Wolves may very well be responsible for killing a 250-pound adult llama on a private forested pasture in Union County, though the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife stopped short of confirming the incident as a wolf attack.

Investigators instead ruled it a “probable” wolf attack, taking place just 10 miles away from where wolves with the Meacham pack preyed on cattle at Cunningham Sheep Company earlier this summer.

The landowner found the dead llama Friday, Nov. 24 about 200 yards from the residence. The carcass was mostly intact, except most of the hide and muscle tissue along the right rear leg above the hock and around the anus had been consumed.

ODFW arrived the next day, and according to the agency’s investigation report, the llama likely died sometime between late Wednesday, Nov. 22 and before dark Thursday, Nov. 23. At least two sets of wolf tracks were seen in the mud about 20 yards away, which were one to two days old. Investigators also documented trail camera photos taken about 300 yards from the carcass, showing a wolf moving toward the area on Nov. 23.

However, wounds to the llama were not consistent with extensive wolf-caused injuries, the report went on to state. Taking all evidence into consideration, the agency determined that “there was sufficient evidence to confirm predation on the llama by a large predator, but not enough evidence to confirm which predator.”

The same landowner also reported another dead llama earlier in the month, which had been largely consumed except for its neck, head and left shoulder. ODFW investigated Nov. 14, and determined there was no evidence of a predator attack at the scene. The cause of death is unknown.

Oregon’s work of managing wolves in balance with the varied interests of people takes another turn this month when the state wildlife commission meets Dec. 8 to review draft management plan.

Representatives of livestock, hunting and conservation groups get the first word when the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission meets in Salem. The public can attend, but testimony won’t be taken until the commission meets again Jan. 19. Comments also may be made by email to odfw.commission@state.or.us.

A “working copy” of the revised Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, which includes edits made by ODFW staff, is available at http://bit.ly/1OPoneb.

Wildlife issues in the West, especially those hinged to endangered species concerns, are a thicket of often-opposing points of view. In the case of Oregon’s wolves, the ODFW Commission’s complicated task is laid out in the plan’s straightforward language: “To ensure the conservation of gray wolves as required by Oregon law while protecting the social and economic interests of all Oregonians.”

Oregon adopted a wolf plan in 2005, updated it in 2010 and began the current revision in 2016 after taking wolves in Eastern Oregon off the endangered species list.

A few highlights from the current revision:

• The plan suggests 300 wolves as the “minimum population management threshold” through 2022. The figure is based on current data and computer modeling. Oregon had 112 documented wolves at the end of 2016, but wildlife officials believe Eastern Oregon could have 300 wolves as early as 2018, based on current population growth rates.

• Since being documented in Oregon in 2008, wolves have expanded in population and territory and now can be found within 6,674 square miles of the state.

• They primarily use forested habitat but follow prey to more open habitat in season, such as when elk move to lower elevation areas in winter. Tracking data from collared wolves showed they are on public land — primarily Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service land — 60 percent of the time, on private land 38 percent of the time, and on tribal land 2 percent of the time.

• Much of the state’s potential wolf habitat is used seasonally to graze cattle and sheep. “...(I)t is expected that depredation on livestock will continue to occur in places where wolves and livestock are closely associated.”

• The plan recognizes ranching and farming as “important components of the Oregon economy” and says addressing conflict between wolves and livestock is an essential element of the management plan.

• Oregon has approximately 1.3 million cattle and 215,000 sheep. From 2009 through 2016, ODFW confirmed 89 depredation incidents and the loss of 45 cattle, 89 sheep, three goats, one llama and one herd protection dog.

• “Natural dispersal,” in which young adult wolves leave their birth packs to find new territory and mates of their own, is providing “continued expansion and ongoing genetic connectivity” to wolves in other states. Continued dispersal from Idaho into Oregon is likely; Idaho had 786 wolves in 108 packs at the end of 2015.

• Oregon’s two-zone management protects wolves in Western Oregon, where packs are just getting started, while allowing the flexibility of “lethal control” of wolves in Eastern Oregon, where most of them live and livestock attacks are a major concern.

• “Variation in local conditions will likely cause some areas to be more prone to livestock depredations than others, and chronic conflict may preclude survival of some wolf packs in certain circumstances.” This past August, ODFW killed four wolves from the Harl Butte pack for repeated attacks on calves, and authorized a rancher to shoot a Meacham Pack wolf for the same reason.

• The draft document said classifying wolves as “special status game mammals” provides the most options for long-term management. Among other things, the status allows “responsive” hunting and trapping when required. Such action would require a permit, and hunters and trappers would have to be pre-certified by ODFW.

Tuesdays

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to scale back two sprawling national monuments in Utah, responding to what he has condemned as a “massive federal land grab” and an important move for “state’s rights.”

Trump is traveling to Salt Lake City on Monday to outline his intention to shrink the Bears Ears and the Grand-Staircase Escalante national monuments spanning millions of acres in Utah. The two national monuments were among 27 that Trump ordered Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review earlier this year.

Utah’s Republican leaders, including Sen. Orrin Hatch, pressed Trump to launch the review, saying the monuments declared by Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton locked up too much federal land.

Trump’s plans to curtail the strict protections on the sites have angered tribes and environmentalist groups who have vowed to sue to preserve the monuments.

In December, shortly before leaving office, Obama irritated Utah Republicans by creating the Bears Ears National Monument on 1.35 million acres of land sacred to Native Americans and home to tens of thousands of archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings.

Trump signed an executive order in April directing Zinke to conduct a review of the protections. Trump is able to upend the protections under the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives the president broad authority to declare federal lands as monuments and restrict their use.

The president said in April his order would end “another egregious abuse of federal power” and “give that power back to the states and to the people where it belongs.”

Trump said at the time that he had spoken to state and local leaders “who are gravely concerned about this massive federal land grab. And it’s gotten worse and worse and worse, and now we’re going to free it up, which is what should have happened in the first place. This should never have happened.”

The move marks the first time in a half century that a president has attempted to undo these types of land protections. And it could be the first of many changes to come.

Zinke also has recommended that Nevada’s Gold Butte and Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou monuments be reduced in size, although details remain unclear. The former Montana congressman’s plan would allow logging at a newly designated monument in Maine and more grazing, hunting and fishing at two sites in New Mexico.

Democrats and environmentalists have opposed the changes, accusing Trump and Zinke of engaging in a secretive process aimed at helping industry groups that have donated to Republican campaigns.

——

Associated Press writer Brady McCombs in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Two members of Congress — one an Oregon Democrat and the other a California Republican — are pushing to ensure that protections against federal intervention remain for another year for 46 states, Washington DC, Guam and Puerto Rico that allow some form of medical marijuana.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California have sent a letter with the signatures of 64 colleagues to congressional leaders supporting the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment that prevents federal officials using public funds to enforce federal laws against medical marijuana.

“The provision, which first became law in December 2014, has successfully protected patients, providers, and businesses against federal prosecution, so long as they act within the confines of their state’s medical marijuana laws,” they said in the letter that was sent this week.

It asked Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate to include the provision in any final package as they negotiate a fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill to fund the government beyond Dec. 8.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in May told congressional leaders in a letter that it would be “unwise” to renew the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment, saying marijuana is harmful and is banned by federal law.

Blumenauer, in a message to marijuana stakeholders and supporters, said that despite bipartisan support for the provision, the leadership of the House didn’t allow a vote on it or any other marijuana-related amendments. But the Senate Appropriations Committee included the provision in its bill.

“I’m working hard to ensure Rohrabacher-Blumenauer remains in effect to protect individuals in 46 states and thousands of state-legal businesses from federal intervention,” the Oregon congressman said in his message, emailed to The Associated Press by the Oregon Cannabis Business Council.

Blumenauer, in a telephone interview with AP last summer, said Sessions is “out of step” with most members of Congress, who have become more supportive “of ending the failed prohibition on marijuana.”

PORTLAND — Representatives of Oregon agriculture say they are wary of a proposal to reduce the state’s carbon emissions. While farmers could attract new revenue under the system, they could also face higher costs for fuel, electricity and other inputs, they say.

Oregon lawmakers in the House and Senate are currently devising carbon emission “cap-and-invest” bills to be introduced during the 2018 legislative session. The goal is to mitigate climate change by reducing the amount of “greenhouse gases” such as carbon dioxide that gets into the atmosphere.

The basic idea of the legislation is to cap the amount of carbon emissions by certain companies, with the greatest impact falling on those consuming or importing significant amounts of fossil fuels.

Facilities that fall below the cap would earn credits that can be sold to offset the emissions of companies that exceed that level.

“It harnesses market incentives by putting a price on carbon,” said Kristen Sheeran, carbon policy adviser for Oregon Gov. Kate Brown.

The State of Oregon would also sell emission allowances to regulated firms, generating money that will be used for highway improvements and to relieve the effects of higher electricity or natural gas prices, said Sheeran.

“Governor Brown wants to decarbonize the Oregon economy,” she said during the Nov. 30 meeting of the Oregon Board of Agriculture in Portland.

Some of the funds generated by the system would also fund projects that decrease or offset carbon emissions, which would benefit agriculture, she said.

“If people don’t want to do it, they don’t have to participate,” Sheeran said of the role that would be played by farmers and ranchers, who wouldn’t be regulated as emitters under the current proposals.

However, related industries, such as large food processors and pulp mills, would fall under the regulatory scheme.

For farmers, the proposal is concerning because it would raise the cost of doing business for manufacturers of fertilizer, fuel and energy — major inputs in agricultural production.

About 80 percent of Oregon’s farm goods are shipped out of state, so growers here can’t afford to have higher production costs than farmers elsewhere, said Mary Anne Cooper, public policy counsel for the Oregon Farm Bureau.

“It will make Oregon agriculture less competitive,” said Cooper.

Growers could potentially sell carbon credits they earned by turning dairy emissions into energy with anaerobic digesters, for example, or by growing crops that sequester carbon.

In California, though, farmers have often found the paperwork and verification process for generating carbon credits too cumbersome to be worthwhile, she said.

Also, growers who have already invested in reducing carbon emissions with energy efficient equipment and no-till cropping systems would likely not be compensated for past investments.

In effect, the policy would penalize early adopters of technology, Cooper said.

“We’re looking at it as a net loss for agriculture,” she said.

California and British Columbia have already implemented such carbon regulation systems, but there still isn’t enough information available to learn from those experiments, said Jeff Stone, executive director of the Oregon Association of Nurseries.

“We just don’t know its impacts,” he said.

There are opportunities for agriculture, such as investing money in planting trees along roads to absorb carbon, Stone said.

However, these possibilities must be studied more thoroughly, he said.

For example, it’s too early to know exactly how much carbon is “sequestered” through the production, sale and planting of Japanese maples or rhododendrons, Stone said.

“It needs to be part of the conversation,” he said.

Another issue is ensuring the cap-and-invest system would not drive emitting industries from Oregon to other states, which would hurt the economy without reducing emissions.

To this end, the government would probably offer free or discounted emission allowances to companies that are prone to flee, said Sheeran.

“We will provide some sort of differential treatment under the cap,” she said.

HERMISTON, Ore. — Heading into its second year at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center, the Hermiston Farm Fair continues to add new lectures and seminars highlighting previously overlooked aspects of Columbia Basin agriculture.

Historically speaking, the Farm Fair has focused on the latest and greatest developments in potato production — the signature crop supported by Oregon State University’s Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center.

The 44th annual event, however, introduced a number of new presentations Thursday covering topics such as organic crops, precision irrigation and pollinators.

Phil Hamm, station director at HAREC, said he did not know the exact attendance, but estimated it was in the hundreds.

“What we’re trying to do is (reach) as many of our stakeholders as possible in our region,” Hamm said.

Last year’s move to EOTEC from the Hermiston Conference Center has certainly helped, Hamm said, providing a larger venue to bring in more presenters and hold more sessions. This year’s trade show featured 48 different vendors, including multiple farm suppliers, Energy Trust of Oregon and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency.

Attendees filled the room for a morning seminar on pollinators, which discussed the importance of bees and bee habitat in agricultural systems. Andony Melathopoulos, with OSU’s Pollinator Health Extension Program, said Oregon is home to more species of bees than there are east of the Mississippi River.

“It’s a hotbed of diversity,” Melathopoulos said. “People are just amazed by them.”

Melathopoulos went on to explain how farmers can treat their crops for weeds and pests while taking care not to harm pollinators. He ran through a litany of available products, demonstrating how to properly read labels and determine if and when a grower should apply certain chemicals in the field.

“Without a doubt, pollination is very important for the production of many crops,” Melathopoulos said. “I hope people came out of this session knowing pest control is possible and compatible with pollinators.”

For the first time, the Hermiston Farm Fair also organized a seminar dedicated specifically to growing organic crops. It takes three years before a farm can be certified organic, and growers must adapt to a very strict set of approved standards.

Local organic production is on the rise, said Alexandra Stone, a former organic farmer and cropping system specialist for OSU. In eastern Washington, Stone said organic sales grew sixfold at the farm gate between 2005 and 2015, from $100 million to $600 million.

“There’s already a lot of organic production out here,” she said.

Yet demand for organics is still outpacing production in the U.S., with imports exceeding exports by $1.1 billion, Stone said. With that in mind, she led a survey among 20 farmers in the room to determine what they want and need from the university to tap into the organic marketplace.

Of those polled, 79 percent said they expect demand for organics will continue to increase, yet 40 percent said they did not have the tools to control pests and disease. The vast majority of farmers said they would benefit from some kind of technical training through OSU, with more than half favoring a hybrid online undergraduate and professional development certificate program.

Later in the afternoon, Clinton Shock with the OSU Malheur Experiment Station detailed how precision irrigation can optimize yields and save farmers money, all while protecting the environment.

“We really want high and stable production of horticulture and crops,” Shock said. “Precision irrigation is really the key.”

Shock said researchers are working to determine a set of criteria known as the soil-water tension for different crops, which essentially describes the amount of energy a plant must expend to suck up water in the ground. If the tension is too high, a plant may shut down. If the tension is too low, water may leach away nutrients, leading to waste.

But if a grower knows the soil property, Shock said they can find the sweet spot. That means healthier crops for less money. Plus, as a side benefit, he said the more efficiently nitrogen is used, the more it protects groundwater quality.

“A lot of the public thinks growers are not innovative, or stuck in the mud,” Shock said. “That just isn’t so.”

The Hermiston Farm Fair will continue Friday at 8 a.m. at EOTEC before coming to a close at noon.

Oregon State University’s veterinary hospital resumed normal operations Nov. 29, ending a three-week quarantine instituted as it treated a horse with a contagious and potentially deadly neurotropic illness.

Erica McKenzie, professor of large animal internal medicine at OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine, said no other horses got sick during the quarantine period. “The college thanks everyone for their patience and assistance during the quarantine period,” McKenzie said in a news release. The horse recovered and was taken home.

The horse became severely ill Nov. 4 at its owner’s property in Coos Bay, Ore., and was taken to OSU’s Lois Bates Acheson Veterinary Teaching Hospital for treatment.

The horse developed a mutated form of Equine Herpes Virus-1, or EHV-1, which is a common sickness in horses. It usually causes minor respiratory problems and is something like a cold is to humans, but in its mutated form the virus attacks the nervous system.

The illness often first shows up as weakness in the hind quarters, with animals stumbling or developing an unusual gait. Other signs include weak tail tone, nasal discharge, fever, and difficulty urinating. Geldings and stallions may be unable to retract their penis. Pregnant mares may abort. In rare cases, EHV-1 can cause blindness and central nervous system damage in alpacas and llamas.

Because the virus is contagious, OSU suspended elective procedures on horses, alpacas and llamas. The virus doesn’t harm humans, but people can spread it to animals after picking it up by hand or clothing contact with sick horses.

A vaccine for EHV-1 can ease symptoms of the common form of the virus, but it does not prevent animals from developing the more serious nervous system illness.

More information about EHV-1 and biosecurity recommendations are available from the American Association of Equine Practitioners at https://aaep.org/guidelines/infectious-disease-control/equine-herpesvirus-resources.

PENDLETON, Ore. — While few people attended Tuesday’s public hearing in Pendleton about proposed regulations for industrial air polluters, one industry in particular was on hand to express its displeasure with Cleaner Air Oregon: food processing.

According to the state employment department, food processing makes up 6 percent of overall employment in Umatilla County and a whopping 28 percent in neighboring Morrow County. Food processors accounted for 3,426 jobs between the two counties in 2016, along with $143 million in combined payroll.

But Craig Smith, director of government affairs for the Northwest Food Processors Association, said those companies face another layer of burdensome regulations under the Cleaner Air Oregon rules, spearheaded by Gov. Kate Brown to lower health risks posed by industrial air emissions.

“We don’t like this rule at all,” Smith said. “It’s way too broad, and the cost of the program will be enormous for very little benefit.”

Smith was one of 14 people who attended the hearing Tuesday at the Pendleton Public Library, and half of those were employees of the Oregon Health Authority and Department of Environmental Quality, which are working to develop the rules. Similar meetings were held Nov. 15 in Medford, Nov. 16 in Coos Bay and Nov. 20 in Corvallis, with future dates scheduled in Portland, Eugene, Salem and The Dalles.

Debbie Radie, vice president of operations at Boardman Foods and chairwoman of the Northwest Food Processors Association Board of Directors, was the only person to testify Tuesday, saying the proposed rules are “poorly designed and unworkable.”

Cleaner Air Oregon was established last year in response to toxic air emissions in 2016 Bullseye Glass in southeast Portland. Yet rather than address sources of emissions that DEQ knows to be an issue, Radie said the agency is targeting companies like hers that are already subject to regulation.

“There is no plan in this rule to identify sources of emissions that are not currently permitted,” Radie said. “The only way this rule will reduce emissions is to force companies to curtail or stop production. The level of uncertainty does not create an environment where businesses and communities thrive.”

The draft rules, released Oct. 20, would require companies to report their use of 600 chemicals, including heavy metals and other air pollutants. Facilities would then need to calculate potential health risks to nearby communities, considering what if any health problems may be caused by short- and long-term exposure.

From there, DEQ may require additional steps — such as a risk reduction plan or conditional permit — to mitigate the risk. Keith Johnson, who serves as special assistant to the director of Cleaner Air Oregon, said the goal is to use health-based standards for reducing harmful air toxics.

“A facility that’s in a remote location would be much less risky than a similar one located in the middle of a city or town,” Johnson explained. “Smaller facilities would likely not be impacted because of low risk and low emissions.”

Out of 2,500 businesses with DEQ air quality permits, Johnson said only the 80 highest-risk facilities would be regulated by the program in the first five years.

But in her testimony, Radie said the rule would not be based on verified science and data, but rather by asking already permitted facilities to submit data that would be entered into a “very crude, inaccurate and misleading formula to determine theoretical risk.”

Cleaner Air Oregon also factors the cumulative effects of industrial emissions in a given area, which Radie said may cause some companies with minimal emissions to be dragged into a full-blown risk assessment process just by being near an industrial location.

Boardman Foods, an onion processing plant, is located at the Port of Morrow’s East Beach Industrial Park near Boardman, which includes other value-added processors such as Lamb Weston and Tillamook Cheese.

Smith said the added cost of complying with the program might not force food processors to close their doors, but could make them less competitive moving forward.

“That’s a huge deal,” he said. “Right now, there is a lot of investment being made both by the processors and our suppliers.”

The Oregon Legislature is expected to consider a fee structure for Cleaner Air Oregon in the coming session, and the Environmental Quality Commission may decide to adopt all or part of the rule as early as July 2018.

PORTLAND — Solar power development on farmland is increasingly raising alarm, potentially leading to new land use restrictions in two Oregon counties.

A growing “cluster” of solar energy sites in Oregon’s Willamette Valley has prompted Yamhill and Marion county governments to consider barring such development on several higher-quality farmland soil classes, said Jim Johnson, land use specialist with the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

The restrictions would go beyond the current rules established by Oregon’s Land Conservation and Development Commission, which limit solar development on prime farmland to 12 acres.

“We’ve got enough concern for two counties to take this on their own and not wait for LCDC,” Johnson said during a Nov. 28 meeting of the Oregon Board of Agriculture, which advises ODA.

New statewide rules for solar development on farmland are also being considered by LCDC, though the agency is reluctant to announce a time frame for taking action, he said.

If LCDC set a deadline to enact stricter regulations for solar power facilities on farmland, it could result in a “land rush” among developers to seek new sites under the more lenient current rules, Johnson said.

With the upcoming 2018 legislative session, the agency also likely feels that it can’t devote resources to new solar rules in the short term, he said.

Wetlands on farmland are also controversial in Oregon agriculture, with Tillamook County considering a new regulatory approach to such developments.

Oregon lawmakers have allowed Tillamook County to require wetland developments to obtain conditional use permits, whereas conversion of farmland to wetlands is allowed outright elsewhere in the state.

As part of this pilot project, the county may also devise a system to steer wetland development toward certain areas while preserving farmland elsewhere.

Representatives of the agricultural and environmental communities appear to be rethinking their original approach to the problem, said Johnson.

The initial idea was to create a map of areas where wetland development is appropriate, but that concept appears to be falling out of favor, he said.

Tillamook County has some of the best grazing land in the state, so it’s difficult to prioritize certain areas over others, Johnson said.

“It’s just not that clear-cut,” he said.

Instead, stakeholders are moving toward a checklist of factors that would help determine whether a site is appropriate for wetland development on a case-by-case basis, Johnson said.

A potential electrical transmission line in Tillamook County is also worrisome to dairy farmers whose properties it may traverse, he said.

Stray voltage of electricity can be damaging to cattle health, but dairies are also concerned about impediments to aerial spraying and “big gun” field applications of manure, he said.

Short-term rentals of homes through popular online websites such as Airbnb are often blamed for aggravating housing shortages in cities, but the issue is cropping up on farmland as well.

Popular Oregon tourist destinations such as the Hood River Valley and Sauvie Island are increasingly seeing farm dwellings devoted to short-term rentals, Johnson said.

Arguably, such rentals deviate from the approved use of farm dwellings, which are meant to provide housing to farmers and farm workers, not tourists, he said.

While such rentals may encourage agritourism, growers worry about the “tail wagging the dog” — a situation where surrounding agriculture basically provides an excuse for rentals, Johnson said.

The issue has gained enough prominence that it’s likely to spur legislation in 2018 or 2019, he said.

In other board business:

• A year since a state audit criticized the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s backlog of food safety inspections, the agency has reported a major reduction in those overdue inspections.

The backlog has been cut from 2,841 overdue inspections to 739, in part due to an electronic inspection timing system and a reduction of ODA staff time dedicated to federal regulations, according to Alexis Taylor, the agency’s director.

• The board has recommended five farmers to serve on the 12-member commission of the Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program, which is aimed at preserving farmland with easements:

• Doug Krahmer, a blueberry farmer with several operations in Western and Central Oregon.

• Woody Wolfe, a farmer and rancher in Wallowa County who has has established two easements.

• Ken Bailey, a farmer who manages 2,500 acres of fruit orchards in the Columbia Gorge.

• Chad Allen, a dairy farmer from Tillamook County who serves on the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association board.

• Lois Loop, a retired USDA employee who produces grass seed, small grains and clover in Polk County, will serve in a position specializing in agricultural water.

The commission’s remaining seven members will be chosen by Oregon State University, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, the Land Conservation and Development Commission and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board.

HERMISTON, Ore. — Hermiston High School sophomore Jenna Wallace stood Tuesday morning in front of a class of third-graders at West Park Elementary School, unfazed by her sudden role reversal from student to teacher, and enthusiastically launched into a carefully planned lesson about the life cycle of a pumpkin.

It all starts with a seed, Wallace explained, which later grows into a sprout and then a vine. The vine produces bright yellow flowers, which eventually become small green pumpkins and, finally, the big orange pumpkins everyone knows and loves to carve into jack-o’-lanterns at Halloween. The kids followed along by drawing pictures of each life stage on their worksheets, and numbered them one through six in order.

Wallace was joined at the head of the class by fellow HHS students Logan Sinor, Garrett Hills, Maleena Moore, Jayda Hoston, Ellen Jakobsen and Diana Egerer as part of the high school’s annual fall Agriculture in the Classroom tour. More than 50 high-schoolers participated in the event, visiting every elementary school in the Hermiston School District and giving agriculture-themed lessons to 946 first, second and third grade students.

Once the kids finished coloring their perfect pumpkins, Wallace and the rest of the group helped to serve a tasty snack of graham crackers topped with pumpkin pie filling.

“This is something I look forward to each season we do it,” Wallace said. “It’s fun to see their faces light up when we walk in.”

As a statewide nonprofit organization, Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom strives to educate students on the importance of farming and natural resources by providing lesson plans to K-12 teachers that highlight agriculture, while also promoting skills in math, science, history and nutrition.

Jessica Jansen, the group’s executive director, said they are supported through grants and donations from the agricultural community. Their mission is to work with local partners — such as Hermiston FFA — to improve agricultural literacy, provide a basic understanding of farming and help to bridge the urban-rural divide.

“It’s a small portion of Oregonians involved in the actual growing and producing of food and other agricultural products,” Jansen said. “We want students to think of agriculture as an opportunity for them in the future.”

Last school year, Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom reached more than 190,000 students in all 36 counties across the state, according to stats provided by the organization. Jansen said she is always impressed with the level of involvement in Hermiston.

“Hermiston does a fantastic job, and they have an ability to reach so many students with so many elementary schools in the district,” she said.

Brianna Smith, agriculture teacher at HHS, developed Tuesday’s pumpkin lesson through tools provided by Agriculture in the Classroom. She watched from the back of the classroom with a wide grin as her pupils took charge, leading the discussion and calling on kids to answer questions.

“It makes me so proud,” Smith said. “I just get butterflies inside, and I can’t stop smiling.”

Smith, who taught second and third grade at Rocky Heights Elementary before moving to the high school earlier this year, said Agriculture in the Classroom literacy programs are about the only science some of these younger students will receive as teachers are constrained by other required standards.

As for the high school kids, Smith said they too gain valuable educational skills and experience.

“I want them to walk away with just the importance of teaching and advocating for agriculture,” she said.

Smith said HHS will do an Agriculture in the Classroom tour this spring as well for fourth-graders, only this time it will be entirely up to the high-schoolers to plan, prepare and conduct their own lesson plans.

Sinor, a sophomore at HHS, was quick to point out that Hermiston is an agricultural community, and said it is important for kids to understand from an early age where their food comes from and why farmers are so necessary.

“The world wouldn’t survive without agriculture, and it’s important for kids to know how much work it is and how much we need it,” Sinor said.

Hills, a fellow sophomore, said Agriculture in the Classroom allows kids to be creative, while possibly planting a seed for the next generation of agricultural leaders.

“Helping kids to learn about agriculture, it could spark some ideas in their head,” Hills said. “They could help feed the world, and make the world a better place.”

Agriculture in the Classroom is another way, too, to show kids that modern agriculture is more than just sows, cows and plows, Wallace added.

“Really, agriculture can branch out to these students as well,” she said. “Anyone can be involved in that.”

BANDON - Several Bandon businesses are holding open houses and customer appreciation days. A few are listed below:

U.S. District Court Judge Anna Brown sentenced defendant Darryl Thorn on Tuesday to a year and a half in federal prison followed by three years supervised release for his role in last year’s occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Following prison time, Brown ordered Thorn be released to a halfway house for up to 90 days.

In March, a jury found Thorn guilty of conspiracy to impede federal officers as well as carrying a firearm in a federal facility. Both are felonies. Brown also found Thorn guilty of two misdemeanors: trespassing and tampering with vehicles and equipment.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight asked Brown to sentence Thorn to 27 months in prison. Thorn’s defense attorney, Jay Nelson, asked for a sentence of supervised release.

“Mr. Thorn, this doesn’t get any easier, the more I look at the issue,” Brown said in handing down her sentence.

Prior to his trial, prosecutors offered Thorn a deal: He could plead guilty to trespassing, a misdemeanor, and they would dismiss the other charges. Thorn instead decided to go to trial.

During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence of Thorn holding firearms on the refuge and performing what they described as guard duty from inside a refuge fire tower.

During one video shown at trial, Thorn is seen in the refuge bunkhouse, sitting on a bar stool smoking a cigarette. The video was taken just after police shot and killed occupation spokesman LaVoy Finicium, after he fled police. The remaining occupiers were fearful, trying to decide whether to stay or leave.

“All I see is a bunch of salty motherf------,” Thorn said in the video. “We came here for one reason and that’s to fight.”

Another occupation leader, Blaine Cooper, suggests in the video leaving the refuge in a firetruck and heading for Idaho to regroup. Cooper said they could put five armed people on the truck and “if they try and follow us, lay lead down.”

Thorn is heard disagreeing with the plan.

Prior to Thorn’s sentencing hearing, Nelson provided the judge with a detailed mental health evaluation. While the report wasn’t released publicly, aspects of it were discussed in court.

Nelson described Thorn’s childhood as “appalling” as well as “hard to listen to” and “hard to read.” Several times, he said that Thorn had no one to teach him right from wrong.

Nelson said Thorn suffers from “cognitive issue” and has a history of substance abuse.

Judge Brown said she took those factors into account in handing down her sentence. But she added that while it helped explain his conduct at the refuge, his background did not justify his actions. 

“I’m giving you the benefit, Mr. Thorn, of every favorable inference,” she said, adding that if he had future run-ins with the law, other judges likely wouldn’t be as lenient.

Thorn’s pretrial release was revoked in April after he threatened to hang himself on Facebook and also threatened his then girlfriend.

“This has been a two years of hell,” Thorn said in court Tuesday. “I have a life. I have a family that I would like to get back to ... If you determine you want to impose more time on me, I accept that.”

In handing down her sentence, Brown noted things Thorn did not say.

“I haven’t heard you say you’re sorry for being engaged at the refuge,” Brown said. “I’m not asking you to say those things. I’m just noting what wasn’t said.”

Prior to the start of the hearing, defendant Duane Ehmer, who Brown sentenced to 12 months and one day behind bars, rode his horse Hellboy along the sidewalk outside the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse in downtown Portland in support of Thorn.

“Tell Darryl I love him,” Ehmer said.

Andrew Kohlmetz, the defense attorney for Jason Patrick, relayed the message inside in the courtroom.

“Duane is outside,” Kohlmetz told Thorn in court prior to the hearing. “He says he loves you.”

“Does he have Hellboy out there?” Thorn asked.

Kohlmetz nodded yes.

“Yeah!” Thorn said. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

Lawmakers are under more pressure to act after a wildfire season that was particularly harrowing. Nearly 9 million acres – an area about the size of New Jersey and Connecticut combined – burned. Intense smoke hit many of the West’s major cities, including Denver, the San Francisco Bay Area and Portland.

The devastating California wine country fire, which killed 43 and destroyed nearly 9,000 homes and other buildings, competed for national attention with the hurricanes that hit Houston, Florida and Puerto Rico.

“What’s made it different this year is that it’s now clear that the fires are bigger and hotter and more powerful,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon. He’s a central figure in the congressional fight over wildfire funding and forest policy.

Decades of suppressing fire has left Western forests choked with dense stands of smaller trees and brush. Combine that with hotter, drier weather driven by climate change and it’s produced a crisis as real as the flooding in Houston.

And here’s what’s making the problem worse: The U.S. Forest Service now spends more than half its budget fighting fires, up from just 16 percent in 1995. That means it is running out of money to work on fire prevention, particularly in the wildfire-prone communities where some 120 million Americans now live.

Wyden has fought for years to offload the cost of fighting big fires from the Forest Service onto the nation’s disaster agencies. That would put it more in line with how the U.S. handles hurricanes and earthquakes.

“The big fires ought to be treated for what they are, which are natural disasters,” Wyden said. “And you don’t raid the prevention fund to put them out.”

The Democratic senator’s so-called “wildfire funding fix” has gained wide support in Congress. But Republicans say it’s not enough. They insist Forest Service funding be tied to what they see as the real solution: A return to robust commercial logging on federal lands.

“I tell people I think we’ve loved our trees to death, and we’ve swung the pendulum way too far on trying to preserve timber instead of conserve timber,” said Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Arkansas. “You know, preservation is what you do with art in a museum.”

Westerman, the only trained forester in Congress, is chief sponsor of the Resilient Federal Forests Act.

That measure, which passed the House on a 232-188 vote on Nov. 1, would override many of the environmental restrictions that dramatically shrunk federal timber harvests. Westerman says that more intensively managed forests are less likely to face catastrophic burns.

One of his chief allies is Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon, who adds that more logging helps reduce fuel loads while boosting the Forest Service budget.

“When the country changed and said, ‘We’re not going to do that anymore. We’re not going to engage in active harvests,’ you lost that revenue stream that used to pay for those things,” Walden said. “I’d like to see us get back partially.”

Similar bills died in the Senate in past years as Democrats sided with environmental groups. This year, Republicans control both chambers and the White House. But they can’t overcome a Senate filibuster. Democrats say the crisis is too big to get hung up fighting over environmental laws.

“Why go to the timber wars of the past if we have the solutions sitting right in front of us,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon.

He noted that the Forest Service has a backlog of 1.6 million acres of thinning projects in Oregon that’s already cleared environmental reviews. The agency just keeps having to put off the work as it spends more money fighting fires.

Mark Webb, a former Grant County commissioner in eastern Oregon now involved in forest restoration efforts, has an on-the-ground appreciation of that. 

He said the 2015 Canyon Creek fire, which destroyed 43 homes and consumed 110,000 acres, came after the Forest Service wasn’t able to afford all of the thinning work planned for the area.

“It wouldn’t have done near the damage if we had been able to implement those treatments,” said Webb, who heads the Blue Mountains Forest Partners. That group works to develop broad agreement on forest restoration projects, and Webb said there is a lot of work that can be done without changing environmental laws. 

Randi Spivak, public lands director for of the Center for Biological Diversity, is fighting the Westerman bill. She said past commercial logging has already contributed to the growing wildfire risk.

“National Service lands were heavily logged,” Spivak said, “so we have changed these forests tremendously because of commercial timber production, taking out the large fire-resistant trees.”

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, whose agency oversees the Forest Service, has been an ally of Wyden in trying to get a permanent wildfire funding fix. 

“I do think the momentum this year is greater than it has been in the past,” said Perdue, adding that forcing the Forest Service to borrow from prevention programs to pay for fighting fires is no way to run an agency.

There are also several attempts at a compromise. For example, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, has authored a bill that includes provisions sought by both the timber industry and environmentalists.

“I think there’s a deal to be had here,” Walden said in an early November interview.

But since then, the Trump administration has come out with its latest disaster relief request, which does not include any wildfire provisions. Several lawmakers have looked at the next disaster-aid legislation as a possible vehicle for dealing with wildfire.

Merkley, who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has also been trying to pump more money into the Forest Service budget to work on forest restoration. But he expressed disappointment at a package drafted by the committee that he says is inadequate.

Anything that Congress does is likely to be just a start.

John Bailey, a professor at Oregon State University’s School of Forestry, said previous generations were wrong to think they could stamp out every wildfire with no consequences.

Bailey said it’s going to take more money, more use of controlled burns and many years to get on top of the problem. 

“Smoke in the air in the interior West,” he said, “is as much a reality as rain during the winter.”

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SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — After almost two decades of work, the government has nearly finished removing radioactive wastes from a first group of underground storage tanks in eastern Washington.

Work began 19 years ago to remove radioactive sludge and salt cake from 16 underground tanks known collectively as the C Tank Farm. The wastes are left over from the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

The U.S. Department of Energy said last week that a contractor is in the final stages of removing waste from tank C-105, a 530,000-gallon capacity tank. That tank has stored radioactive wastes since 1947, and is a suspected leaker.

Hanford was established by the Manhattan Project during World War II and made most of the nation’s plutonium for nuclear weapons.

Farmworker shortages are a mounting concern for Western growers, but Agriculture Capital Management has resigned itself to insufficient labor.

The number of skilled farmworkers is likely to continue dwindling, which is why the investment firm is taking a comprehensive approach to reduce its dependence on them.

“We recognize we’re not going to have the harvest labor in the future and we need to adapt,” said Tom Avinelis, the firm’s principal.

The first step involves planting firm blueberries that ripen uniformly and easily detach from their stem, decreasing damage from machine-harvesting.

Those plants are then carefully pruned to encourage strong canes and upright growth, which also eases mechanical harvesting.

Harvesting machines — which commonly shake bushes to knock off blueberries — are being perfected to avoid losing and injuring the fruit.

Manufacturers are also experimenting with gentler harvest techniques, such as dislodging the berries with blasts of air.

Finally, computerized sorting machines equipped with advanced infrared optics detect bruised or defective fruit, diverting it for processing while the highest-quality blueberries are packed for the fresh market.

“It’s all about systems management to baby that fruit any way we can,” said Avinelis.

Since 2014, the investment firm has bought roughly 4,000 acres of farmland in Oregon and 5,000 acres in California that it’s dedicating to high-value crops.

Most recently, the firm converted a Christmas tree seedling facility near Silverton, Ore., into a fresh blueberry packing plant, with plans to double the building’s footprint by next spring.

Apart from decreasing its reliance on labor, Agriculture Capital Management’s mechanically-oriented approach to blueberry farming addresses another problem: Competition from foreign producers who pay lower wages.

Harvesting blueberries by hand for the fresh market can cost from 65 cents to $1.20 per pound, depending on the season, Avinelis said. To compare, machine-harvesting blueberries delicately enough for this higher-value market costs from 17 cents to 30 cents per pound.

Blueberries grown on Agriculture Capital Management’s own farmland will supply roughly half the capacity of its Silver Mountain Packing Co., so the company expects to help other growers adopt its cultivation practices.

“We see this as investing in the entire blueberry industry,” Avinelis said.

Of the investment firm’s farmland in Oregon, about 1,400 acres are planted to blueberries and the remainder are devoted to hazelnuts.

“We feel both these industries have tremendous potential,” he said.

For now, Agriculture Capital Management is selling its hazelnuts to other packers. Eventually, it will probably build its own facility in line with the firm’s vertically-integrated philosophy, Avinelis said.

There’s a great opportunity to sell more hazelnut kernels domestically. Consumers in the U.S. eat only one-fourth as many hazelnuts per capita as their counterparts in Europe, he said.

The industry should also become less dependent on Chinese consumption of in-shell hazelnuts, he said. “We’ve got to diversify our market.”

In addition to its facility in Oregon, the investment firm owns three citrus packing plants in California, one of which also has the ability to pack peaches, plums, nectarines and pomegranates.

While Agriculture Capital Management is a relatively new venture, Avinelis has more than three decades of experience in the farm industry.

His family’s company, Agricare, also manages extensive farmland in Oregon and California.

Seeing the need to build efficiency through vertical integration — but reluctant to take on massive debt — Avinelis formed Agriculture Capital Management with partners from the finance industry.

Institutional investors contributed an undisclosed sum to several funds upon which Agriculture Capital Management has drawn upon to buy farmland and facilities.

Working with investors is different than borrowing money from banks, as they’re more intensely interested in monitoring details and “key performance indicators,” Avinelis said.

“I think it’s made us better investors in the industry. It forces you to do a better job of financial planning analysis,” he said. “You look at it really analytically.”

WESTON, Ore. — Finding enough workers is getting to be more of a challenge for Michael Lesko at Smith Frozen Foods.

The company, which processes and packages frozen vegetables near Weston, is capable of storing more than 130 million pounds of product on site, including corn, lima beans, onions and carrots. Harvest season typically begins around June 1 and runs through the end of November, when the demand for seasonal labor is at its strongest.

Lesko, director of human resources for Smith Frozen Foods, said the plant has roughly 100 regular employees and typically hires another 200 seasonal workers through harvest. Those positions, however, are becoming more difficult to fill, he said, which has left the plant short up to 10 workers on any given shift over the past year.

“It’s been difficult keeping people, by all means,” Lesko said. “We were looking for people to start in June and work through November, but that’s becoming more and more rare.”

Labor woes are not unique to Smith Frozen Foods — it is an issue that has affected all corners of the agricultural and manufacturing industries, from the farm to the factory. Earlier this year, the Capital Press documented workforce worries from cherry growers in Chelan, Washington, all the way down to Linden, California, while the Oregonian/OregonLive also spoke to orchards in The Dalles and vineyards in the Willamette Valley.

Locally, both AgriNorthwest and Threemile Canyon Farms declined to speak specifically about experiences at their own operations, though Matthew Vickery, land and government affairs director for AgriNorthwest, did acknowledge that labor shortage “is a growing problem for everyone in agriculture.”

Neither the Oregon Department of Agriculture or Department of Labor and Industries keep statistics on the farm labor. Dallas Fridley, region economist for the Columbia River Gorge and Columbia Basin, provided information from the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Agricultural Workers Survey, which was last updated in 2013-14.

According to that report, approximately two-thirds of hired farmworkers were born in Mexico, and 80 percent of all farmworkers were Hispanic. Just more than half of farmworkers, or 53 percent, had work authorization, and the vast majority, or 84 percent, were settled in the country.

The reason for the shortage is difficult to prove, Lesko said. Some point to an improved economy in Mexico, while others may finger the country’s failure to adopt a comprehensive immigration policy. For his part, Lesko said he does not see anything happening on a macro-political scale as having much effect on labor at Smith Frozen Foods.

“It is all speculative,” he said. “There’s no one reason that I think it’s a problem.”

In fact, Lesko said the problem has only worsened over the last decade. Smith Frozen Foods has taken a number of steps to fill shifts, such as billboards, radio ads, hiring temporary workers from local staffing agencies and providing bonuses to workers who agree to stay through the end of the season.

“We’re just short,” Lesko said. “We’re constantly looking.”

Labor shortage was a major undertone at the Future Farm Expo earlier this year in Pendleton, where growers met with leaders in cutting-edge technology and automation for agriculture. The three-day showcase featured a variety of trials using equipment such as drones, smartphone apps and even virtual reality.

Lesko said Smith Frozen Foods is automating where it can, though a lot of that tech may not be available or affordable for the plant.

“I don’t see any solution (to labor shortage) on the horizon,” he said.

Fortunately, Lesko said the issue did not affect the size or quality of this year’s harvest at Smith Frozen Foods. Crews have not been forced to bypass fields, and the company has managed to keep up with its orders.

“We haven’t been bypassing fields based on the fact that we can’t harvest the product or process the product,” he said. “We typically try to harvest to what we think our orders are. That hasn’t changed.”

LANGLOIS - The Bandon/Port Orford KOA Journey Campground has earned the prestigious 2018 KOA President’s Award from Kampgrounds of America, the world’s largest system of family friendly, open-to-the-public campgrounds. The award was presented Nov. 17 at KOA’s Annual International Convention…

Growers John and Debbie Volle and John Myers have been very pleased with their respective hay seasons this year.

Their efforts and their hay crops were recognized and rewarded Nov. 18 at the 23rd annual Oregon Hay & Forage Association’s Hay King Contest that was held in Lakeview, Ore.

The Volles of Madras, Ore., claimed Hay King honors in the Grass category and then earned Best of Show with their third cutting orchard grass.

Myers of Echo, Ore., had the top entries in Retail Alfalfa, Grass/Legume and Cereal Hay. Gary McManus of Lakeview was also a winner, earning the Hay King label in the Dairy Alfalfa category.

There were 28 hay entries from 13 Oregon growers in this year’s contest. That’s up from last year when there were 19 entries.

Scott Pierson, vice president of the state association and a hay grower in the Silver Lake, Ore., area, and Glenn Shewmaker, an extension forage specialist at the University of Idaho, were the judges.

“I thought the hay quality, especially the grass quality, was really high this year,” Pierson said. “The hay quality has improved every year at the contest.

“It was a really close race in picking the winners,” he explained. “It came down to the color being a factor, and the presence of dust. I just love combining the sensory analysis, putting your hands on it and smelling it, along with the chemical testing.”

John Volle credited “a completely different fertilizer program” and an adjusted pH (a measurement of how acidic water is) in the irrigation water for his hay that received high marks. He said he uses only about half the nitrogen compared to the amount most other growers put on their fields. He said changing the pH resulted in two tons an acre more for an overall increase of 250 tons over the 2016 yield.

All of the Volles’ hay is certified noxious weed seed free.

“I sort of knew it would test well,” Volle said of the bale he entered in the contest. “We’re glad with the results. Both of us work really hard to do the best we can. We have happy customers. They are glad to see we’re doing a good job.”

Myers said having three Hay Kings in the contest was “pretty special.” He said he was confident in his entries, “but you never know until the judges start tearing your hay apart.”

Myers said one key to growing premium hay is good ground preparation, including testing the soil. The hay grower explained that his fields are laser leveled “so our flood irrigation is predictable and repeatable.”

“It’s not a guessing game,” Myers said of irrigating from Butter Creek. “We use our resources extremely well. We waste nothing. Laser leveling helps us preserve and reuse our water resources. We can adjust the flow into our system so we’re not overflowing and wasting many cubic feet of water. Water does not leave our place.”

He added that he is constantly monitoring the humidity and the temperature during the hay season. He said the premium window to bale hay this past summer was from 1 to 4 in the morning. He would swath only what he could then bale that night.

“You can’t sleep when you need to be making bales,” he said. “If you get too many acres down and can’t get it baled that day, then you’re just making sticks and powder.”

Like Volle, Myers said having Hay King winners confirms to customers that they are purchasing the best of hay.

“It assures customers that they are getting as good a product as I can provide,” Myers said.

Pierson said the annual Hay King Contest provides the participants with feedback on how to improve their hay growing operations.

“It drives everybody to be a better hay grower,” he said.

The Lake County Hay & Forage Association was the host of this year’s hay conference and contest. Dan Roberts, that association’s president, thanked the businesses and individuals who donated contest and raffle prizes.

Next year’s hay conference and contest will be held in the Albany/Corvallis area during the third week of November and will be a joint session with the Oregon Forage & Grassland Council.