An environmental group is challenging the federal government’s decision to exempt common farm activities from the prohibition against “taking” streaked horned larks.

In 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the lark as “threatened,” which would usually disallow “take” of the species by killing, harming or harassing the birds.

However, the agency enacted a special “4(d) rule” under the Endangered Species Act that exempted “normal farming and ranching activities” from the “take” prohibition in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Those activities include planting, mowing, spraying, tilling and harvesting.

Steaked horned larks were once common in the Pacific Northwest but have disappeared from 90 percent of their range and now inhabit the Willamette Valley, islands on the Columbia River and portions of the coast and Puget Sound in Washington.

Because the species prefers flat ground with little vegetation, activities such as plowing, mowing and burning fields can actually create habitat for the birds.

However, these practices can also kill or injure streaked horned larks during their nesting and breeding season, which lasts from April until August.

Farm operations in the Willamette Valley, where the majority of the birds live, were broadly exempted from the “take” prohibition because the federal government wanted to “allow landowners to continue those activities without additional regulation.”

For that reason, the Fish and Wildlife Service decided against modifying the 4(d) rule to require farmers to avoid disturbing streaked horned lark habitat during the sensitive nesting and breeding season.

“We believe that imposing a timing restriction would likely reduce the utility of the special rule for land managers, and could have the unintended side effect of causing landowners to discontinue their habitat creation activities,” the agency said.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity’s lawsuit, the government failed to explain why the exemption would help conserve the species when its population had declined while these “routine” activities were occurring.

The complaint also alleges the Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t provide evidence that without the exemption, landowners would convert their property to be unsuitable habitat for the lark.

The agency “irrationally eliminated any incentive for agricultural and other interests to take the needs of the lark into consideration” in violation of the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, the lawsuit claims.

Aside from asking a federal judge to invalidate the 4(d) special rule, the environmental group has requested the species be upgraded to “endangered” status, under which such an exemption isn’t permissible.

Unless current farm practices are protected under the 4(d) rule, farmers may be more likely to switch to crops like hazelnuts or blueberries, which don’t provide habitat for the bird, said Mary Anne Cooper, public policy counsel for the Oregon Farm Bureau.

Growers can’t be forced to actively create habitat by mowing or plowing, she said.

Environmental groups are generally opposed to exemptions for agriculture under the 4(d) rule, not only for the lark but also for other species, Cooper said.

“They don’t like the tool,” she said.

SALEM — A “cap-and-trade” proposal to limit carbon emissions didn’t pass muster during Oregon’s 2018 legislative session, comforting critics who feared increased fuel, fertilizer and electricity costs.

Several other less-prominent bills related to agriculture also died in committee when the Legislature adjourned March 3, including a proposal to link depredation funding to the size of Oregon’s wolf population.

The bill was supported by ranchers, who said it made sense to increase compensation for livestock losses and preventive measures as the predators grew more common.

However, the proposal was criticized by environmental groups who claimed there’s opportunity for fraud and abuse in the disbursal of existing compensation funds.

A proposal to clarify that water transfers are allowable between storage reservoirs likewise died in committee, though lawmakers, irrigators and other interested parties will be negotiating the issue before the start of the 2019 legislative session.

Land use bills that would allow more commercial and industrial development on farmland in Eastern Oregon and the eventual urbanization of 1,700 acres of “rural reserve” in Washington County did not gain traction.

However, land use laws did receive a couple minor tweaks.

Lawmakers clarified that earlier legislation easing the construction of “accessory dwelling units,” commonly called “granny flats,” only applied within urban growth boundaries.

They also made clear that equine therapy activities are allowed within “exclusive farm use” zones.

Statutory language related to hemp production was brought in line with the 2014 Farm Bill, which is intended to allow Oregon State University Extension agents to help hemp farmers.

In addition, House Bill 4089 creates a certification program at OSU to verify different varieties of hemp seed in the same manner other seed crops grown in Oregon are verified.

Contractual protections for grass seed were extended to cover other types of proprietary seed, such as clover, radish and turnip, under House Bill 4068.

Legislation passed in 2011 initially excluded those types of seed from requirements for timely payment, but farmers and seed companies negotiated an expansion of the contract protections that was approved in 2018 without controversy.

Calls to release an additional 1,000 acre-feet of stored irrigation water from Willow Creek Reservoir in Eastern Oregon will not significantly impact the local environment, according to a draft report issued March 2 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Corps operates Willow Creek Dam near Heppner, Ore., primarily for flood control, irrigation and recreation. Farmers currently receive 2,500 acre-feet of water from the reservoir during the irrigation season, from April 16 to Oct. 31, though the Willow Creek District Improvement Co. has requested an increase to 3,500 acre-feet, which would relieve stress on groundwater wells.

Willow Creek Reservoir already stores 3,500 acre-feet of water for irrigation, said Brian Thompson, district president. The change merely allows farmers and ranchers to access the full amount.

“Right now, the main reason we want to go back after this is groundwater,” Thompson said. “Our groundwater for our homes and cities is going the wrong way.”

Long-term irrigation water releases from the reservoir are established by an environmental assessment completed by the Corps in 2008. A recently completed supplemental analysis found releasing an additional 1,000 acre-feet would have no significant environmental impact — meaning the Corps would not need to conduct a full environmental impact study under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Public comment on the draft findings will continue through Monday, April 2. Lauren Bennett, a spokeswoman for the Corps Portland District, said the agency may update its recommendation based on the comments received.

Irrigation water from Willow Creek Reservoir serves roughly 11 landowners over 20 miles between the cities of Heppner and Ione in Morrow County. Thompson said the district does not intend to put any new acres in production, but rather supplement existing acres used to grow alfalfa, grain and high-value vegetables such as potatoes.

“It just gives us access to a renewable, calculated amount of water,” he said.

The district applied for the change in 2015 to the Bureau of Reclamation, which handles water storage contracts for the reservoir. Three years later, the Corps has determined there would “little to no incremental effect” on water quality, vegetation and wildlife.

The biggest short-term impact may be lower reservoir levels between May and January, the report states, which could potentially impact boating and fishing. For the last two years, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife has released several thousand extra large trophy trout into the reservoir, part of a statewide program to promote economic development in rural areas.

With additional water releases from the reservoir, the boat dock may not be usable for several weeks in the summer during drought years. However, Thompson added the reservoir historically experiences seasonal blue-green algae blooms during this period, when people are urged to stay away from the water for health and safety reasons.

“We have a glue-green algae bloom before we even start drawing (for irrigation), usually,” he said. “The water turns to pea soup.”

Bennett said the Corps has acknowledged that water quality may worsen at the reservoir with increased irrigation releases, leading to an increase in blue-green algae blooms. However, degraded water quality “would not rise to a significant level under NEPA.”

The agency also consulted with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, which discussed its intention to reintroduce steelhead into Willow Creek “at some future time,” though the Corps says potential reintroduction of the fish remains uncertain.

Thompson said increasing the amount of surface water available to farmers will actually have a net positive environmental impact, protecting increasingly vulnerable groundwater in an area that receives little annual precipitation.

“I have three wells myself, and I don’t intend to run them unless I have to,” he said. “That would be a huge environmental benefit.”

Comments on the Corps’ draft assessment can be sent to the Corps Portland District office, care of District Engineer Kathleen Wells, P.O. Box 2946, Portland, OR 97208-2946, or email willow-creek@usace.army.mil.

Federal loans to “concentrated animal feeding operations” may be vulnerable to lawsuits opposing the construction of “factory farms,” according to environmental attorneys.

Public policy — rather than the free market’s “invisible hand” — has spurred the proliferation of CAFOs in the U.S., said Tarah Heinzen, an attorney with the Food & Water Watch environmental group.

Filing lawsuits can affect which facilities are funded by USDA’s Farm Service Agency and how they’re constructed, Heinzen said.

“We want to cut out the root cause of this, which is the FSA lending in a way that’s not in the public interest,” she said.

The possibility of using federal statutes to influence USDA lending to CAFOs was discussed by attorneys during the recent Public Interest Environmental Law Conference in Eugene, Ore.

The USDA’s environmental review of such loans can be challenged as cursory and insufficient under the National Environmental Policy Act.

The agency can also be faulted for failing to properly consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about the effect of such loans on protected species, as required under the Endangered Species Act.

“We’re looking for more robust, substantive analysis,” said Kevin Cassidy, an attorney with Earthrise Law Center.

Cassidy said one serious problem is the USDA looks at CAFOs in a “piecemeal” fashion rather than examining the full impact of multiple operations.

“The biggest thing is the lack of a cumulative impacts analysis,” said Tom Buchele, an attorney with Earthrise Law Center.

Loans are becoming a target for environmental litigation because the federal government is supporting large-scale operations with more significant pollution hazards, said Heinzen.

The value of FSA ownership loans — which are used to buy or expand farm — was roughly $3.5 billion for beef operations, $2.25 billion for chicken operations, $2 billion for dairy operations and $550 million for hog operations, according to 2017 data obtained by Food & Water Watch.

“Advocates have become more aware of the scope of federal financing,” said Heinzen.

If public money is being used for lending to CAFOs, it’s reasonable to rely on federal statutes to increase public oversight of the process, said Amy van Saun, staff attorney for the Center for Food Safety.

“Another federal hook is a good thing,” she said.

In a lawsuit over federal loans to a hog farm in Arkansas, several environmental organizations prevailed in their claims under the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act.

The groups did not succeed, however, in winning a court order withdrawing government guarantees for the loans, which would have likely eliminated financing entirely, said Cassidy of Earthwise Law Center.

“It probably would have been the end of the farm and the judge wasn’t willing to go that far,” he said.

Even so, the lawsuit did result in the lining of manure lagoons and installation of methane gas controls, Cassidy said. “There were some real good environmental outcomes from the case.”

In another instance, the possibility of litigation forestalled loans to poultry operations in Arkansas even though no lawsuits were filed.

Environmental groups submitted a petition seeking a higher level “programmatic” study of the poultry houses being built and also made Freedom of Information Act requests about financing from USDA and the Small Business Administration.

The aggressive FOIA actions were able to “scare the bejesus” out of people seeking to build the CAFOs, and at this point, none have been funded, said Elisabeth Holmes, an attorney with Blue River Law.

“What is great is there have been no monies allocated,” she said. “We consider this a victory.”

LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — Five types of apples, once thought to be extinct, have been rediscovered in northern Idaho and eastern Washington.

The Lewiston Tribune newspaper reported Monday that “apple detective” David Benscoter located the trees growing near a butte in the rolling hills of the vast Palouse agricultural area.

Benscoter worked with apple experts at the Temperate Orchard Conservancy in Oregon and Fedco Seeds in Maine to positively identify the apple types. They were compared to written descriptions from old books and antique watercolor paintings.

The newly rediscovered apples include the Shackleford, Saxon Priest, Kittageskee, Ewalt and McAffee varietals. An estimated 17,000 named apple varieties are thought to have originated in North America, but Benscoter says only about 4,000 still exist today.

“I just love the history of these old apples and what they meant to the first homesteaders that arrived here in eastern Washington and northern Idaho,” Benscoter said. “The apple was the most important fruit you could have, and it could be used in so many ways.”

He first became interested in hunting down the almost-gone and nearly forgotten fruit when he helped a neighbor with chores on her property. He found an old apple tree and began to search the internet to try to figure out what variety it bore.

By checking old county fair records in Whitman County, Washington, he discovered several apple types that were listed as extinct.

Since that time, he has discovered more than 20 varieties of apples that were once considered lost. He’s hoping area residents will let him know if they have old apple trees in neglected orchards or growing in back fields that he can examine.

“Those apples have been forgotten about in the back of someone’s field or an old orchard nobody has taken care of in a hundred years,” Benscoter said. “I’m hopeful, and obviously the search has been somewhat successful, and so I think there are still many apples out there that can be found.”

Apples have as many 50 different identifiers, including stem length, shape, size, color and structure.

Benscoter thinks he’s found an additional seven apples in the region that were also thought to be extinct or extremely rare, but they have yet to be confirmed.

Those include the Autumn Gray, Surprise No. 1, Flushing Spitzenburg, Republican Pippin, Bogdanoff Glass, Flory and Early Colton.

LAKEVIEW, Ore. (AP) — Three Lane County men have been arraigned on charges stemming from a wildfire that scorched thousands of acres in south-central Oregon last July.

Authorities say the men were at a family gathering near Summer Lake when they added pyrotechnics to targets and shot at the targets. They say it sparked the Ana Fire, which destroyed a hunting cabin.

Lake County District Attorney Sharon Forster previously told The Bulletin newspaper that exploding targets such as Tannerite are legal in Oregon, but attaching fireworks and shooting at them recklessly in dry summer conditions is not.

The defendants are 34-year-old David Evans and 27-year-old Elijah Dyer, both of Springfield, and 68-year-old Gary Bigelow of Walterville. They have been charged with reckless burning, criminal conspiracy and manufacturing of a destructive device.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for next month. Rather than travel to Lakeview, the men may appear by phone.

The popularity of a remote Oregon brewery has caused it to run into problems with state zoning restrictions for agritourism activities on farmland.

Located along a rural road between Coburg and Harrisburg, Agrarian Ales has operated for nearly six years under an on-farm processing permit from Lane County.

All the hops needed for its “farmhouse brews” are grown on the property, as are about 50 other crops.

Initially, the rural brewery only intended to give out four-ounce samples and sell to-go “growlers” of beer, but it soon became apparent that visitors wanted to linger and imbibe on-site.

“We bring the urban public out to farm country to enjoy the beauty,” said Stephen Harrell, the company’s farm manager. “Our business grew because the public demonstrated there was a need.”

Roughly 95 percent of the company’s revenues are now derived from its tasting room, which consists of tables and benches beneath the brewery’s roof overhang.

To allow people to drink alcohol, Agrarian Ales obtained a permit from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission that stipulated food must also be served at the facility.

The brewery’s evolution into a destination for food, drink and live music has now brought it into conflict with officials from Lane County, who say these activities exceed what’s allowed in the “exclusive farm use” zone.

In late February, the county shut down the brewery’s tasting room — apart from land use issues, officials cited safety problems at the facility because it’s not designed for public occupancy.

Agrarian Ales may not be able to continue operating due to the regulatory action, as its off-site beer sales are still in their “infancy,” Harrell said.

“It threatens the very existence of our business,” he said.

Lane County has issued a statement that it “hopes to find a way to help a beloved and thriving rural business operate” while protecting public safety and meeting Oregon’s zoning rules for farmland.

Another popular rural brewery — the Chatoe Rogue in Polk County — is able to serve food and beer under special permit for commercial activity in conjunction with farm use.

That permit was approved because the tasting room promotes hops cultivated on the farm, said Austin McGuigan, director of Polk County’s planning division.

Harrell said his company has tried to obtain such a special permit from Lane County without success. According to the county, the applications submitted by Agrarian Ales were incomplete.

The building code issues present another problem for the brewery.

“If there is no path forward on the land use, it’s pointless for us to upgrade our building,” said Harrell.

Landowners can disagree that a permit application is incomplete and force a county government to make a decision, though the decision typically won’t go in their favor, said Bill Kabeiseman, a land use attorney with the Bateman Seidel law firm.

It’s generally difficult to win approval for food service under a permit for commercial use in conjunction with agriculture, he said.

“There tends to be a strong reaction to people selling prepared food on farmland,” Kabeiseman said. “That’s historically been a problem.”

While it’s permissible to sell farm products on-site as part of a “farm stand,” such structures can’t be used for “banquets, public gatherings and public entertainment” under Lane County code.

Farms stands can sell agricultural products and hold a limited number events per year under Oregon land use law, but they can’t become the equivalent of food-serving establishments with regular schedules, said Jim Johnson, land use specialist with the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

“It’s really the next step of having a restaurant or a major tasting facility that’s been problematic in some areas,” said Johnson, noting that increased tourist traffic can impede farm machinery and create other issues.

Wineries and cideries in Oregon have carved out special provisions in Oregon law allowing for additional agritourism activities, said Dave Hunnicutt, executive director of the Oregonians in Action property rights group.

If a county government can’t fit an on-farm business within the parameters of what’s allowable in an EFU zone, it can stop the activity unless the legislature changes the statute, he said.

It’s possible breweries may push lawmakers to provide them with similar treatment as their wine- and cider-making counterparts, Hunnicutt said. “I would suspect the next session this issue is going to be dealt with.”

By CRAIG REED

For the Capital Press

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore — “What do an egg, a baseball and a tube of lipstick have in common.”

That was the question Rhonda Swanson asked an audience of mostly grade school kids but also some adults during her “Thank a Farmer” magic show on Feb. 21 at the 33rd annual Farm Expo. Before juggling the three products, Swanson told the listeners all three items came from agriculture.

The kids knew, of course, that the egg came from a chicken, but Swanson then explained to them that the white covering on the major league baseball she was holding came from cowhide and that the lipstick consisted of beeswax and olive oil and numerous other animal and plant ingredients.

Swanson gave two 30-minute presentations at the Farm Expo and also gave shorter presentations at the dairy booth as fourth-grade students circulated through 18 agricultural themed booths at the event.

The two-day expo attracted about 850 students from Klamath, Lake and Modoc counties.

Swanson, 51, came up with the “Thank a Farmer” program about 10 years ago after talking to a Wisconsin dairy farm family and hearing the children talk about being bullied at school because of their lifestyle.

“When city kids move to the rural areas, they don’t understand the lifestyle of those already living there,” said Swanson, whose family has farmed in Iowa for six generations. “I took a look at what was out there for kids to learn about the importance of farming and I didn’t see much of any outreach to the consumers.

“I asked, ‘How can we get the importance of farmers to our communities?” she said. “The best way was through the kids.”

Swanson said at that time animal activists and their organizations and the anti-genetically modified organisms groups were being vocal in public about their beliefs. She said there was no program to educate the public about agriculture.

So Swanson, who was already in the entertainment business with her mother Joyce as the Wacky Women of the Wild West, developed the “Thank a Farmer” magic show. She figured that children are attracted to magic and including two or three tricks in a presentation would help keep their attention as she talked about the importance of agriculture.

She also noted that one of the first things taught to children is to say “Thank you” after being given something.

Swanson said she believes kids today begin to develop prejudices in elementary school so she thinks it is important to get the message out about respecting agriculture to those youngsters.

“The idea behind ‘Thank a Farmer’ is to raise their realization through thanking a farmer, that something is being done for them,” explained Swanson, who is now a Las Vegas-area resident.

Swanson recently spent 24 days at the Fort Worth Livestock Show and Rodeo, giving her presentation to a total of 20,000 pre-school to fourth-grade kids.

“I know how hard farming is from my own family’s background,” she said. “To have people outside of the industry criticize it and to criticize the people who are farming makes me mad. I know it is their own ignorance because they are so far removed from the process. I created something that would educate them, starting at a young age.

“The people in agriculture are a special people,” she continued. “They are willing to take those risks when other people aren’t, they are willing to put in 24-hour days when other people aren’t, they miss vacations when other people don’t, they miss special occasions when other people don’t. Farmers are a committed group who are deserving of a thank you every now and then.

“As more kids live in cities and towns, they don’t have contact with a farmer,” she added. “The goal of this magic show is to educate and to explain to kids why they should thank a farmer.”

February was a tale of two seasons for Oregon’s snow-starved mountains and river basins.

The first half of the month saw warm and dry weather carry over from December and January, with total snowpack languishing around 40 percent of normal levels statewide. But winter has come roaring back over the last few weeks, doubling the amount of snow on the ground across some areas, especially in the northern Oregon Cascades.

Julie Koeberle, snow survey hydrologist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Portland, said the amount of snow at Mount Hood rose from 53 inches on Feb. 11 to 118 inches, showing an impressive turnaround.

“It’s been really interesting,” Koeberle said. “What we waited all season to get, we pretty much got in the last two weeks.”

While conditions are much improved, Koeberle cautions snowfall is still lagging behind on average.

“We still need quite a bit more if we’re going to catch up to normal,” she said.

Portions of southern Oregon are in particularly dire straits, with the Klamath and Owyhee basins still registering below 50 percent of normal snowpack. Klamath County commissioners have already declared a drought emergency, and farmers are bracing for a painful year.

The U.S. Drought Monitor shows virtually all of central and Eastern Oregon in some type of drought designation, from “abnormally dry” to “moderate drought.” Koeberle said she would not be surprised to see more drought declarations as summer nears.

“In a perfect world, we will continue to get snow, but we can’t count on that,” she said.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center, the next three months should bring colder weather to northern Oregon and an equal chance of normal precipitation throughout the state. The lower temperatures should at least bode well for sustaining the current snowpack, Koeberle said, which in turn will help sustain streams longer into the season.

The NRCS will soon release its monthly streamflow forecast for March, which Koeberle said will reflect the latest gains in snowpack.

“Luckily, we’ve had some improvement in snow. Hopefully that continues,” she said. “We still do have time for some improvement, but we just don’t know how much we’re going to get.”

A silver lining for farmers and ranchers continues to be reservoir levels, which continue to hover around normal, Koeberle said. But for those without access to reservoir rights, she said it would be wise to plan for lower water supplies this summer.

Financial assistance is available for Oregon ranchers through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to improve the health of private rangelands, while also bolstering habitat for sage grouse and other wildlife.

The Sage Grouse Initiative, started in 2010 to avoid a potential listing of sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act, offers funding and planning for projects such as juniper tree removal, treating invasive grasses, developing new grazing strategies and installing wildlife-friendly livestock watering structures.

The initiative is a partnership between ranchers, agencies, universities, nonprofit groups and businesses to promote wildlife conservation through sustainable ranching. Since it began, the NRCS has invested $27.9 million in the program, assisting 261 ranchers on more than 435,000 acres of rangeland across the state.

The next application deadline is Friday, March 16. For more information and directions on how to apply, contact your local NRCS district office.

More information about the Sage Grouse Initiative can also be found online at www.sagegrouseinitative.com.

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Wildlife officials have euthanized three cougars that killed livestock belonging to multiple Oregon homeowners.

The Corvallis Gazette-Times reported Thursday that the large cats were euthanized earlier this month. Wildlife biologist Nancy Taylor says a resident reported on Feb. 16 that one of her goats had been killed by a cougar. A federal trapper then captured and euthanized an adult and two juvenile cougars.

A nearby resident had called about their property a week earlier after presumably the same cougars killed several sheep.

The trapper was unable to catch the cougars then.

Oregon law allows homeowners to kill a cougar if the cat attacks their livestock.

Taylor said the owner of the property where the three cougars were euthanized was allowed to keep the meat, skull and hide of the cats.

When you call 911 for an emergency, you expect help to arrive quickly.

In populated counties like Multnomah or Clackamas, emergency services contract to respond in something like six minutes or less — 90 percent of the time.

But in rural Oregon, emergency response can take much longer.

Take Detroit, a tiny town on the banks of Detroit Lake, in the Santiam State Forest.

Detroit’s year-round population amounts to about 500 people, and that’s including the adjacent communities of Idanha and Breitenbush.

But in the summer, that population can swell by a factor of 25 with boaters and campers. That’s 12,500 people, or the equivalent of Sandy or Gladstone.

So who answers the call when someone gets hurt?

At 66, Linda Stice has a head full of white hair and glasses — and she’s the first responder for accidents around Detroit.

“My husband and I both volunteered to just be of some use in our later years,” said Stice, who used to make silicon wafers in Salem but retired to Detroit a few years ago. “I love doing it.” 

“It makes me feel like maybe my obituary is going to say something other than, ‘She lived. She died.’”

Stice jumps into action when she hears her pager, whether it goes off in the middle of dinner or the middle of the night. But neither Linda Stice nor her husband, Leon, are professional paramedics or fire fighters. Linda is only allowed to provide limited first aid and fight a fire from outside a building. Leon drives the fire department’s GMC truck.

This fire district has two other volunteers and four full-time fire fighters. But after this summer, the federal FEMA SAFER grant that pays for those full-timers ends.

Jack Krill, the recently departed fire chief of Idanha Detroit Rural Fire Department, worries about what that means.

“Up until about three years ago, we were scratching half our calls, basically. We weren’t responding,” he said.

There’s still nobody to answer the call sometimes. When that happens, dispatchers call on the next closest service — a half-hour drive down the mountain in Gates.

Krill says Detroit is more responsive now that Linda and Leon Stice are volunteering. But they still don’t have all the tools you might expect at a fire station, such as the Jaws of Life.

“Gates Fire Department is the closest extraction unit that can cut somebody out of a car. So if there’s a crash at mile 76, there could be an hour before we can really access a patient or really get them out of a vehicle,” he said.

The truth is, the nation’s rural ambulance services are a little odd.

In bigger cities such as Eugene or Salem, local government contracts with professional ambulance services.

But in small towns, ambulance crews were cobbled together by locals back in the 1950s and ‘60s. Some of those services are nonprofits. Others started small, but were assimilated into the local fire department and others were taken over by the local hospital.

But many still rely on volunteers.

Robert Duehmig with the Oregon Office of Rural Health said it’s not just rural populations that suffer as the number of volunteers drop.

“I think a lot of people in Oregon really cherish the opportunity to go out to rural Oregon, to go to the mountains, to go for a hike,” he said. “But I don’t think many realize that if they called 911 out there for an emergency, it could take quite some time for somebody to respond.”

Duehmig said people just aren’t volunteering like they once did.

“It can be a bit of a challenge getting younger people to volunteer,” he said. “It takes the time away from your family and from work in order to go get your EMT license.”

It can take two semesters and $2,000 to become an emergency medical technician. So it’s cheaper and easier to volunteer for the local school or church.

Dana Selover, the director of Oregon’s EMS and Trauma Department, said the state is trying to help rural communities that rely on volunteers by providing a mobile training unit, educational opportunities and new equipment for rural emergency departments. 

The state is also trying to modernize ambulance services using big data. Under a new law, the state will start collecting data next January on all ambulance patients.

That promises all kinds of changes. For example, for the first time the state will know how many patients get graded against a “stroke scale” on the way to the hospital. A stroke scale helps determine whether a patient is having a stroke and how serious it is.

Oregon EMS program manager Candace Toyama said new data is likely to change everything from how emergency service responders are trained to what kind of equipment is put into ambulances.

“How could I possibly know how well my people are doing unless I can pull the data?” she said.

The hope is having more information could speed up rural response times.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Scientists in Oregon and California have found dramatically declining snowpack across the American West over the past six decades, according to a study published Friday.

The study led by scientists from Oregon State University and the University of California, Los Angeles found drops in snow measurements at more than 90 percent of regional snow monitoring sites that have consistently tracked snow levels since 1955, said Philip Mote, director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute at Oregon State University.

Study authors also used modeling to show the average snowpack in the region dropped between 15 and 30 percent in a little more than a century, he said, and that modeling paralleled the actual findings based on existing measurements.

That means the region’s average snowpack has lost the equivalent volume of water that it would take to fill Lake Mead, the West’s largest man-made reservoir, Mote said.

The study appeared in NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science and was a follow-up study to one completed in 2005. This analysis found the loss of snowpack has accelerated, Mote said.

“It’s a bigger decline than we expected,” he said. “In many lower-elevation sites, what used to fall as snow is now rain. Upper elevations have not been affected nearly as much, but most states don’t have that much area at 7,000-plus feet.”

The study found California had the most gains in snowpack since 1955, but recent droughts erased those gains and caused the snowpack to fall in many locations.

Eastern Oregon and northern Nevada saw the worst decreases in snowpack over the span of the study.

Individual sites in California, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Arizona saw snowpack declines of more than 70 percent, the study found.

Mote said it’s not snowing less, but that the snow is melting sooner in the season at higher elevations, leading to low levels in river and reservoir levels during the driest days of summer and early fall.

The study focused on data from 1,766 snowpack monitoring sites across the western U.S., most of them tracked by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the California Department of Water Resources.

Researchers looked at snow measurements taken April 1, which is typically at the height of the snowpack, but also looked at measurements taken in January, February, March and May.

“We found declining trends in all months, states and climates,” Mote said.

Snowpack levels are below average in the western U.S. so far in 2018 as well, he said.

BOARDMAN, Ore. (AP) — The state wants to shut down Oregon’s newest mega-dairy over allegations it has repeatedly endangered nearby drinking water.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture sued Lost Valley Farm near Boardman last week citing a history of environmental violations by the facility, The Statesman Journal reported Wednesday. The lawsuit asks for a permanent injunction prohibiting the farm from producing more wastewater — a move that would effectively shut down operations.

Dairy owner Greg te Velde said in court documents that an injunction would destroy his business, force him to euthanize his cows and leave 70 workers unemployed.

“The department’s order would have significant ramifications to the local community where the dairy is located,” said te Velde, who is based in California. “Many of our employees are Latino and rely on the dairy to support their family.”

The 7,000-acre dairy’s wastewater permit allows up to 30,000 animals and 187 million gallons of manure per year.

It opened in April 2017 and provides milk to the Tillamook County Creamery Association, which makes Tillamook cheese.

The association said in a statement it is in the process of canceling its contract with Lost Valley.

Regulators approved the dairy despite objections from about 4,000 people and a dozen state and national health and environment organizations raising concerns about air and water pollution, water use and health impacts on nearby communities.

Since then the dairy has failed numerous inspections, has been cited four times and has been fined $10,640.

Each citation included steps the dairy was required to take to remain in operation. Each time, the dairy failed to comply with most of those requirements, the Oregon Department of Agriculture said in court documents. As a result, manure and wastewater has repeatedly overflowed storage lagoons and seeped into soil.

In court papers, te Velde and dairy manager Travis Love said state inspectors were being harder on Lost Valley Farm than on other dairies and were not giving the new farm enough time to get up to speed.

On Monday, Rabobank, a multinational agricultural lender, filed a separate lawsuit in Morrow County seeking to foreclose the dairy in connection with the foreclosure of two dairies te Velde owns in California. As of Jan. 2, te Velde owed $37.4 million on those two loans.

Building relationships is key to running an efficient, effective federal agency, says John Huffman, the new director of USDA Rural Development for the state of Oregon.

That is why Huffman, a former Republican state representative from The Dalles, Ore., said he wants his staff to work more like consultants, rather than become isolated in one specific program area.

Huffman laid out his position and goals for rural development at the 5th annual SEDCOR Ag Breakfast in Mt. Angel, Ore., where he delivered the keynote presentation to an estimated 181 people.

“I’m just excited to be working for USDA and plugging people in where I can,” Huffman said. “I’ve got the best job in the world. I get paid to go out and make friends.”

USDA Rural Development does more than just on-farm grants and programs, Huffman said. It focuses on the very building blocks for rural communities, such as housing, expanding broadband internet access and combating the opioid epidemic.

“We’re finding out it really is hard to separate out the opioid crisis from who we are, and what we’re doing,” Huffman said. “It is having such a phenomenal impact on the rural areas we serve.”

Huffman was appointed by the Trump administration in October 2017. When he arrived, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said his goal was to make the USDA the most efficient and customer-focused agency in government — or, as Huffman translated, “You have to do more, better, with fewer resources.”

Drawing on his 10 years of experience in the Oregon Legislature, Huffman talked about how he was able to leverage his network of contacts into legislation and resources for projects from solar developments to converting an old lumber mill into a wood pellet facility in John Day, Ore.

By working more like consultants and increasing accessibility, Huffman said USDA Rural Development can achieve similar results.

“I just want to be an access resource point,” he said. “I want to be part of helping (people) find solutions.”

SEDCOR, or the Strategic Economic Development Corporation, is a nonprofit that strives to enhance and diversify jobs in the Mid-Willamette Valley. According to group’s the last annual report, SEDCOR stimulated more than $96 million of new investment through projects that added or retained 575 jobs in Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties.

Agriculture is an important part of the region’s economy, said SEDCOR President Chad Freeman. The purpose of the annual breakfast meetings is for farmers to meet and hear from other companies and officials who can make them more successful in the field.

“I don’t think a lot of people understand the value of what agriculture does,” Freeman said. He added there is a great opportunity to make those connections as agriculture and technology become increasingly intertwined.

Mark Hoyt, a Salem, Ore. attorney and 2018 SEDCOR chair, said the Willamette Valley is a “uniquely and remarkably” productive area, growing more than 225 different crops. The latest 2012 Farm Census shows Marion County is the top agricultural county in the state, with more than $592 million in total value.

“Agriculture is a significant commodity,” Hoyt said.

A controversial dairy has again landed in trouble with Oregon’s water regulators, who have sought a temporary restraining order against the facility for continued wastewater violations.

In January, the Oregon Department of Agriculture levied a civil penalty of more than $10,000 against Lost Valley Farm of Boardman, Ore., for unauthorized wastewater discharges and failing to maintain adequate manure lagoon capacity.

Subsequent inspections in February found that the dairy continued to violate the terms of its “confined animal feeding operation” permit by allowing lagoons to overflow, according to ODA.

The agency has filed a lawsuit against Greg Te Velde, the facility’s owner, seeking to stop the dairy from generating wastewater until it complies with permit conditions and proves its wastewater systems are fully functional.

Due to the risks posed by pathogens and nitrate pollution, ODA claims that a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against wastewater production are necessary to protect the environment and human health.

Lost Valley Farm opposed the agency’s request, arguing that such a temporary restraining order would effectively “shut down its dairy operation” since it’s not possible to sanitize equipment, clean barns and maintain cows without generating wastewater.

“As a result of the above consequences, Lost Valley Farm will suffer enormous damages, which it estimates to be $30 million,” according to a court document. “And it will be required to lay off virtually all of its 70 employees, which will have a significant impact on the small agricultural community of Boardman.”

In a written declaration, Travis Love, the dairy’s manager, said he disagreed with ODA that the facility has violated its CAFO permit.

The dairy has reduced wastewater production “significantly” since late 2017, has installed an effluent pump and pipeline to move wastewater directly to farm fields and is maintaining proper lagoon capacity, among other measures, Love said.

Love alleged that ODA’s approach to inspections and penalties for Lost Valley Farm “is much more stringent than at other dairies in Oregon.”

Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Bushong partially granted the ODA’s motion for a temporary restraining order on Feb. 23.

The judge has ordered the facility to comply with all the requirements of its CAFO permit but did not prohibit the dairy from generating wastewater.

However, Te Velde must appear in court on March 16 to “show cause” why further wastewater production should not be shut down.

Elizabeth Howard, an attorney for the defendant, said the dairy is working with ODA to resolve the agency’s outstanding concerns.

Wym Matthews, manager of ODA’s CAFO program, said the agency will be monitoring Lost Valley Farm to ensure the dairy is complying with the judge’s order.

It’s not common for the agency to seek injunctive relief against a dairy, he said.

The litigation was initiated after ODA notified the dairy of non-compliance problems and took administrative action over violations, said Bruce Pokarney, the agency’s communication director.

“This is our next step in our progressive compliance approach,” he said.

By CRAIG REED

For the Capital Press

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Klamath County hay growers are anticipating another water crisis.

As of Feb. 14, accumulated snow and water levels were at 28 percent of average for the area. There have been a couple winter storms since then, but it would take constant precipitation through March and into April to bring those levels up significantly.

No matter what Mother Nature brings over the next couple of months, hay growers are concerned.

“What I’m hearing is there is a chance the headgates to the irrigation systems might not be opened this year,” said Jason Flowers, who grows a variety of hay crops in the lower Klamath Lake area. “That would be the worst case scenario. We’ll just hope for the best.”

Lynn Long, another lower Klamath Lake farmer, said the report out of a Feb. 27 briefing by the Bureau of Reclamation was not good. The bureau provides water to agriculture in the Klamath Basin Project.

“The word was that there would be a late start to water deliveries, or more than likely, no deliveries at all, at least to the district (Klamath Drainage District) I farm in,” Long said. “We’ve been shut off (from water) since last September.”

Tom Mallams, a hay grower in the Beatty, Ore., area, said even if there was sufficient water, he would expect the Bureau of Reclamation or the Klamath tribes who have priority water rights to call for a shutoff of water for farm and ranch irrigation.

He explained that last year, when there was well above an average amount of snow in the Cascade Mountains and rivers and creeks were overflowing, there was a call for a shutoff of irrigation water.

“It matters zero how much snow we have because they still have the ability to make a call and shut us off,” Mallams said. “The tribe is in the driver’s seat and I expect a tribal call this year. How much production we get will depend on when they make a call.”

Mallams said if a call is made, farmers can file a judicial review and if it is accepted, irrigation can continue. But he explained the review is only a temporary option because then the grower must follow through in court and time and money are needed to explain the case.

David King, a hay grower in the Malin, Ore., area, described the situation as “a political drought.”

“If we didn’t have to worry about the Endangered Species Act we wouldn’t have a problem,” he said. That act prioritizes water for the sucker fish and salmon in the area.

Nick Moxley, who farms in the Bonanza, Ore., area, said the water level “is not even close to normal,” but a decent carryover in Clear Lake and Gerber reservoirs from last year’s above average precipitation should be enough to get farmers in that area through the year. He added it will then be up to Mother Nature to replenish the system for 2019.

Some of the farmers are already comparing this year to the devastating drought year of 2001. But those farmers are saying it is better to be forewarned about the water situation, as is the case this year, rather than being blindsided by it, as happened in 2001.

Ty Kliewer, who farms near Midland, Ore., and who is president of the Klamath Irrigation District board, said he plans to make some changes, planting fescue and brome, whose roots will go deeper to find subsurface water.

“You have to change to increase your production with less water,” he said.

Kliewer said the combination of a water shortage and the commodity markets being relatively poor the last couple of years will make it tough on producers.

“People can be competent operators, but throw the water problem and the loss of production on top of a weakened economic state that is no fault of their own and it can be very gloomy looking,” he said.

King, who is president of the Klamath Basin Hay Growers Association, said he believes most farmers will survive the year if there is a water shortage, “but it is not going to be easy. “

He added there’ll be a domino negative impact down to the area’s agri-businesses and to the communities and their businesses.

Long expects there’ll be some bankruptcies if there is a water shortage. He said lenders will be nervous about making agricultural loans if limited or no water deliveries are expected.

“I believe the circumstances that were described to the growers today (Feb. 27) are very bad,” Long said. “The implications of the Endangered Species Act and Native American tribal lawsuits don’t leave any water available for other purposes. American farmers and ranchers are creative, tough people, but the deck is stacked against us this year. It’s going to be exceedingly difficult without some financial aid from the government. If the laws of the land require water be taken from us, then there should be compensation. It’s very simple.

“I’m fearful of some failures, not just farms, but agri-businesses and businesses in town,” he added. “They’re all going to feel it.”

Mallams said it is frustrating that it has been 17 years since the major water crisis in 2001 and yet nothing has been solved.

“What has been worked out so far hasn’t worked,” he said. “It is sad we haven’t come up with a solution that is viable for all.

“For me, I continue to advocate for a balanced water settlement, but at the same time, the Klamath Adjudication has to be challenged,” he said. “As it stands now, it will destroy agriculture in the entire Klamath Basin.”

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — With winter storms proving elusive and the prospect of water shortages likely, Klamath County commissioners have declared a drought emergency.

The declaration was unanimously approved by commissioners at their Feb. 13 meeting. The declaration allows state and federal officials to consider a similar declaration, which would then allow water users access to drought mitigation resources. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is expected to take action later this month. The federal government will not consider declaring a drought until this summer, if and when conditions remain severe.

“It’s going to be a very challenging year,” said Commissioner Donnie Boyd, noting precipitation in December was only 27 percent of average and despite recent storms, the snowpack and water levels were at 28 percent of average in late February. “We have worked closely (with various agencies) to ensure as much water as we can for agriculture.”

Based on data collected in 2012 by the USDA that was presented at the meeting, a summer drought in the broad Klamath Basin could result in an estimated $557 million loss to agriculture countywide and the loss of almost 4,500 jobs, the Herald & News newspaper reported.

Commissioners began discussions about issuing a drought declaration in January but delayed taking action because of concerns that if they took action too early, access to resources might expire before the end of the summer. In approving the declaration, commissioners said a drought is likely because of this winter’s exceptionally dry conditions.

“We’ve passed it up to the governor,” Boyd said of awaiting word from Brown on the emergency drought declaration.”It’s in her hands now. I think we have her commitment to help us every way they can.”

Boyd said officials from the Oregon Water Resources Department and federal agencies are aware of concerns and are “very involved.” He likewise believes lessons learned from 2001, when water was withheld from irrigators for most of the summer because of concerns about endangered fish, have helped farmers and ranchers become better water managers.

“The challenges are going to be how to manage your water,” he said, noting that includes, for example, making decisions on which areas of land to irrigate or to idle. “Farmers have learned how to better use their water. There’s not near the loss there used to be. Farmers are very, very conscious on how they use their water and where the put it.”

During the meeting, Willie Riggs, director of Oregon State University Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center, said a drought could impact food supplies, according to the Herald & News. According to Riggs, an acre of wheat feeds 44 people per year while an acre of potatoes feeds 1,355 people, an acre of beef feeds about eight people, and an acre of dairy cows provides enough milk for about 40,000 half-pint servings. He estimated Klamath County has nearly 440,000 acres of agricultural land and, based on estimates, the drought could reduce production by 50 percent.

If the drought is declared at the state and federal level, water users could have access to administrative solutions normally not available. During the meeting, Klamath County Emergency Manager Morgan Lindsay said water users could split water rights between properties, substitute surface water use for ground water, issue temporary emergency permits and other measures. Preference would be given to water used by humans and livestock.

If state and federal emergencies are declared, Lindsay said the Oregon Water Resource Department will work with Klamath County Watermaster Dani Watson and that federal aid would be provided by the Farm Services Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Morrow County Grain Growers, a farm supply and marketing cooperative based in northeast Oregon, broke ground Wednesday morning a major expansion of its grain elevator and shipping terminal along the Columbia River in Boardman, Ore.

With support from a $2.5 million state grant, the co-op plans to build a new rail unloading facility at the 35-year-old terminal, transferring grain from trains onto river barges en route to Portland for export.

Kevin Gray, MCGG general manager, said the project will help relieve rail congestion in the Columbia River Gorge. Trains hauling wheat and corn from the Midwest can instead offload at the Boardman elevator and take advantage of faster, more efficient river transport.

The added bushels also mean more business for the co-op. Gray said they will boost capacity at the elevator by 600,000 bushels, and hire up to five new employees after construction is finished in February 2019.

“This is really a strategic upgrade that’s going to add new life to the elevator,” Gray said. “From a logistics standpoint, we really think this is going to improve the amount of grain that works its way down the Columbia River system.”

Morrow County Grain Growers purchased an interest in the Boardman Grain Elevator in 2013, and co-owns the facility with the Port of Morrow. It is in the port’s East Beach Industrial Park, near the Pacific Ethanol plant.

A Union Pacific main line runs through the port, and the elevator will eventually share a rail loop with the ethanol plant. The port plans to build a 2,200-foot rail spur to the elevator using funding it received from last year’s $5.3 billion state transportation package.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to accommodate unit train offloading,” said Gary Neal, the port’s general manager. “Rail continues to be a very strong need for our region. Investing in that piece of infrastructure is very important to the viability of our industries.”

Plans to upgrade the Boardman elevator have been in the works for years, according to Gray, but it wasn’t until the co-op landed a $2.5 million grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation’s ConnectOregon program that they could finally put it all together.

“It is going to be state-of-the-art,” Gray said. “If we continue to see congestion on the rails through the Gorge, I think the adoption is going to be huge.”

Gray said he expects the facility will handle a “significant number” of trains in its first year. The economic impact will be driven by volume, which he said varies year-to-year based on market conditions.

Even when trains aren’t at the elevator, Gray said the offloading site can also be used by local wheat growers trucking in their harvest from the field.

“This is a really big deal for a company like Morrow County,” he said.

Cameron Krebs, a Morrow County farmer and chairman of the co-op board, said the project is a major step forward in maintaining relevance for their members.

“As a co-op, our goal as the board of directors is to return profitability to our members,” Krebs said. “This is one opportunity to add another competitive component.”

SALEM, Ore. — With milk prices falling below the cost of production, dairymen need to brace themselves to withstand financial turbulence, experts say.

Losses could extend into next year, so farmers must plan for survival until consumption unexpectedly rises or — as is more likely — production is forced to decline, said Gary Sipiorski, an economist and former banker who spoke Feb. 26 at the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association’s convention in Salem, Ore.

“Something’s got to give,” he said.

Dairy producers should “stress test” their operations to find ways of controlling production costs while planning with lenders now for potential cash flow shortages, Sipiorski said.

There are dairymen who can “crank out” milk at a lower cost, he said. For example, reducing crowding can cut down on costly metabolic problems, though producers don’t want to significantly dent their production.

“There’s a fine balance there,” Sipiorski said.

Gary Genske, a dairy farmer and certified public accountant, took a tack other than focusing on expenses.

“I’m not going to tell you how to feed your cows better, I’m not going to tell you how to breed your cows better,” he said Feb. 27 at the convention.

Dairy producers who’ve managed to stay in the business must know what they’re doing, even as financial downturns have “eaten through a lot of equity over the years,” he said.

“There are a lot of people feeling they can be the last man standing,” Genske said. “Everybody feels that way.”

While dairymen have focused on becoming more efficient, they haven’t spent enough time trying to increase the price they’re paid for milk, he said.

“That’s our fault. That’s on us,” Genske said. “It comes down to us not managing our co-ops.”

Cooperatives have “dropped the ball” in terms of making profits for their farmer members, even though that’s the theoretical purpose of such organizations, he said.

Board members who approve cooperative decisions are often too passive, allowing corporate executives to “hide behind” them, Genske said.

Genske advised against allowing cooperatives to accept more milk or make capital improvements unless the actions are shown to improve milk prices for members.

Everything on the agenda at a cooperative’s board meeting should be explained in terms of milk price impacts, he said.

“We’ve got to change the way our co-ops do business,” Genske said.

Cooperatives are often geared toward earning profits that result in executive bonuses but do little to help dairy producers, he said. “That profit does not make up for the milk price.”