June 9, 2017
CapitalPress.com
5
Oregon cattle group votes to sue Fish and Wildlife Service
Two adult wolves from the
Walla Walla Pack were caught
on remote trail camera Jan.
16, 2016, in northern Umatilla
County, Ore. The Oregon
Cattlemen’s Association has
announced its intent to sue the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
for its failure to complete an
environmental study that would
remove gray wolves from the
endangered species list in the
lower 48 states.
By KATY NESBITT
For the Capital Press
Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife
environmental policy analysis
to delist gray wolves from the
endangered species list was
one reason for the suit.
“They are legally bound
to do that within one year and
that’s the preface of pressing
forward with the lawsuit,”
Nash said.
The lack of manpower
Fish and Wildlife dedicates to
managing wolves was another
frustration that led to litiga-
tion, Nash said.
In Oregon, like Wash-
ington and Utah, managing
wolves is complicated.
Through an appropriations
bill Congress removed gray
wolves from the Endangered
Species List in Montana,
Idaho and parts of Oregon,
Washington and Utah in April
2011. Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife then took
over sole management of
wolves east of U.S. Highway
395, Oregon Highway 78 and
U.S. Highway 95.
In November 2015 wolves
were removed from the state
endangered species list, but
west of that line wolves re-
main protected by the federal
Endangered Species Act.
In the vastly larger land-
scape of the western portion
of the state under federal ju-
risdiction, Nash said the agen-
cy is woefully understaffed.
“This is no discredit to
John (Stephenson, wolf biol-
ogist),” Nash said, “but he is
one guy.”
Nash said the cattlemen
believe the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife needs to increase its
staffing to better capture, col-
lar and monitor wolves and
complete its effort to delist
gray wolves through the Na-
tional Environmental Policy
Act.
A vote was taken to sue
the federal government at the
cattlemen’s November annu-
al meeting in Bend as well,
Nash said, but the members
were waiting to see if the
Washington Cattlemen were
interested in taking legal ac-
tion along with them. While
a contingency of Washington
Cattlemen members were in
attendance at the Oregon Cat-
tlemen’s Pendleton meeting
last week and participated in
lengthy discussions regarding
the intent to sue, Nash said
they are not yet on board.
“Washington is going to
take it back to their board and
discuss it, and California will
likely throw in with us,” Nash
said.
PORTLAND EXPO
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PENDLETON, Ore. —
The Oregon Cattlemen’s
Association announced this
week its intent to sue the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service for
its failure to complete an en-
vironmental study that would
remove gray wolves from the
endangered species list in the
lower 48 states.
Citing the agency’s lack
of decision-making follow-
ing the publication of its 2013
proposed rule in the Federal
Register to remove the gray
wolves from the Federal List
of Threatened and Endan-
gered Species, Jerome Rosa,
executive director of Oregon
Cattlemen, said the member-
ship voted to file a 60-day let-
ter of intent to sue U.S. Fish
and Wildlife during its Pend-
leton spring quarterly meeting
June 2.
Rosa said the association
will be represented by the Pa-
cific Legal Foundation of Sac-
ramento, Calif.
“One comment we’ve got-
ten through the years is that
the cattle industry often tends
to be playing defense,” Rosa
said. “Many of our members
feel by moving forward with
this we are being on the offen-
sive side of things instead of
trying to defend what we do.”
Todd Nash, the Cattle-
men’s wolf committee chair-
man, said the absence of a
completed analysis three
years after U.S. Fish and
Wildlife closed its public
comment period regarding its
pdxhempfestexpo.com
Pacific
Coast buys
Oregon
Cherry
Growers
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
SALEM — Pacific Coast
Producers, a grower cooper-
ative in Lodi, Calif., is buy-
ing the processing portion of
Oregon Cherry Growers in
Salem.
Pacific Coast Produc-
ers processes and packages
fruits and tomatoes for pri-
vate label retail and food
service sales. It plans to op-
erate OCG as a stand-alone
subsidiary that will continue
to use the OCG name and
operate OCG facilities in
Salem and The Dalles. The
deal is expected to close by
June 17.
OCG’s fresh cherry busi-
ness will continue indepen-
dent of the transaction as
Cascade Fruit Growers.
“We believe this acqui-
sition will be positive for
the future of Oregon Cherry
Growers, for our employ-
ees and our growers,” Tim
Ramsey, president and CEO
of Oregon Cherry Growers,
said in a news release.
Founded in 1932, OCG is
made up of almost 60 fam-
ily farms in the Willamette
Valley and Columbia River
Gorge. The cooperative is
the largest grower-proces-
sor of sweet cherries in the
world, including fresh, mar-
aschino, glace, frozen, IQF,
dried and canned cherries,
as well as a wide variety
of dried fruit, servicing the
food service, retail and in-
dustrial ingredient channels.
“We appreciate Oregon
Cherry Growers’ 85 years of
quality, service and innova-
tion and their experience in
supplying cherry ingredi-
ents to customers around the
world,” said Dan Vincent,
president and CEO of Pacif-
ic Coast Producers.
Values and strengths of
the two cooperatives align
well and the deal will allow
Pacific Coast Producers to
grow and further serve cus-
tomer needs, he said.
Pacific Coast Producers
represents growers of peach-
es, pears, grapes, apricots,
apples and plums. It is the
premier private brand sup-
plier of canned fruits and
tomatoes.
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