OREGON: WILLAMETTE VALLEY AG EXPO SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2015
VOLUME 88, NUMBER 46
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
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So wet, yet so far from drought recovery
Water watchers cheer cloudbursts, but it’s still early
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The precipitation pelt-
ing the West, punctuated by
snowstorms in the mountains,
has raised reservoirs, given
snowpacks an early start and
eased drought conditions in
places, but water supply of-
fi cials looking ahead to the
2016 growing season have
F
F
A
been largely unimpressed.
A storm marching through
Washington on Wednesday
morning was expected to drop
up to 10 inches of rain in the
Olympic Mountains and 10
inches of snow in the Cas-
cades before dusting Eastern
Washington and the Idaho
Panhandle. Southern Idaho
and Northern California al-
ready have had signifi cant
snowstorms.
Turn to WATER, Page 12
Caitlin Row/Tahoe Daily Tribune via AP
A pedestrian walks in
the snow along Ski
Run Boulevard Nov.
10 in South Lake
Tahoe, Calif., Water
experts say recent
storms haven’t
changed the drought
picture in the West.
CHANGING LIVES
ONE BLUE JACKET
E
mily Kraxberger
didn’t grow up on
a farm. Her family
had 2 acres in Canby, Ore.,
near Portland, where they
had a small vegetable gar-
den.
But as a
teenager
in
high
school,
Kraxberger was
drawn to agri-
Kraxberger
culture classes
such as fl oral science and
landscaping.
Through those classes,
she was introduced to FFA.
It changed her life.
“In my sophomore year,
I had an instructor who told
me I should come to a leader-
ship camp,” she said. “That’s
how I became involved. Then
I got some chickens, and on
our small piece of property I
raised chickens.”
Kraxberger stayed in-
volved after high school, in-
terning in FFA’s state offi ce
while earning an agricultural
sciences degree at Oregon
State University and going
to work there full-time after
graduation.
AT A TIME
STORY AND PHOTOS
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
FFA members from Northern California await a series of competitions Oct. 15 at Shasta College in Redding,
Calif. FFA membership nationwide has reached record levels.
FFA members
take a test of
their veterinary
knowledge
during a com-
petition Oct.
15 at Shasta
College in
Redding, Calif.
Many students
say FFA’s
competitions
help prepare
them for
college.
Turn to FFA, Page 12
“
The organization had done so much for me when I was in high school.
I really attribute all of my success to FFA.” – Emily Kraxberger, FFA’s associate director of programs
Oregon takes wolves off endangered species list
West side wolves still under federal protection
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
SALEM — After nearly
11 hours of emotional tes-
timony, back and forth dis-
cussion and two timeouts
for legal advice from a state
attorney, the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife
Commission voted 4-2 Mon-
day to take gray wolves off
the state endangered species
list.
In making the decision,
commission members agreed
with an ODFW staff apprais-
al that the state’s wolves have
expanded in number and
range to the point that they no
longer need protection under
the state Endangered Species
Act.
Oregon’s wolves remain
covered under the federal
ESA in the western two-thirds
of the state, and ODFW offi -
cials say the state wolf man-
agement plan remains in ef-
fect and will protect wolves
from illegal hunting.
The decision doesn’t close
the book on Oregon’s work
to manage wolves. Some
commission members made
it clear they preferred to del-
ist wolves only in the eastern
third of the state, where most
of Oregon’s 82 confi rmed
wolves live, but were prevent-
ed from doing so by language
in the state law.
Meanwhile, conservation
groups are expected to fi le a
lawsuit over the commission’s
decision.
“I think that’s very like-
ly,” said Amaroq Weiss of the
Center for Biological Diversi-
ty. “I think they’re in violation
of the law. They didn’t pay at-
tention to the science.”
Turn to WOLVES, Page 12
The wolf OR-7 is seen in the
Rogue River-Siskiyou National
Forest in southwest Oregon.
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife
Commission voted Monday to
remove wolves from the state’s
endangered species list.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife