Thursday, Jan. 28

SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown said during on Tuesday the federal government should do more to engage with people about how to manage federal lands.

Armed, mostly out-of-state protesters have occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County since Jan. 2. They have demanded that federal lands be turned over to state and county governments, and that two ranchers serving five-year prison sentences for burning Bureau of Land Management property.

While many local residents, farming and ranching groups and elected officials have criticized the occupiers’ actions, they say the underlying anger over federal land management policies and their impact on local communities throughout the West is real.

“I certainly believe that there needs to be a higher level of federal engagement around federal management of public land,” Brown said. “I do think our first priority is to end this occupation swiftly and peacefully. I think it’s extremely important that wrongdoers be held accountable to the full extent of the law.”

The governor spoke during a press briefing, where she also announced her plan to seek $3.8 million from the Legislature to pay for drought assistance targeted at Harney County.

It was not immediately clear why Brown was targeting Harney County when drought has affected much of the state for several years. In 2015, Brown issued drought declarations in 25 counties and the federal government declared a drought in the remaining 11 Oregon counties.

“It is just near coincidence, the package was in development before this incident occurred,” Brown said, referring to the occupation by armed activists of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County. Brown said her funding plan would call for a “roughly $3.8 million package, both emergency funding and staff to make sure that we are prepared for a drought this coming year and in the years to come.”

Brown said roughly $3 million would be “emergency funding” and the balance would pay for staff to assist a task force that would “prepare for drought resiliency.”

Most of the money — $3 million — would go to drought emergency assistance so the state could help municipal water systems, agricultural water users and others, according to a document from the Oregon Water Resources Department. The agency noted that Washington set aside $16 million for emergency assistance during the current biennium, while Oregon has not identified any such assistance.

The governor also wants to pay for a study of groundwater in Harney County, where state regulators mostly stopped issuing agricultural well permits in 2015 pending further study because they were worried about depleting the water.

Finally, a small portion of the funding would pay for a staffer to assist with the creation of a Drought Emergency Response and Resiliency task force to study how the state “anticipates and responds to drought,” according to the Oregon Water Resources Department.

A top Oregon labor official recently outlined how farmers can compensate piece-rate workers under new paid sick time regulations, but the Oregon Farm Bureau still hopes to change the rules.

Last year, Oregon lawmakers passed a bill requiring employers with 10 or more workers to pay for 40 hours of sick leave per year, concerning farmers who pay based on harvested crop amounts and similar piece rates rather than per-hour wages.

The Oregon Farm Bureau criticized regulations enacted by Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries for insufficiently explaining how employers should calculate the regular rate of compensation for piece rate workers who take sick time.

If a regular rate of pay can’t be established, employers can pay workers the minimum wage during paid leave.

Gerhard Taeubel, administrator of BOLI’S Wage and Hour Division, said farmers should calculate the regular rate of pay using the same method as employers who must pay overtime to piece-rate workers.

The total amount of money earned by an employee during the most recent week should be divided by the number of hours worked, Taeubel said at the recent Ag Summit conference in Salem, Ore., organized by the Dunn Carney law firm.

While it’s “helpful to know” how BOLI will interpret the piece-rate provision, the agency’s view may not be shared by workers who can file lawsuits against employers over alleged violations of the paid leave statute, said Jenny Dresler, state public policy director for the Oregon Farm Bureau.

BOLI’s explanation doesn’t account for some scenarios encountered by farmworkers who are expected to switch between tasks that pay different rates, Dresler said.

For example, a worker may be compensated at an hourly wage for pruning but then paid a piece rate for harvesting, she said.

During the upcoming legislative session, Oregon Farm Bureau will support Senate Bill 1581, which proposes to clarify and fix confusing provisions of the paid sick leave rules, Dresler said.

Under the bill, farmers would simply pay the minimum wage to piece rate workers on sick leave rather than have to calculate the regular rate of pay.

“Otherwise, you will have every group interpreting that a different way,” Dresler said.

BOLI has said it won’t take enforcement action against employers during the first year of the paid sick leave rules, and the bill would similarly stay private lawsuits over the law for a year.

The threshold for providing paid leave would also be increased from 10 to 25 employees and workers would have to wait 120 days, rather than 90, to use their sick leave. Farmers also wouldn’t be jointly liable for workers employed by labor contractors or have them counted toward the worker threshold.

When asked about the Farm Bureau’s continued concerns, Taeubel of BOLI said farmers will be expected to make a “reasonable effort” to calculate the regular rate of pay.

Taeubel acknowledged that farmers who opt to pay the minimum wage will do so at their own risk, as workers can complaint to BOLI or file a lawsuit alleging that a regular rate could be established.

Local lakes: A couple of anglers reported catching a few cutthroat trout near the output of Floras Lake in Langlois last weekend. Usually a nightcrawler works well, but they did great using single salmon eggs. The lakes in Coos County…

Local lakes: A couple of anglers reported catching a few cutthroat trout near the output of Floras Lake in Langlois last weekend. Usually a nightcrawler works well, but they did great using si…

Feb. 1 is the deadline for Northwest farmers who produce onions and cabbage to buy crop insurance.

According to the USDA Risk Management Agency, growers must apply for coverage for spring-planted onions in Idaho, Oregon and Washington and cabbage in Oregon and Washington before the end of January.

For the 2015 crop, roughly 93 percent of onions in Washington were insured, with comparable coverage in Idaho and Oregon, Jo Lynne Seufer of the RMA’s Spokane office said.

No cabbage was insured. Seufer said the risk may not be significant for growers who raise cabbage in Eastern Washington and the Willamette Valley in Oregon.

Policyholders who wish to make changes in their coverage also have until the sales closing date.

In the meantime, the final date to apply for whole-farm revenue protection and insurance coverage on all other spring crops is March 15, except for wheat in counties with fall and spring-planted types.

According to an agency press release, RMA changed the whole-farm revenue protection to include improvements for beginning farmers and ranchers, livestock producers and producers whose operations are expanding. More beginning farmers and ranchers can participate because the agency requires three historical years and farming records from the past year.

Any beginning farmer and rancher may qualify by using a former farm operator’s federal farm tax records if they have assumed at least 90 percent of the farm operation.

Producers can now insure up to $1 million worth of animals and animal products, according to RMA. The agency also increased the cap on historical revenue for expanding operations to 35 percent so growing farms can better cover growth in the insurance guarantee.

Seufer said the agency is fielding inquiries from farmers curious about whole-farm revenue protection, wondering whether protection against down-side price risk is what they need. She encouraged farmers to speak with their crop insurance agent as soon as possible.

“The more time they have to work with their agent, the better,” she said.

LANGLOIS — Ginger Pearson from Coast Community Health Center will be at the Langlois Public Library 1-3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26 and again 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2.

LANGLOIS — Ginger Pearson from Coast Community Health Center will be at the Langlois Public Library 1-3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26 and again 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2.

LANGLOIS — Ginger Pearson from Coast Community Health Center will be at the Langlois Public Library 1-3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26 and again 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2.

LANGLOIS — Ginger Pearson from Coast Community Health Center will be at the Langlois Public Library 1-3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26 and again 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2.

Oregon’s wildlife officials begin a required review of the state’s controversial wolf management plan with three months of stakeholder meetings starting in February, followed by a revision, draft and final adoption process expected to last into October.

The process might seem like overkill for managing a wolf population that might reach 100 to 120 animals this year, but it is likely to be heated and lengthy as environmental, hunting and ranching groups have their say.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted in November 2015 to remove gray wolves from the state endangered species list. In a 4-2 vote, commissioners agreed with an ODFW staff report that said wolves have expanded in number and range to the point that they no longer need protection under the state Endangered Species Act.

A trio of environmental groups — the Center for Biological Diversity, Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild — sought a judicial review a month later, claiming the commission hadn’t used the best available science on wolf recovery. Among other things, the groups believe ODFW should have gone through the management plan review before taking any action on de-listing.

Oregon’s wolves remain covered under the federal ESA in the western two-thirds of the state. ODFW officials say the state wolf management plan remains in effect and will protect wolves from illegal hunting.

The political and legal fight over wolves took another turn recently when state Sen. Bill Hansell and state Rep. Greg Barreto, both Republicans, backed legislation that would ratify the commission’s action and make a lawsuit moot, the Associated Press reported. Hansell and Barreto plan to introduce bills when the Legislature convenes in February. The bills also would prohibit re-listing wolves as threatened or endangered unless the population falls below a certain level, the AP reported.

Oregon’s wolf population has grown from 14 in 2009 to a minimum of 85 in July 2015. Three have died since then, leaving the confirmed population at 82. State wildlife biologists believe there are more; the population count represents only documented wolves. An updated population survey will be completed in March.

In other wolf news, ODFW designated a new Wallowa County pack, the Shamrock Pack, which denned up, produced an unknown number of pups in April 2015 and carved out territory in ODFW’s Chesnimnus Unit north of Wallowa Lake.

The new pack previously was designated only a male-female pair. It operates in a wildlife unit adjacent to where the Sled Springs pair was found dead of unknown cause in late August. Oregon State Police investigated and said there was not sufficient probable cause to believe humans caused the deaths.

Another wolf, wearing a tracking collar and designated OR-22, was shot and killed in Grant County last fall. A hunter, Brennon D. Witty, notified ODFW and state police Oct. 6 that he’d shot the wolf while hunting coyotes on private property south of Prairie City.

Witty is charged with two Class A misdemeanors: Killing an endangered species and hunting with a centerfire rifle without a big game tag. Each is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $6,250 fine.

Witty is scheduled to enter a plea Feb. 3 in Grant County Justice Court, Canyon City.

The wolf had worn a tracking collar since October 2013 and dispersed from the Umatilla Pack in February 2015. He was in Malheur County for awhile, then traveled into Grant County. Young adult wolves typically leave the pack they were born into and strike out on their own.

Oregon’s best known wandering wolf, OR-7, left Wallowa County, traversed the state on a diagonal and ventured into California before settling into Southwest Oregon’s Cascades and starting his own pack with an unknown female.

Although Oregon wolves occupy only 12 percent of the habitat suitable to them in the state, they continue to show signs of dispersing from Northeast Oregon, where they first migrated from Idaho.

ODFW said OR-28, a female, and at least one other unknown wolf are using territory in Klamath and Lake counties. Another wolf, OR-25, traveled south into California before returning to Klamath County. It was blamed for killing and eating a calf and injuring two others in a Klamath County attack in early November.

On Jan. 19, a Union County resident reported his 6-year-old Border Collie died of injuries and asked ODFW to conduct a wolf attack investigation. Based on the size of bite wounds, ODFW determined the dog had been attacked by coyotes.

Hazelnut farmer Jeff Newton of Amity, Ore., has been honored as the Nut Grower’s Society Grower of the Year for 2015 in recognition of his innovative production practices and contributions to the industry.

Newton has equipped his newest hazelnut orchard with drip irrigation lines that can supply fertilizer to the trees, allowing him to experiment with nutrient-to-water ratios, according to the NGS.

As he seeks to replace orchards infected with Eastern Filbert Blight, a fungal pathogen, with disease-resistant varieties, Newton is also undertaking nursery production and has likely generated enough trees to plant 500 acres this year.

He has also been involved in educating farmers who are new to the hazelnut industry and has worked to improve food safety measures at receiving stations and elsewhere in the supply chain.

Hazelnut acreage is growing in Oregon as farmers plant new trees but are reluctant to remove orchards that are slowly succumbing to Eastern filbert blight.

Michael McDaniel, who operates Pacific Ag Survey and is tracking hazelnut acreage, said the high prices paid for hazelnuts in recent years has discouraged growers from replacing older varieties, such as Barcelona, with new varieties that are resistant to the fungal pathogen.

“People are doing what they can to make the Barcelona and other varieties really last,” he said. “I was surprised by how much mature acreage is still hanging on.”

In 2015, Oregon had more than 45,000 acres of hazelnuts in the ground, with about two-thirds of the orchards being 11 years or older, McDaniel said at the recent Nut Growers Society meeting in Corvallis, Ore.

Roughly 25 percent of the hazelnut acreage consisted of trees younger than five years, and another nine percent consisted of trees between five and 10 years, he said.

According to USDA’s Ag Census, Oregon had about 37,000 acres of hazelnuts in 2012, which means the acreage has grown 22 percent since then, which translates to an additional 2,700 new acres a year.

Of the new acreage, farmers have planted more than half at double-density, McDaniel said. This method speeds up the profitability of orchards but eventually requires the removal of trees.

It’s unclear how quickly orchards of Barcelona — the traditional cultivar grown in Oregon’s Willamette Valley — will be replaced by new plantings of Jefferson, a popular EFB-resistant variety released in 2009 by Oregon State University, said Garry Rodakowski, chairman of the Oregon Hazelnut Commission.

However, it’s certain that the hazelnut industry will need to ramp up production to compete on the global market, he said. In the past, for example, a food manufacturer canceled plans for a cereal that prominently featured hazelnuts due to insufficient supplies of the crop.

Production was particularly problematic in 2015, when Oregon farms harvested fewer than 31,000 tons of hazelnuts even though USDA estimated a crop of 39,000 tons.

That shortfall has put the squeeze on processors, said Rodakowski. “They promised people they’d have nuts they can’t deliver now.”

In some cases, farmers are planting annual crops between the rows of new orchards to keep generating revenue on their properties before trees mature.

“Inter-cropping can significantly cushion the drain of establishing a new orchard,” said Dan Keeley, a farmer from St. Paul, Ore.

Keeley said he’s had luck growing wheat, clover and grass between rows, though he urged growers not to jeopardize the welfare of newly-planted hazelnut orchards for the benefit of shorter-term crops.

“The trees are the priority, not the intercrop,” he said.

Aside from financial incentives, inter-cropping can improve soil conditions, said Kevin Coleman of Dayton.

Coleman has planted radish to break up “hard pans” in the soil prior to putting hazelnut trees in the ground and used alfalfa and clover to enhance nitrogen levels, microbe activity and worm populations.

However, John Brentano of St. Paul offered farmers a cautionary tale about inter-cropping.

After planting hazelnut trees in an existing grass seed field, Brentano experienced tremendous damage from voles in 2015.

Voles used the grassy areas for habitat and ate tree bark, likely due to low moisture during the summer, he said.

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Environmental advocates are calling on environmental managers to apply new Oregon Department of Forestry rules that expand streamside protection rules on Western Oregon’s private and commercial forestlands to southwest Oregon.

The Mail Tribune reports that the wider buffers help shade fish-bearing streams and provide other benefits to wild salmon and other stream-dwelling creatures.

The new rules were approved by the board in November and extend no-cut buffers from 20 feet to 120 feet to ensure that streams meet water-quality standards.

Rogue Riverkeeper program director Forrest English says his group has not decided how to pressure either Gov. Kate Brown or the state Environmental Quality Commission to extend the rules to the Siskiyou Mountains, but that they were improperly left out of the plan.

BURNS, Ore. (AP) — The latest on an armed group that took over buildings at a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon (all times local):

9:05 a.m.

The Burns Paiute Tribe is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to prevent an armed group from moving freely on and off a national wildlife refuge in Oregon.

The small group angry about federal land use policy took over the buildings at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge more than three weeks ago.

Thousands of ancient Native American artifacts and maps to where more antiquities can be found are kept inside the building. Recent videos posted to social media show members of the group going through some of the antiquities and criticizing the way the government stored the items.

Tribal chairwoman Charlotte Roderique said the government should secure the refuge and stop allowing members of the group free passage to and from the site. She said the tribe fears some of the artifacts will go missing.

AgriNorthwest, a farm operator based in the Tri-Cities, has entered into an agreement to buy the Boardman Tree Farm from GreenWood Resources.

Part of the 25,000-acre tree farm already sold to a local dairy that will raise approximately 8,000 cows south of Homestead Lane. The rest will now go to AgriNorthwest, which farms mostly potatoes and other irrigated crops.

The deal is expected to close soon. Terms were not disclosed.

In the meantime, GreenWood Resources will continue to harvest what trees are left under a leaseback agreement. The Collins Companies operates a sawmill at the tree farm, and Columbia Forest Products runs a veneer mill that helps make decorative plywood.

Logs are also sold for pulp and biofuel. ZeaChem, a company located at the nearby Port of Morrow, used sawdust from the tree farm to make ethanol.

The tree farm has also hosted “A Very Poplar Run” since 2011, with 5K and 10K races to benefit the Agape House in Hermiston. Don Rice, director of North American operations for GreenWood Resources, said the decision to sell the property has been met with mixed emotions.

“It has become a community feature,” Rice said. “We have a lot of photographers who come out, especially in the fall, to take pictures.”

The Boardman Tree Farm spans six miles along Interstate 84, and another 13 miles south of the highway. It includes roughly 6 million hybrid poplar trees that can grow to more than 100 feet tall. The trees are harvested in 12-year cycles.

It could take years to finish milling all the remaining trees, Rice said, depending on the market conditions. He is hopeful GreenWood Resources can continue to provide trees from its other locations to keep the local sawmill and veneer mill operating. Together, those businesses employ about 100 people.

The tree farm itself has 20 employees, along with another 50-60 contractors. Rice said they were not actively marketing the property, but AgriNorthwest approached them about acquiring the land.

“We believe they made a fair offer,” he said.

Prior to becoming a tree farm, the area was used for agriculture. The trees came in 1990, and GreenWood Resources bought the property in 2007. But Rice said they won’t be planting again in spring.

“Things change over time,” he said. “This will continue to be a valuable asset to the community and economy.”

Todd Jones, president of AgriNorthwest, said the company has been farming in the Columbia Basin for more than 50 years and is looking forward to adding the Boardman property to its operations.

In December, GreenWood announced it sold roughly one-third of the tree farm — 7,288 acres — to Willow Creek Dairy, which was established in 2002 on land leased by Threemile Canyon Farms located on the other side of the Boardman Bombing Range. That sale closed for $65 million.

The dairy will now be located along the southern boundary of the tree farm, near the Finley Buttes Landfill. AgriNorthwest’s fields will be located more closely to the highway, which marks the property’s northern boundary.

SALEM — Sara Pierson of St. Paul was chosen the 2016 Oregon Dairy Princess-Ambassador at the 57th annual coronation banquet Jan. 23 in Salem.

Gina Atsma of Amity was chosen first alternate.

Both of their families have been in the dairy business five generations.

Passing the crowns to their successors were the 2015 Oregon Dairy Princess-Ambassador, Emma Miller, and last year’s first alternate, Megan Sprute.

Pierson, 20, is the daughter of Steve and Susan Pierson, owners of Sar-Ben Farms of St. Paul. She and her two brothers represent the youngest of three generations actively working the family’s 165-acre, 350-cow organic dairy, along with their parents and grandfather, Marlin. She represented Marion County in this year’s ODPA program.

Her jobs at the dairy still include chores such as moving the cows among different pastures and moving irrigation pipe.

Atsma, 19, represented Polk County, and was raised on her family’s dairy farm, Atsma Dairy of Amity, and still works there between college studies and other activities.

In their speeches, both Pierson and Atsma celebrated their families’ long histories in the dairy industry.

Pierson spoke about her family’s dairy history and her part in it under the theme of “Where I Come From.”

Atsma likewise spoke of the longevity of the Atsma Dairy with a theme of “Cows Come First In Our Family.”

Pierson and Atsma were chosen over a field that included four other young women: Olivia Miller of Independence, representing Linn and Benton counties; Chelsey McFalls of McMinnville, representing Yamhill County; Stephanie Breazile of Cornelius, representing Washington County; and Lucy Kyle-Milward of St. Helens, representing Columbia County.

Pierson is a 2014 graduate of St. Paul High School and currently is a sophomore studying agricultural business management at Oregon State University with the hopes of beginning a career in marketing or business with an agricultural cooperative.

“I’m super excited,” she said after her crowning, “but I’m still sort of in disbelief. I worked really, really hard for this and banked a lot of hours with my adviser to get here. It’s kind of a nerve-wracking event, but I was really ready and my nerves subsided.”

Among Pierson’s first duties as the 2016 Oregon Dairy Princess-Ambassador will be to make an appearance during Dairy Day at the state Capitol in Salem on Feb. 8. She said she would probably take a break from spring term classes at OSU to deal with the crush of events — nearly 110 through the year — that will greet her beginning this April.

Those events include elementary school presentations, public appearances and giving speeches in front of civic and community organizations. According to ODPA State Director Jessica Kliewer, the program last year reached more than 15,000 students.

In another unusual happening at the coronation event, Pierson was also voted the congeniality award. She becomes only the third contestant in the last 42 years to win both honors.

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Residents of Southern Oregon stocked up on singed antiques as part of a fundraiser to rebuild a historic grist mill that burned in a holiday fire.

The Mail Tribune in Medford reports that scores of people attended a tent fundraiser Saturday to support rebuilding efforts for the Butte Creek Mill.

The landmark water-powered Butte Creek Mill was deemed a total loss after the Christmas morning fire.

Owner Bob Russell says there are steps to take before rebuilding, such as seeing what pieces of the mill are structurally sound. He says he plans to have his rebuilding plan outlined in May.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

BURNS, Ore. (AP) — A judge who planned to host a community meeting Monday over the standoff at an Oregon wildlife refuge has canceled it due to safety concerns.

Harney County Judge Steve Grasty said in a news release authorities had become aware of plans to protest the meeting and block the entrance to the county senior center, where it was to be held. Earlier Grasty had said that a no-guns policy would be strictly enforced at the meeting.

A spokeswoman for the county said Sunday afternoon she didn’t have further information about the safety concerns or specifically who intended to block the senior center entrance.

An armed group led by Ammon Bundy has been occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge since Jan. 2 to protest federal land use policies. Oregon lawmakers have been increasing their pressure on federal authorities to step in and end the occupation.

BURNS, Ore. (AP) — Authorities say they’ll strictly enforce a no-guns policy at a community meeting Monday over the standoff at an Oregon wildlife refuge.

Harney County Judge Steve Grasty said in a news release the meeting will be limited to 150 ticketed attendees, and it will be held at the county senior center — instead of on school grounds. School district officials became upset about the number of firearms at last week’s forum, and they decided they would no longer host the meetings.

An armed group led by Ammon Bundy has been occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge since Jan. 2 to protest federal land use policies. Oregon lawmakers have been increasing their pressure on federal authorities to step in and end the occupation.

Grasty said Monday’s community meeting will be recorded for broadcast on Tuesday by Oregon Public Broadcasting.