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4 CapitalPress.com June 24, 2016 FOR LOVE OF MONARCHS Oregon couple grows food to sustain them Flight of the monarch butterfly The migratory route of monarch butterflies takes them over and through prime U.S. farmland. Conservationists say monarchs are threatened by pesticides and their primary food source, milkweed, is often sprayed as a weed. By ERIC MORTENSON CANADA Capital Press N or th ern r an ge of mi l k w e e d Con tine UNITED STATES ntal Divi Corn Belt de NEWBERG, Ore. — Or- egon is known for its special- ized agricultural production, but Jim and Bonnie Kiser may occupy the state’s narrowest market niche. Their entire crop this year, seeded in February and March, consisted of 990 milk- weed plants. By mid-June, about 800 survived to be giv- en away and planted in yards, parks or gardens. The plants, Asclepias spe- ciosa, or showy milkweed, are intended as forage for a migratory insect: the monarch butterfl y. The brightly colored mon- arch has become something of a poster-bug in the debate over pesticide and herbicide use, agriculture’s impact on wildlife habitat, and the role of voluntary conservation efforts in staving off potential regula- tory or legal action. The Kisers are among a cadre of people who have tak- en it upon themselves to aid monarchs. They’ve been at it since 1998, when they dug up and rescued milkweed plants from a Costco store con- struction site in Eugene, Ore. They’ve also rescued plants from construction at a Tektr- onix electronics plant in the Portland area, and at a high- way interchange near Rick- reall. They have a couple doz- en milkweed plants growing in their yard, in addition to the hundreds of seedlings growing in plastic tubes. Last year, they planted 300 milkweed plants at Champoeg State Park. “This is an amateur oper- ation, but it’s effective,” said Jim Kiser, a semi-retired con- sulting engineer. The monarch population has steeply declined; one esti- mate puts the population loss at 90 percent over the past Food Safety, said settlement negotiations are underway. In the meantime, USFWS encourages voluntary milk- weed plantings, saying that every backyard can become an “oasis” for the butterfl ies and other pollinators. The agen- cy urges schools, community groups, businesses and state and local governments to plant milkweed on public and pri- vate land and in rights-of-way. “Monarch declines are symptomatic of environmen- tal problems that also pose risks to food production, the spectacular natural places that help defi ne our national identi- ty, and our own health,” USF- WS says on its website. Monarchs are a compel- ling story. They migrate south from Canada to Mexico in the fall and head the other way in the spring, going through sev- eral generations on the way. The monarch’s primary fl y- way covers the Midwestern U.S., including the Corn Belt, but a subset migrates each fall from Canada across the Pacif- ic Northwest to Southern Cal- ifornia, reversing direction in the spring. The notion of helping mon- archs by planting milkweed resonates with many people. A group called Monarch Watch advocates a “monarch high- way” of milkweed plantings along Interstate 35, which runs from Duluth, Minn., south to Laredo, Texas. But Kimbrell, the Center for Food Safety attorney, said nothing short of mandatory protection under the Endan- gered Species Act can help monarchs at this point. The group applauds volun- tary planting efforts, “But it’s not nearly suffi cient to save them, unfortunately,” he said by email. Tom Landis, a retired For- est Service nursery specialist in Medford, Ore., disagrees. Landis and others have raised and planted milkweed in half a dozen “way stations” for mi- grating monarchs in Southern Oregon. “It’s been working like a champ,” he said. Pacific Ocean Atlantic Ocean Legend MEXICO Fall migration Gulf of Mexico Spring migration Summer breeding Oyamel fir forests of Central Mexico Spring breeding Overwintering High monarch production N 250 miles Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Eric Mortenson and Alan Kenaga/Capital Press The star-shaped blossoms of showy milkweed provide food and egg-laying space for migrating monarch butterfl ies. Photos by Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Jim Kiser of Newberg, Ore., shows some of the showy milkweed seedlings he’s growing at his home. Kiser and his wife, Bonnie, give seedlings away for planting in gardens and parks. The plant is critical food for migrating monarch butterfl ies. two decades, although they bounced back this year. Critics say farming practic- es, especially in the Midwest, have killed off milkweed, the only plant on which butterfl y larvae feed. In March 2016, the Center for Biological Di- versity and the Center for Food Safety fi led suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to protect monarchs under the federal Endangered Species Act. The two groups blamed planting of genetically modi- fi ed corn and soybeans for loss of milkweed in the Midwest. They said farmers spraying Roundup, Monsanto’s trade- mark herbicide, kill milk- weed while leaving “Roundup Ready” corn and soybeans un- scathed. The groups asked USFWS in 2014 to list monarchs as “threatened” under the ESA, but the agency has not taken action. The March 2016 law- suit asks a court to set a dead- line for a decision by Fish and Wildlife. George Kimbrell, se- nior attorney for the Center for NE Washington has another wolf pack Capital Press The Washington Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife has confi rmed the state’s 19th wolf pack, formed when a fe- male wolf left one group and started traveling with a male whose history is unknown. The Sherman pack, named by state biologists after geo- graphic features in Ferry County, was announced June 14 by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. female June 12 in the Profani- ty Peak pack. With collars transmitting signals from both groups, WDFW was able to confi rm they were separate packs. WDFW has not yet de- termined whether the packs have overlapping territory. The Sherman pack has been staying south of Highway 20, while the Profanity Pack has been roaming north of the highway, Becker said. The Sherman pack is the 15th in the northeastern cor- ner of Washington. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has de-listed wolves in the eastern one-third of Washing- ton, but the animals remain a state-protected species. Statewide recovery goals call for wolves to disperse over more of the state, includ- ing into the South Cascades. Lone wolves have been spot- ted in the South Cascades, but WDFW has received no reports of wolves traveling to- gether in a pack. “It’s only a matter of time before they show up in the South Cascades,” Becker said. “We’re continuing to search down there.” WDFW confi rmed seven wolves in the Profanity Peak pack at the end of 2015. The department counted at least 90 wolves in the state. The Huckleberry pack in Stevens County split last year, with the Stranger pack form- ing just to the north. One of the packs killed a Holstein heifer in May, the last con- fi rmed wolf depredation in the state. The depredation would be the fi rst of the year for either pack. WDFW’s policy calls for the department to consider lethal removal of wolves after four depredations. WDFW wolf policy lead Donny Martorello said the department is monitoring the movements of the packs to determine which one was re- sponsible. “We want to make sure we don’t assign it to the wrong pack,” he said. “There’s no in- tention to not assign” respon- sibility. BERRY BASKETS New hazelnut facility expected by 2018 harvest 503-588-8313 2561 Pringle Rd. SE Salem, OR ROP-23-4-2/#24 Call for Pricing. Subject to stock on hand. By DAN WHEAT Capital Press PORTLAND — The Pear Bureau Northwest won’t pro- mote organic fresh pears from this fall’s crop since growers and packers representing 93 percent of last year’s organic tonnage decided to stop paying promo- tional assessments. It would be diffi cult for the Pear Bureau to coordinate pro- duction for the remaining 7 per- cent of tonnage spread among six packing houses so the bu- reau board decided to end the program, said Kevin Moffi tt, bureau president in Portland. It’s a loss of an estimated $423,500 in revenue for the bureau for the fi scal year starting July 1, he said. The 2014 Farm Bill includes a provision allowing growers and shippers of organic produce, under federal marketing orders, to opt out of promotional assess- ments and handle their own pro- motions, Moffi tt said. Regulations to implement such changes were fi nalized by the USDA at the beginning of the year. “Washington and Oregon pear growers have been promot- ing as a group for 85 years with the Pear Bureau. It’s disappoint- ing to have this split,” Moffi tt said. The bureau will continue to collect and spend an estimated $6.8 million promoting pears in general from the 38.5-cent-per- box assessment on convention- al pears, he said. That activity includes in-store sampling and radio, national magazines, other media, social media and the bu- reau’s website. The 2016 Pacifi c North- west pear crop is estimated at 18.7 million, 44-pound boxes, including 1.1 million boxes of organic pears. Organic growers and packers will no longer pay the 38.5 cents per box for promotional activi- ties but along with conventional growers and packers will contin- ue to pay 3.1 cents per box for research and 3.3 cents per box for Pear Bureau administration and funding the Northwest Hor- ticultural Council. “It wasn’t unexpected. We’ve been preparing for this for a year,” Moffi tt said. “I think people opted out because they want to promote their own brands. There is a good chance retailers may go directly to them for promotional money.” Twenty other commodities including cherries, potatoes, on- ions, grapes, citrus, olives, avo- cados and nuts are under federal marketing orders that apparently are open to the same thing, Mof- fi tt said. However, B.J. Thurlby, president of Northwest Cherry Growers in Yakima, said Wash- ington cherry and apricot assess- ments fall under state law, which doesn’t allow for growers and shippers to opt out. Farmers approve Wilco-HGO merger 1 1 ⁄ 2 QT. ALSO AVAILABLE! Delivery Available ROP-25-2-2/#7 By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press ROP-32-52-2/#17 By DON JENKINS So far, WDFW has only confi rmed the two adults in the pack, though biologists sus- pect they have pups, WDFW wolf specialist Scott Becker said. Two wolves traveling to- gether qualify as a pack. The female was captured and fi tted with a radio collar last year and at the time was possibly the breeding female in the Profanity Peak pack. She may have been pushed out of the pack by another fe- male, Becker said. “We’ll probably never know for sure what actually happened there,” he said. The male wolf was cap- tured and collared in February. WDFW collared a 2-year- old male June 9 and a yearling 26-1/#7 Sherman pack breaks from Profanity Peak pack Pear Bureau loses organic promotion funding The members of two Ore- gon farm cooperatives, Wilco and Hazelnut Growers of Or- egon, have overwhelmingly voted to merge their opera- tions. The combination of Wil- co, which focuses on farm supplies and fuel, with HGO, which processes and markets hazelnuts, is planned to be complete by Aug. 1. A major result of the merg- er is the expected relocation of HGO’s facility in Cornelius to a new plant before the 2018 harvest that’s more centrally located in the Willamette Val- ley, the nation’s major hazel- nut-growing region. Construction of the HGO’s new processing plant will be made smoother due to the fi nancial stability provided by Wilco, which generates about $220 million in annual revenues through its 17 farm stores, seven agronomy cen- ters and bulk fuel sales ser- vice. Together the two coop- eratives will have about 900 employees, though some po- sitions may be cut due to re- dundancies when a portion of HGO’s offi ce functions are moved to Wilco’s headquar- ters in Mt. Angel. Doug Hoffman, Wilco’s current CEO, would remain as chief of the merged cooper- ative while HGO’s CEO, Jeff Fox, will head its hazelnut di- vision. Farmers will earn equity and dividends in the com- bined cooperative based on their purchases of farm sup- plies as well as their hazelnut deliveries, though the pools will remain separate. Among Wilco’s members, 79 percent voted for the merg- er while 99 percent of HGO’s membership’s supported it.