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January 27, 2017 CapitalPress.com Oregon producers urged to pay attention, speak up By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press PORTLAND — Produc- ers should watch for localized efforts to restrict genetically engineered crops and pesti- cide use at the county and city level, while in the upcoming session of the Oregon Legis- lature, the concern is “budget, budget, budget,” the policy director for Oregonians for Food and Shelter said. Speaking at the annual Northwest Agricultural Show, Scott Dahlman said he ex- pects legislation regarding GMO crops, pesticides, fertil- izer, labor, water and other ag concerns. “When the Legislature’s in town, that’s when we get wor- ried,” Dahlman said. He said a “wild card” in the upcoming session is the state’s new agriculture depart- ment director. Alexis Taylor replaced Katy Coba, who was “absolutely wonderful for us” and maintained good relations with legislators, he said. Taylor has a strong ag background, “But it’s fair to say she will have a lot to learn Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Scott Dahlman, policy director with Oregonians for Food and Shel- ter, said crop regulations, pesticides and “budget, budget, budget” issues will dominate the Oregon Legislature’s session this year. about Oregon ag,” Dahlman said. One bill already proposed, Senate Bill 499, would re- move pesticide applications from the activities protect- ed under Oregon’s “right to farm” law and forestry prac- tices. Traditionally, the state has held producers can’t be sued for noise, dust and oth- er normal practices, but the bill would remove pesticides from protected activities. “We’re very worried about anything that would roll that back and open up farmers and foresters to nuisance law- suits,” Dahlman said. He said producers need to be careful. When applying pesticides, for example, producers must follow label instructions ex- actly, Dahlman said. “There is no room for er- ror,” he said. “Activists are out there looking for mis- takes. “Agency investigations are becoming front page news,” he added. “All it takes is one bad apple out there and it’s on the front page of the Oregonian.” He said confl icts within agriculture — a recent exam- ple would include herbicide drift from farm operations harming vineyards — should be handled among produc- ers. “We’re seeing a disturb- ing trend of certain groups running to the Legislature” instead of sitting down with their neighbors to resolve problems, he said. To make themselves heard, producers should call up their legislators, introduce them- selves and be willing to tell their story. The latter involves being willing to testify before legislative committees that are considering bills. Dahlman said legislators tire of hearing from lobbying groups such as OFS. “They listen to constitu- ents,” he said. “The best ex- pert on what you do is you.” Judge orders destruction of radio collar data from wolves, elk Helicopter landings and data collection in Idaho violated environmental laws Frank Church- River of No Return Wilderness 95 14 Elk City IDAHO Mo nt. Ida ho By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press McCall A federal judge has or- dered Idaho wildlife offi cials to destroy radio collar data collected on wolves and elk in the Frank Church Wilder- ness. The U.S. Forest Service violated federal environmen- tal laws by allowing the Ida- ho Department of Fish and Game to land helicopters and collar wildlife within the 2.4 million-acre wilderness area, according to U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill. Winmill has prohibited Idaho offi cials from using data collected from 57 elk and three wolves outfi tted with radio collars early last year because the Forest Ser- vice permitted the project contrary to the National En- vironmental Policy Act and the Wilderness Act. Though the helicopter missions are now over, “this is the rare or extreme case” where the destruction of data is warranted to prevent IDFG from justifying future incur- sions into the wilderness, Winmill said. “The only remedy that will directly address the ongoing harm is an order requiring destruction of the data — no monetary award or other such sanction will alleviate the on- LEMHI VALLEY Cascade 55 CUSTER Area in detail BOISE 21 Boise 84 N Alan Kenaga/Capital Press going harm,” he said. Based on aerial surveys, Idaho wildlife offi cials be- lieved that elk populations in the wilderness area were plummeting due to predation by wolves. This conclusion led them to draft a plan to eliminate roughly 60 percent of the resident wolves in the area. Initially, IDFG wanted to tranquilize and collar wolves and elk in the course of more than 1,000 helicopter land- ings over 10 years to “con- fi rm their suspicions,” the ruling said. However, the agency kept scaling back the project until it required only 120 helicop- ter landings to collar 60 elk — and no wolves — over two days in January 2016. Though the permit issued by the Forest Service only al- lowed elk to be collared, an IDFG crew leader “wrongly assumed” that “opportunistic collaring of wolves” would be in line with the agency’s “common practice” during past helicopter fl ights, ac- cording to an agency offi - cial’s affi davit. “IDFG uses monitoring data to make informed wild- life management decisions, including appropriate hunt- ing seasons, and to provide technical information and recommendations to USFS on wildlife habitat issues,” the offi cial said. “Requiring the destruction of data would diminish our knowledge of how elk and wolves use this unique landscape and how they interact.” Three environmental groups — Wilderness Watch, Friends of the Clearwater and Western Watersheds Proj- ect — sought an injunction against the project, but it was completed before any court hearings could be held. The Forest Service and IDFG argued the lawsuit was moot, but Winmill disagreed, ruling that Idaho offi cials are likely to undertake similar short-duration projects in the future. The judge also agreed that the Forest Service circum- vented a NEPA requirement to analyze long-term effects of the helicopter expeditions. The federal government allowed IDFG “to get away with slicing its long-term he- licopter collaring project into a one-year sliver of a project to mitigate the cumulative im- pacts,” he said. The Forest Service couldn’t make an informed decision about the “necessi- ty” of collaring because IDFG had divided its project “into a smaller proposal that hid the true nature of the impacts,” which also violated the Wil- derness Act, Winmill said. 12-month waiver TRACTORS 7 IDWR issues water right curtailment notices as measured by spring fl ows from the Thousand Springs area. “It may be there is always some level of curtailment. That factor of the equation could always generate some level of curtailment,” Cefalo said. Cefalo added that the cur- tailment order didn’t differ- entiate between consumptive and non-consumptive uses so some water users who re- ceived a notice may not need to curtail. For example, he said the Idaho Falls School District received notice to curtail water rights used in its heating and cooling sys- tem, but won’t actually be re- quired to curtail because the same amount of water that enters the system is pumped out. Lynn Tominaga, execu- tive director of Idaho Ground Water Appropriators Inc., said some groundwater dis- tricts are compiling lists of wells that are not partici- pating in a mitigation plan to give to IDWR. Tominaga said an exceptionally dry year could result in more water users seeking to join IGWA for safe harbor from the call, but they would also expected to contribute fi - nancially for past mitigation efforts. “The department is shoot- ing across the bow,” Tomi- naga said of the recent cur- tailment order. “They want people to know they’re going to be curtailing if they don’t have a mitigation plan or join a groundwater district.” By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press BOISE — The Idaho De- partment of Water Resources has sent notices ordering the curtailment of about 70 ju- nior water rights on the East- ern Snake Plain, effective Feb. 2. The notices, dated Jan. 17, apply only to water us- ers junior to June 20, 1989, who are not participating in a mitigation program grant- ing them safe harbor from the Surface Water Coalition’s water call. James Cefalo, IDWR’s water resource program man- ager for the Eastern Region, explained the curtailment orders were made to ensure senior coalition members re- ceive “reasonable carryover” of last storage water and don’t take current snowpack and projected streamfl ows into account. Though some irrigation rights are included in the curtailment order, Ce- falo explained IDWR Direc- tor Gary Spackman will issue a new order at the start of the irrigation season in April that will factor in the current out- standing snowpack and re- place the recent curtailment order. Spackman will update the water outlook for the purpos- es of water users who haven’t participated in a mitigation plan three times during the ir- rigation season. 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