Donata’s second term as Marion County’s princess ambassador. She is the daughter of Joe and Astrid Doornenbal of Scio, Ore. She was raised on her family’s 200-cow organic dairy farm, where she attained her high school diploma as a home school student, according to a press release from the Marion County Dairy Women.

Currently, Donata attends Chemeketa Community College and works as a tax preparer in Salem. In her time off she enjoys working on the dairy, feeding calves and mowing pastures, among other chores. She plans to further her education and aims for a degree in linguistics and translation in foreign language.

Donata was a member of the Salem Youth Symphony, playing the violin and is active in the music group at Immanuel’s Reformed Church.

As part of her coronation Donata gave a speech titled “For the Love of Milk.” She then presented a TV commercial about milk and cheese and answered an impromptu question.

The 2018 Oregon Dairy Princess Ambassador, Stephanie Breazile, presented her with the tiara that she will wear as she represents Marion County dairy farm families and promotes dairy products. In addition, she will compete for the title of 2019 Oregon Dairy Princess Ambassador in January.

Donata will receive education scholarships from Marion County Dairy Women, Woodburn Livestock Exchange, Delaval Direct, Cascade Dairy Service, Vande Burgt & Co., The Summit Group, Buchanan Cellars/Valley Feed, All West/Select Sires, Purina Nutrition, Excel Dairy Service and Oak Lea Mixers.

To schedule an appearance for Donata, contact her advisor, Jessie DeJager, at 503-588-9092.

In addition, Andrew DeJager and Catherine Wavra each received $3,000 in college scholarships from Marion County Dairy Women.

Andrew is the son of Robert and Holli DeJager of Jefferson. He is a senior at Crosshill Christian School.

Catherine, the daughter of Dan and Diane Wavra of Salem, is a senior at Regis High School in Stayton.

A major farm lender is arguing bankruptcy protections shouldn’t stop the liquidation sale of cattle owned by a controversial Oregon dairy that’s become financially unsustainable.

Since starting operations a year ago, Lost Valley Farm of Boardman, Ore., has encountered serious financial and regulatory problems that now threaten its survival.

The company’s owner, Greg te Velde, recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to halt the foreclosure of property at his three dairies in Oregon and California while he restructures debt.

By filing a bankruptcy petition on April 26, te Velde was able to cancel an auction of Lost Valley Farm’s 14,500 cattle scheduled for the next day.

Rabobank, one of his main creditors, had previously convinced an Oregon judge to order the auction because te Velde had defaulted on $67 million worth of loans for which the cattle served as collateral.

Because te Velde isn’t able to meet financial obligations to feed, water and otherwise care for the cattle, the herd’s value is at risk of declining, according to Rabobank.

Rabobank is now seeking “relief” from the automatic stay of te Velde’s property foreclosure under bankruptcy law to allow for an auction and avoid “potentially catastrophic consequences” to its collateral at Lost Valley Farm.

A bankruptcy judge will consider the motion at a hearing set for May 8 in Fresno, Calif., during which te Velde will also ask to use cash that serves as collateral for debt.

Te Velde said he had no comment about Rabobank’s claims and Capital Press was unable to reach the attorney representing him in the bankruptcy case.

After several loans went into default, Te Velde had the opportunity to restructure his “massive debt load” during a “lengthy” forbearance agreement that expired at the end of 2017, but he never developed such a plan, according to Rabobank.

In its court filing, Rabobank claims te Velde’s “erratic and unreliable” behavior is caused by “habitual” use of methamphetamine, which prompted a subsidiary of the Tillamook County Creamery Association to cancel its milk-buying contract with the dairy.

Te Velde has “no cash on hand” and wouldn’t be able to continue operating his dairies without $4 million in advances from Rabobank to pay for feed, water and labor at the facility, according to Rabobank’s filing.

“While Rabobank will act responsibly to protect the value of the LVF herd, Rabobank is not willing to finance the drug-addled fanciful dreams of this Debtor during a lengthy Chapter 11 case that involves about 24,000 cows, 28,000 other head of livestock, three dairies in two states and about $160 million in total debt,” the company said in a court filing.

Rabobank claims that te Velde checked out of a drug rehab clinic in April to convince Columbia River Processing — the Tillamook creamery’s affiliate — to reinstate the milk-buying contract, but then returned to the facility.

“As a regulated financial institution, Rabobank cannot continue to lend to a borrower in this condition,” the company said.

Patrick Criteser, CEO of the Tillamook creamery, submitted a declaration in support of Rabobank’s request and stated the company has withheld milk proceeds from Lost Valley Farm due to agricultural service liens filed by other unpaid creditors.

The subsidiary, Columbia River Processing, or CRP, is buying milk from the dairy to until Rabobank is able to conduct an auction but will stop after May 31, Criteser said.

“In no event, however, is CRP willing to continue to accept and pay for milk from the dairy on an ongoing basis, other than that for a short period and solely to facilitate an auction of te Velde’s herd,” he said.

DALLAS, Ore. (AP) — Authorities say a 27-year-old man has drowned near a farm in Polk County, Oregon.

Sheriff Mark Garton says witnesses tried to help the struggling man, but lost sight of him as he slipped under a body of water that is part of the Marvin Fast Reservoir.

The Newberg Swift Water Rescue Team recovered the body shortly before noon Thursday.

The sheriff’s office says the man was a farmworker who had gone for a swim during a break. His name has not been released.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A horse is listed as the plaintiff in a $100,000 lawsuit against the animal’s former Oregon owner, amid claims her negligence left him underweight and afflicted with other debilitating conditions.

Justice, an 8-year-old American Quarter Horse, is the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Animal Legal Defense Fund in Portland, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported .

The lawsuit against former owner Gwendolyn Vercher claims Justice will require special medical care for the rest of his life.

The owner’s negligence caused the horse to be 300 pounds underweight and covered in lice and a skin infection, the lawsuit said. He also had damage to genitals from severe frostbite, according to the lawsuit.

The horse was removed from Vercher’s property in Cornelius in March 2017. Justice now lives at a horse rescue facility in Troutdale.

Vercher was convicted of first-degree animal neglect and sentenced to three years of probation last year, according to court records.

Vercher did not immediately respond to the newspaper’s requests for comment Wednesday.

Animals in Oregon have legally protected rights, said Sarah Hanneken, one of the horse’s attorneys. Under the state’s anti-cruelty statute, the horse should be allowed to recover the costs for pain and suffering, she said.

“Victims of crimes can sue their abusers and animals are sentient beings that are recognized as victims under Oregon law,” Hanneken said. “So with that premise, we’ve come to the conclusion that animals can sue their abusers and we’re confident of our stance in this case.”

Any money received from the lawsuit would be placed into a trust to pay for the horse’s medical costs, Hanneken said.

IONE, Ore. — Dryland farming is challenging enough at Bill Jepsen’s family farm in arid northeast Oregon, where it rains only 12 inches per year on average, providing precious little moisture to grow a healthy crop.

Factor in poor soil health due to erosion that strips fields of organic matter, and the problem only worsens.

For years, Jepsen said, conventional tillage left the farm wide open to water erosion washing down the open hillsides. Land that once had 3-4 percent soil organic matter was whittled down to 1 percent. Something had to be done to improve long-term sustainability.

“The erosion was just killing us,” said Jepsen, who farms 5,300 acres, growing mostly wheat and barley, 14 miles south of Ione, Ore.

Jepsen, who began his career as a veterinarian in Hermiston, Ore., eventually took over the farm from his father, Bob, who retired in 1991. Six years later, they converted entirely to no-till and direct seeding to stem the tide of erosion.

The recovery process has been slow, with most fields now containing somewhere between 1 and 2 percent soil organic matter. But Jepsen said he’s never going back — that is, unless he’s forced to.

“No-till has been the key to conservation,” he said. “You don’t need as much fertilizer. Your plants do better. Healthier soils will grow more. It’s a lot of things.”

One prickly issue, however, is putting no-till to the test in southern Morrow County.

Russian thistle, or tumbleweeds, continue to spread as they roll across the desert, depositing thousands of tiny seeds along the way. Invasive weeds such as Russian thistle compete for limited moisture on farmland, reducing yields for the soft white wheat already experiencing depressed market prices.

And, unlike other pesky weeds, Russian thistle has developed a resistance to glyphosate, forcing farmers to turn to more expensive herbicides.

“We’ve had to come up with a plan,” Jepsen said. “How do you deal with resistant Russian thistles?”

The answer for many farmers, Jepsen said, has been to revert back to tillage. He, along with seven of his neighbors and the Oregon State University Extension Service, did apply for a grant in 2017 through the USDA Regional Conservation Partnership Program to eradicate Russian thistles from approximately 100,000 acres, though the project did not receive funding.

As for Jepsen, he has managed to maintain no-till farming practices by targeting Russian thistles using what is known as a WeedSeeker sprayer. The machine incorporates infrared sensors, which are able to detect the young green thistles among stubble. It then sprays only when it encounters those weeds, reducing the amount of herbicide needed.

“It allows you to use chemicals that kill thistles that you couldn’t otherwise afford,” Jepsen said.

Jepsen was recognized as a Pioneer Direct Seeder by the Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association at the group’s 2017 cropping systems conference, though his on-farm experimentation extends beyond just adopting no-till.

Jepsen has collaborated with the OSU Extension Service on a multi-year trial examining the effectiveness of rotational crops for dryland wheat, including canola, garbanzo beans, lentils, flax and mustard. Ideally, Jepsen said the best thing for soil is to grow a crop on it every year, though the dry Eastern Oregon climate usually prompts farmers to go with a crop-fallow rotation to rebuild soil moisture.

“On dry years, every little drop of moisture counts,” Jepsen said. “When you grow anything, it robs soil moisture.”

At the end of the day, Jepsen said he always turns back to cereals such as wheat and barley.

“For the climate we have here, those are the best crops,” he said.

Mary Corp, regional administrator for OSU Extension Service in Morrow and Umatilla counties, described Jepsen as a creative, innovative grower and cooperator. The university has conducted several plot trials on Jepsen’s land, from rotational crops to disease control.

“For extension, we rely on growers to be so generous with their land, and their time, and their equipment, in order to do those on-farm studies that provide the information farmers need,” Corp said. “It’s really critical to the success of the extension faculty that are based out in the counties.”

Jepsen said he is always tinkering and adjusting his practices, and keeping a close eye on the latest technology. Five years ago, he hired Infrared Baron Inc., of Hermiston, to take aerial photos that he later used to create maps showing where wheat was growing best in each field.

The data allowed Jepsen to adjust his seeding and fertilizer rates to get the most bang for his buck, with export prices still hovering around $5.50 per bushel out of Portland.

“There’s always a way to do something better,” he said. “That’s what makes life interesting.”

Bill Jepsen

Age: 62

Occupation: Owner, Jepsen Farm

Hometown: Ione, Ore.

Education: Doctor of veterinary medicine, Iowa State University, 1980; studied pre-veterinary medicine and agronomy, Washington State University, 1973-75

Family: Wife, Nancy, and five grown children: Matt, Dan, Amy, Eric and Rebecca

Despite a sudden, hard freeze at the end of February, cherries and pears appear to be faring well in the Columbia River Gorge.

Mike Doke, executive director of the Columbia Gorge Fruit Growers, said it is still too early to predict yields, but early season blossoms look healthy and strong heading into summer.

“Things look really good this year,” Doke said. “Everything is right on schedule.”

Mother Nature gave growers quite the scare in February, as mild weather had orchards budding several weeks ahead of schedule, Doke said. By month’s end, temperatures had fallen into the 20s, threatening to damage the crop.

Fortunately, Doke said growers were ready.

“There were some losses, but nothing really that big at all,” he said.

Pears are the eighth most valuable crop in Oregon, valued at $181.5 million in 2016. Cherries rank 14th in the state, at $79.2 million.

The vast majority of Oregon cherries — about 62 percent — are grown in Wasco County in the Columbia River Gorge, while 67 percent of pears are grown in neighboring Hood River County.

Doke said growers should have a crop estimate within the next month. Cherry harvest typically begins around late June, and pear harvest usually follows in late August and early September.

“It was a really successful bloom that both areas had,” Doke said. “That bodes well.”

Oregon State University has also hired a new extension horticulturist for the Mid-Columbia region to assist growers on the ground.

Ashley Thompson officially joined OSU Extension on April 30. She will be responsible for tree fruit production in Hood River and Wasco counties, combining two faculty positions into one.

Thompson takes over for Lynn Long, who partially retired in 2017 after 29 years working for OSU Extension in The Dalles, and Steve Castagnoli, who remains director at the Mid-Columbia Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Hood River.

“I’m excited to be here,” Thompson said. “I’ve already gotten a lot of good input from farmers and the community.”

Thompson is new to the Columbia River Gorge. She previously earned her doctorate in horticulture from Virginia Tech and most recently was working as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

“I’m really interested in working with farmers,” Thompson said. “Also, I’m interested in working with different crops.”

As far as pests, Thompson said cooler weather has kept codling moths from causing too many problems around the area. Spraying for western cherry fruit flies won’t begin for another three to four weeks, she said, and growers are keeping a close eye on marmorated stink bugs.

“I think it’s going to be a good year here, overall,” she said.

A cherry pre-harvest tour is scheduled for Tuesday, June 5 at 7:45 a.m. The group will meet at Dahle Farms on Knob Hill Road in The Dalles. Talks will focus on new cherry rootstocks, early ripening cultivars and cover crops for soil health

For more information, contact Thompson at 541-296-5494.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — There’s a sense of relief at the U.S. Forest Service because of the billions of additional dollars made available by lawmakers over the next decade to fight catastrophic wildfires but also a duty to spend it wisely, the acting chief of the U.S. Forest Service said Wednesday.

Vicki Christiansen, speaking at the National Interagency Fire Center about the recently approved Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, said the money will help the agency avoid raiding other parts of its budget and allow work to prevent wildfires while also tackling a backlog of trail and road maintenance.

“We really have an opportunity to put the work on the ground, improve the conditions of the national forests and create more opportunity for access and recreation as well,” she said.

Also taking part in the news conference was Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, Democratic U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Republican U.S. Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo of Idaho. The lawmakers for about five years had been trying to pass the legislation to pay for catastrophic wildfires rather than using money from elsewhere in the Forest Service’s budget, a practice termed “fire borrowing.”

“The passage of our legislation to end fire borrowing means today that westerners can celebrate an uncommon triumph for common sense,” Wyden said.

Previously, a 10-year average of firefighting spending was used to set the Forest Service wildfire fighting budget.

But the wildfire season has become longer and wildfires themselves more destructive in the last several decades. In 1990, the Forest Service spent about 13 percent of its budget on wildfires. Last year it reached 55 percent at $2.4 billion, a season that saw 8,500 homes and business destroyed, about 15,500 square miles burned, and 14 wildland firefighters killed.

Experts at the National Interagency Fire Center at the news conference predicted another tough wildfire season this year for the U.S. West.

The Wildfire Disaster Funding Act this year gives the agency $3.2 billion to spend fighting wildfires and another lump sum next year. Starting in 2020, the wildfire budget will be fixed at $1.1 billion but the agency will be able to tap into about $2.2 billion to pay for catastrophic wildfires. That $2.2 billion cap climbs to nearly $3 billion by 2027.

The Forest Service manages about 300,000 square miles that include 154 national forests, 20 national grasslands in 43 states and Puerto Rico.

Wyden last week asked Christiansen to prepare a document explaining how the Forest Service planned to spend money now available for use outside of fighting wildfires. Christiansen said Wednesday the agency had drafted an outline and expected to present a completed version to Wyden and other senators in five or six weeks.

Besides the infusion of money, the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act includes aspects intended to streamline some forest projects, including allowing logging through “categorical exclusions” that limit some objections.

Jonathan Oppenheimer of the Idaho Conservation League, an environmental watchdog group that has challenged federal land management agencies in court, said the group generally backed the new law because of the negative impacts to campgrounds, trails and roads that the Forest Service couldn’t afford to maintain under the previous budgeting system.

“It really has had a significant impact on Idahoans and other American’s ability to utilize and enjoy their public lands, so we see this as a big step forward,” he said.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Trump administration wants to ease restrictions on oil and gas leasing and other activities across a huge swath of the American West that were put in place to protect an imperiled bird.

The move involves conservation plans for greater sage grouse approved in 2015 under former President Barack Obama. President Donald Trump has vowed to increase U.S. energy production and open more lands to drilling.

Conservation groups critical of Trump’s energy policies warned Wednesday’s proposal could unravel a years-long effort to shore up the bird’s struggling population.

Interior Department officials said the revisions to the Obama-era plans were aimed at increasing flexibility on public lands where the birds reside — not undoing protections outright. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, was among elected officials in the region who voiced support for the move, saying it allowed for a “Colorado-specific approach.”

Sage grouse are ground-dwelling, chicken-sized birds known for an elaborate mating ritual in which males strut around breeding grounds with large, puffed-out air sacs protruding from their chests. The species’ population declined sharply in recent decades due in part to drilling, grazing and other human activities.

Wednesday’s proposal affects conservation plans for grouse in Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, California and Oregon. The birds also are found in portions of Montana, Washington state and the Dakotas.

A spokeswoman for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke described Wednesday’s proposed changes as largely technical in nature. They were made in response to feedback the agency received about the 2015 plans from governors in sage grouse states, spokeswoman Heather Swift said.

The changes could open some areas previously closed to leasing, and allow waivers or exceptions to rules that prohibit drilling pads and wells in other areas.

“There’s not a significant environmental impact,” Swift said.

Kathleen Sgamma with the Western Energy Alliance said the industry lobbying group was pleased that Zinke was “moving forward with rewriting the sage grouse plans.”

Environmental groups earlier this week filed two lawsuits in federal court alleging the administration since taking office has sold energy leases on hundreds of thousands of acres in at least four states in violation of the Obama-era plans.

The groups asked the courts to reverse those lease sales and block several upcoming sales.

Michael Freeman with Earthjustice, the law firm representing environmentalists in one of the cases, said the administration’s latest proposal doesn’t mean it can ignore the conservation plans already in place.

“They were still in effect when the lease sales were held,” Freeman said.

The proposed changes are expected to be finalized in October.

More export containers are switching from trucks to railcars at the Port of Portland’s intermodal facility on their way to Seattle and across the Pacific Ocean.

While the port is optimistic about the venture’s prospects, a competitor claims it’s done little but divert business from the private sector.

After a “spotty” January, the rail transload facility at the port’s Terminal 6 moved 1,536 containers in February and 2,181 containers in March, said Ken O’Hollaren, its marine marketing director. Those numbers include export and import containers.

The final numbers aren’t yet available for April, but O’Hollaren said he expects the number of containers handled to remain stable or grow.

“We’re on an upward trend,” he said.

Shippers of straw, hay, seeds, grains, potatoes, wood products and other agricultural goods relied on Terminal 6 for access to Asian markets, but ocean-going container carriers stopped calling on the facility about three years ago.

Apart from lower productivity blamed on a prolonged labor dispute with the longshoremen’s union, the inland port cannot accommodate increasingly popular megaships and isn’t a major import destination.

With the loss of ocean container shipping in Portland, exporters were forced to send containers to more distant ports in Seattle and Tacoma.

The port has since settled its disagreement with the longshoremen’s union and recruited the Swire ocean carrier company to call at the facility, but container exports remain much lower than in the past.

Re-opening Terminal 6 as an intermodal facility was intended to allow exporters to transfer containers from trucks to rail rather than trucking them all the way to Seattle and Tacoma.

Truckers could then deliver more than a container per day, which isn’t possible when driving to ports along Washington’s Puget Sound.

At this point, two ocean carriers, Cosco and CMA CGM, are using BNSF Railway to ship containers to and from Portland’s Terminal 6, O’Hollaren said.

The port is hopeful BNSF will attract more ocean carriers to the facility, but both parties are pleased with the arrangement and expect it to continue beyond the current six-month trial period, he said.

The Port of Portland has traditionally been oriented toward container exports, which have been stronger than container imports. This imbalance is a problem because imports are necessary to make empty containers available for exports.

Initially, the intermodal facility had two north-bound trains of export containers for every one south-bound train of import containers, but the disparity has since narrowed, O’Hollaren said.

“Cargo is moving in both directions,” he said.

Due to the new intermodal facility, Northwest Container Services — which also provides rail transload services in Portland — expects to handle roughly one-third fewer containers this year, said Gary Cardwell, the company’s divisional vice president.

While the corresponding drop in revenues won’t affect the company’s ability to operate, it’s had to lay off 18 people, or about one-quarter of its workforce, he said.

“I’m not sure what benefit the port has really brought to the table with this service,” Cardwell said, noting the T6 intermodal facility is duplicating a service his company has offered for 30 years.

An analyst’s report commissioned by the port has found that cargo moving through the Terminal 6 facility hasn’t been sufficient to make it financially self-sustaining, he said.

The facility is now operational thanks to an $11 million settlement with a former terminal operator, but that doesn’t solve its fundamental economic problem, Cardwell said.

“That’s going to run out eventually, and then what are we going to do?” he said.

Seeking a greater voice in how federal lands are managed within its borders, officials in Crook County, Ore. recently approved a natural resources policy that details social and economic values.

The 56-page documents includes sections on agriculture, timber, mining, recreation and wildlife. But perhaps most importantly, it contains language about how the local government can invoke coordination with agencies like the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 requires the Forest Service and BLM to work with local governments — such as cities, counties or tribes — when making management decisions.

Karen Budd-Falen, a prominent land use attorney from Cheyenne, Wyo., joined Crook County Judge Seth Crawford to discuss the process of coordination Monday during the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association Midyear Event in Sunriver, Ore.

Though coordination is not specifically defined in statute, Budd-Falen said the law dictates that agencies “shall coordinate with local governments.” That could take several forms, she said, one of which is known as a “consistency review” with local land use planning.

However, Budd-Falen was quick to add that coordination does not mean counties can sidestep the National Environmental Policy Act. It does mean local interests are guaranteed a seat at the table.

“This is not a way to veto the federal government,” Budd-Falen said. “Once you fall off the edge of federal statutes, that’s where you are going to get ignored.”

Crook County, population 21,000, includes a portion of the Ochoco National Forest. Crawford said the Crook County Natural Resources Policy was devised after Oregon Wild, a Portland-based environmental group, proposed the Ochoco Mountains Natural Recreation Area, a move that he said essentially amounts to a land grab.

“Luckily, our community is pretty savvy about what it means to add regulation to public lands,” Crawford said.

By writing the plan and invoking coordination, Crawford said the county is better situated to push back against the recreation area.

Nearly 53 percent of Oregon is federal land. Baker County has also adopted a natural resource plan. More controversially, Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer attempted to invoke coordination by deputizing 11 residents to write a natural resources plan, though Ron Yockim, the county’s counsel, found that in doing so Palmer had overstepped his authority as sheriff.

Crawford said it took several years to write the Crook County plan, which Budd-Falen helped to review.

“We’ve been doing the same thing for 50 years, and it’s been getting worse and worse every day,” Crawford said. “Let’s try something new.”

Budd-Falen said the concept of coordination is finally starting to register after 25-30 years of work. The Trump administration is now pushing coordination, she said, and land use plans are a way of getting agencies to consider local interests.

“Part of what your local land use plan is going to do is get them to focus on your county, or your district,” she said. “It’s easier, I think, when you have the local land use plan. It’s consistent, all along.”

With the May 15 primary election fast approaching, Oregon gubernatorial hopefuls Greg Wooldridge and Sam Carpenter made a campaign stop April 30 to speak with ranchers at the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association Midyear Event in Sunriver, Ore.

Wooldridge and Carpenter are part of a crowded Republican field looking to take back State Capitol for the first time since 1987. Bruce Cuff was also scheduled to talk at the convention, though he recently dropped out of the race and endorsed Wooldridge for governor. Notably absent was Knute Buehler, another front-runner for the GOP nomination.

Wooldridge, a retired U.S. Navy captain, took the opportunity to criticize incumbent Gov. Kate Brown for signing Senate Bill 1528, disconnecting Oregon from a federal tax provision that grants so-called “pass-through” businesses — those that do not pay corporate income tax — an additional 20 percent deduction on state income taxes.

The Legislature will convene for a one-day special session May 21 to consider extending an existing tax break to sole proprietorships. About 4 percent of the benefits would go to the agriculture and forestry sectors, according to a state estimate. Still, Wooldridge said Brown’s decision not to veto SB 1528 amounts to taking a quarter-billion dollars away from small businesses.

If elected, Wooldridge said he will work to bridge the urban-rural divide and fix the state’s Public Employees Retirement System, or PERS.

“It’s time to open the dream again of being exceptional,” he said. “Our best days lie ahead.”

Carpenter made no secret of his hard-right political views and support of President Donald Trump. His campaign slogan, “Make Oregon Great Again,” mirrors that of the president’s successful 2016 run for the White House.

Oregon is a natural resources state, Carpenter said, praising farmers and ranchers as stewards of the land. As governor, he said he will set his sights on cutting government regulations and red tape.

“I’m not going in with a scalpel. I’m going in with a chainsaw,” Carpenter said. “And don’t think I don’t know how to run one.”

In addition to the gubernatorial candidates, OCA hosted state Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, and Rep. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, both of whom are up for election this year. Earlier this year, Bentz was appointed to the Senate seat vacated by Ted Ferrioli, who joined the Northwest Power and Conservation Planning Council, and Findley was appointed to the House seat vacated by Bentz.

Following his first legislative session in February, Findley said he thought to himself, “Holy crap, we don’t get a lot done. We sure run around a lot, though.”

“I don’t believe partisan politics should play a role in what we do,” he said.

Findley said the Senate Bill 1528 was, by far, the biggest disappointment of the short session.

“I firmly believe the $240 million that would not be passed on to small business is a big mistake,” he said. “Small business is our generator. Without that, we’re all in deep, deep trouble.”

Bentz, on the other hand, is a veteran of the Legislature, having served 11 years in the Oregon House. He said he has the experience to get things done in Salem, stressing bipartisanship in a Democrat-controlled state.

“You can be right as rain, and get no votes,” Bentz said. “I don’t know how many taxes I’ve stopped that otherwise would have been passed on to you.”

Jerome Rosa, OCA executive director, praised both Bentz and Findley as friends and allies of the ranching industry, and presented both men with campaign donations on behalf of the organization.

On any given day in Washington, D.C., lobbyist Ethan Lane says he is fighting a six-front war to protect the interests of Western ranchers. Between flaws in the Endangered Species Act, treatment of feral horses on rangeland and environmental legislation backed by multi-million dollar outdoor recreation companies such as Patagonia, Lane said the West has become a “laboratory for bad federal policy.”

“We are winning more than we are losing,” said Lane, executive director of the Public Lands Council and keynote speaker Sunday at the 2018 Oregon Cattlemen’s Association Midyear Event in Sunriver, Ore. “But I want you to understand the reality of the fight we’re in.”

About 100 ranchers from across the state attended the three-day OCA program, which featured a variety of presentations on wolf management, water issues and government decision-making. Lane capped the first day with a review of national priorities heading into what he expects will be a tightly contested election year.

First, he said the Public Lands Council has identified three changes needed to the Endangered Species Act. One is to remove the “blanket 4(d)” rule, which grants the same protections for threatened species as endangered species.

By eliminating the rule, the Department of the Interior would be forced to come up with specific rules for individual threatened species. And, as Lane noted, both the Interior and Agriculture departments are more friendly to ranchers’ concerns under the Trump administration than they were during the Obama administration.

“We have a great working relationship with people who want to do something good for this industry,” Lane said.

The other two changes to the ESA have not yet been announced, though Lane said one has to do with critical habitat and the other has to do with consultations under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Wild horses are another contentious subject, with an estimated horse population of 83,000 across 10 Western states, according to a Bureau of Land Management report. That is more than three times what the agency says the land can sustain.

The BLM is asking Congress to euthanize, sterilize or sell for slaughter tens of thousands of horses over the next decade. But Lane said wild horse advocates — including Eric Trump’s wife — are likely to have a close say within the administration.

“The Department (of the Interior) is definitely very concerned with how we’re going to respond to this,” he said.

The outdoor recreation industry has also become a major political player, Lane said. He referenced a proposal to reintroduce grizzly bears in the North Cascade Mountains in Washington state.

Companies such as Patagonia may have the money, Lane said, but the ranching industry has the grassroots support on the ground needed to punch above its weight class.

“It’s our job to punch back, and make sure cattlemen’s voices are being heard on this issue,” he said.

At the state level, OCA political advocate Rocky Dallum said the February short legislative session in Salem was relatively calm. A carbon cap-and-trade bill was debated, though top Democrats previously said 35 days was not enough to pass such a complex measure. Lawmakers similarly decided not to take up a bill that would have tied wolf-livestock compensation directly to wolf population.

Dallum said he expects both proposals will be back on the table in 2019. In the meantime, he is keeping a close eye on how elections will shake up Legislature, and whether Democrats will be able to secure a supermajority in the House.

Maintaining close relationships with more moderate Democrats, such as Reps. Brad Witt, Brian Clem and Caddy McKeown, will be critical moving forward, Dallum said.

The linchpin, of course, will be the governor’s race, Dallum said. He believes Republican candidate Knute Buehler, of Bend, has the best shot of winning the party nomination to run against Democratic incumbent Kate Brown.

“It will be absolutely critical to get a change in the administration,” Dallum said.

Politics aside, the first day of the OCA Midyear Event also featured a talk from Monique Udell, an assistant professor with Oregon State University, who discussed her latest research into the effectiveness of biological deterrents for wolves.

Biological deterrents include a combination of wolf urine and feces intended to keep the territorial predators at bay. However, in a study that was funded in part by the Oregon Beef Council, Udell said the deterrents did not seem to have a statistically significant effect.

Udell was quick to add that the study focused on captive wolves, and more research is needed.

Udell said wolves are generally fearful of unfamiliar sights and sounds. She mentioned fladry, flashing lights or alarm boxes as effective non-lethal tools, but recommended they be used in rotation so the wolves do not become habituated.

“Wolves are very persistent animals,” Udell said. “They do learn very quickly.”

Jim Bob Collins, the 37-year-old owner of Table Mountain Cattle Company near Mitchell, Ore., talked about the learning curve for young ranchers and what it takes to be successful in the business.

As a fourth-generation rancher, Collins said his place is already paid off, but for those looking to start their own legacy, he worries about rising land prices eventually becoming insurmountable.

As an industry, he said it is important for ranchers to stick together, and to be there for one another during the tough times.

“This job can be really hard at times,” Collins said. “You need help getting over that hump.”