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January 16, 2015 CapitalPress.com 11 Oregon Proposed bill would boost Oregon juniper harvests By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Oregon’s work to improve rangeland habitat and jumpstart rural economies by removing western juniper could get a boost when the Legislature opens its 2015 session in February. Legislation drafted by the Western Ju- niper Alliance would allocate $900,000 for a loan and grant program for juniper har- vesting and manufacturing businesses. The money also would fund business planning help for small mills or logging outfits, pro- vide worker training and map the location of high-quality juniper stands. The Western Juniper Alliance is a coalition of industry, government and environmental representa- tives convened by Sustainable Northwest, a Portland nonprofit that works to resolve en- vironmental and rural economic problems. Dylan Kruse, Sustainable Northwest’s policy director and manager of the alliance, Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Milling western juniper trees into lumber products provides jobs and improves range- land ecology and sage-grouse habitat. said District 27 Rep. Tobias Read, D-Beaver- ton, will sponsor the bill. Kruse said a broad coalition now supports the idea of speeding the pace and scale of juniper removal. Junipers encroach on much of the arid West, crowding out sage and native grasses and sucking up prodigious amounts of wa- ter, according to experts. Cutting western junipers has a cascading benefit: It makes more water available and it improves graz- ing for cattle and habitat for greater sage grouse, which is a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act this year. Mul- tiple cattle ranchers in Eastern Oregon have signed on to voluntary habitat conservation plans that include provisions for juniper re- moval. Meanwhile, at least three small mills in Eastern Oregon have found fledgling mar- kets for juniper poles, posts, decking and landscape timbers. Sustainable Northwest Woods, an offshoot of the nonprofit, buys from the mills and operates a specialty lum- ber yard in Portland. Kruse said adding mill or logging jobs in Eastern Oregon, combined with the range and wildlife habitat benefits, make juniper projects a “no-brainer.” “It’s a holistic approach for land manage- ment,” he said. “This is one of the rare win- win-win situations that we have.” Oregon ag director says food safety is top priority for 2015 those licensed facilities whose activities represent the greatest risk to food safety. These In the second part of are facilities that handle an interview carried on food products before the Oregon Department they even get to grocery of Agriculture website, stores. Even within the Director Katy Coba said many retail stores we food safety and consum- license and inspect, we prioritize by risk, focus- er protection remains the department’s most im- Katy Coba ing on those with a histo- ry of problems.” portant program for 2015. Coba said the department “We focus very hard on food safety issues,” Coba said in has a “very good” track record the interview with department of preventing food-borne ill- nesses and responding quickly spokesman Bruce Pokarney. “Our whole goal is to min- when outbreaks occur. “Also in the new year, there imize the potential for food illness outbreaks. So there is a is more work to be done on the lot of up front education and implementation of the Food outreach, and we prioritize our Safety Modernization Act,” limited resources to focus on Coba said. By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Sudden freeze causes major damage to fruit orchards By GEORGE PLAVEN EO Media Group Fruit orchards aren’t expected to blossom for another several months, but some growers near Milton-Freewater have already started pulling trees killed by last fall’s sudden and severe cold snap. Temperatures dipped from 60 degrees to as low as 5 degrees in a matter of days during the mid-November freeze, killing a large number of young trees and damaging fruit buds before they could become acclimated to the conditions. Clive Kaiser, extension horti- culturist with Oregon State Uni- versity, said he doesn’t expect much of a crop off the area’s stone fruits in 2015 — includ- ing cherries, plums and peaches. The apple harvest should also see a reduced yield. “I would testify this is a di- saster across the region,” Kaiser said. “A lot of (producers) have pulled out orchards.” A similar freeze was last re- ported in 2011, when tempera- tures plummeted to minus 12 and minus 15 degrees. At the time, Umatilla County commis- sioners asked the governor to declare a state of emergency. Milton-Freewater’s fruit in- dustry generates about $85 mil- lion per year, and is the leading producer of apples in Oregon, Kaiser said. There are rough- ly 60 commercial growers and 3,500 acres of trees across the valley. Now, about 130 acres of trees — those less than two years old — have been uproot- ed as growers assess the dam- age to their orchards. Many older trees were not as affect- ed by the freeze, Kaiser said, but the full extent of damage won’t be known until later in the spring. There is a program in the 2014 Farm Bill, known as the Tree Assistance Program, or TAP, that can help cover grow- ers if they lost more than 15 percent of trees in a stand. Darcy Sexson, Umatilla County execu- tive director of the Farm Service Agency, said producers have the option to rehabilitate or replant trees based on the extent of the damage. Rehabilitating trees is more costly than planting new ones, Sexson said, but new trees won’t start producing fruit for another three to four years, which sets the grower back on profit. “That’s the hard thing about tree losses,” she said. “That’s why TAP comes in and pays for those damages. One producer has been ap- proved so far for TAP benefits from last fall’s freeze, Sexson said. Others will continue to wait until they know the extent of damage in their orchards. Growers could start replant- ing trees by spring, Kaiser said, if replacements are available from commercial nurseries. “Hopefully, the nurseries will have some leftover stock they can supply the growers,” he said. Milton-Freewater wasn’t the only fruit-growing region hit hard by freezing temperatures. The Mid-Columbia’s pear and cherry crop also sustained dam- age, said Lynn Long, OSU Ex- tension Office in Wasco County. “I think we can say there is going to be some replanting of fairly young orchards,” Long said. “We’re just trying to figure out the extent of the damage, and what it will mean to the in- dustry.” Statewide, cherries were worth $91.2 million in 2013; pears were worth $83 million, and apples $49.8 million. Kaiser said fruit growers in Washington weren’t as harmed by brutal cold. Consumers can still expect to find their favorite fruit on supermarket shelves, though not as much at local fruit stands or farmers markets. Ron Edwards, of Edwards Farm north of Milton-Freewa- ter, said his cherry crop looks all but wiped out. As for the other trees in his small orchard, it will depend if they had gone dor- mant before the bitter cold set in. 3-5/#4