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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2017)
2A Wednesday, November 1, 2017 Appeal Tribune Not worried about the competition Trees Even as shortages affect the Pacific Northwest, competitors in North Carolina don’t keep Schaefer up at night. For starters, cross-country freight prices tend to keep the competition at bay. “I won’t say it’s prohibitive, but it pretty much prices their product out of the realm of reason for the consumer in most cases,” he said. Barr, the North Carolina wholesaler, agrees. With freight costs, “it’s getting pricey to go to Denver,” he said. There's also a rule of thumb among Christmas tree farmers: West Coast trees remain west of the Mississip- pi, and East Coast trees stay east of the river. Scattered exceptions crop up, such as when wholesalers compete for Lone Star State customers. “We kind of bash heads in Texas,” Schaefer said. Continued from Page 1A south to California. Rising prices Wholesale growers estimate they’re raising prices at least 10 percent year-over-year. Growers don’t ex- pect normal harvest levels for Christmas trees to re- turn until at least 2021 or 2025. Like Hupp Farms in Oregon, Barr Evergreens in North Carolina can fulfill wholesale orders for its exist- ing customers but has to turn away new ones, said own- er Rusty Barr. Barr expects to raise prices $2 to $3 for pre-cut Fra- ser fir trees at his retail outfit. That’s on top of the $60 to $80 they’ve sold for in the past, depending on size. North Carolina harvested an estimated 3.5 million trees in 2016, according to the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association. The state was followed by Michigan (3 million), Pennsylvania (2.3 million) and Washington (1.5 million). By contrast, Oregon cut down approximately 5.2 million trees. For Oregon growers, popular Noble firs are espe- cially lucrative — but they only grow so fast, often spending nine years in the ground to grow to 6 feet in the Pacific Northwest. “That’s the Cadillac of the industry," said Bob Schaefer, general manager of Noble Mountain Tree Farm. The Salem, Oregon, area wholesaler is massive, usually harvesting about half a million trees a year from the more than 4,000 acres the company grows on in the Willamette Valley. One of the factors driving the shortage was a practi- cally nonexistent crop of Noble fir cones for 15 years, with a good crop finally returning in 2016, Schaefer said. Without cones, there’re no seedlings and no trees. Limited supplies of the Noble fir seedlings led Noble Mountain to fill production holes with Douglas firs, as- suming customers would still want a Christmas tree of some sort. But some buyers aren't eager to branch out. Opioids Continued from Page 1A "He was your neighbor," she said. "He was my neigh- bor." He was prescribed Vicodin after getting into a car crash and became addicted to the painkiller. When his doctor cut him off, he began robbing pharmacies. "That was how I knew that we had an opioid problem in Marion County," she said. Story all too common Marion County Sheriff Jason Myers said 15 years ago, he would rarely see heroin in the community. "Now, I could tell you of pastors, of student-athletes, of next-door neighbors who ended up in the same place as this Grandpa Bandit," he said. Clarkson and Myers spoke before a crowd at the Sa- lem City Club Friday. The event, titled "America's Opi- ate Epidemic: Is it in Salem and what's being done about it?", proved to be timely. Only a day earlier, President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency. The epidemic claimed 64,000 American lives in 2016, hitting both rural and urban areas, killing the rich and the poor, Trump said. Fending off fake trees A helicopter piloted by Terry Harchenko with Industrial Aviation Services, Inc., drops off a bundle of Christmas trees during a harvest at Hupp Farms. MOLLY J. SMITH / STATESMAN JOURNAL “There’s a lot of pent-up demand for Noble fir that, you know, probably, to some extent, won’t be met this year,” Schaefer said. He expects Noble fir harvest levels to return to nor- mal in 2025 or 2026. California is Noble Mountain’s biggest customer, but the company sends trees elsewhere in the U.S., and even down to Mexico, where the market is hot for its abundance of Douglas firs. “This year, we’re shipping more to Mexico than we’ve ever shipped before,” Schaefer said. bulance crews in New Jersey struggling to keep up with overdose calls. "This is a cautionary tale for us," she said. The once rare heroin-related calls now have become more commonplace in Marion County. Clarkson said they are seeing more overdoses, more prescription medicine abuse and more reports of fenta- nyl-laced drugs. "We know it's coming," she said. "We know the pat- terns are there." It is up to leaders, law enforcement and the commu- nity to decide how to fight the epidemic, Clarkson add- ed. Spikes in violent crimes like homicide and robbery tend to follow spikes in drug addiction, as do increases in property crimes. Myers said addicts will often com- mit identity theft, burglaries and theft to fund their drug habits. "We know this could bring a criminal crisis," Clark- son said. In the past, the tough-on-crime "War on Drugs" ap- proach would often lead to jail time and felony convic- tions for those struggling with addictions. She said using the criminal justice system to treat a public health problem like addiction has proven to be expensive and ineffective. "What we've learned — and it's taken us a little bit of time in law enforcement — is that we can't arrest our way out of homelessness, we can't arrest our way out of mental illness and we can't arrest our way out of addic- tion," Myers said. Related spikes in crime Shortages and rising prices are fueling concerns among growers that customers will turn to artificial trees, whose shelf lives long outlast those of their natu- ral competitors. Oregon growers sold 4.7 million real trees in 2015, falling more than a quarter from sales five years earli- er, according to the United States Department of Agri- culture. Artificial trees accounted for nearly 81 million of Christmas trees displayed in the U.S. in 2016, while nearly 19 million were real, according to estimates from the nonprofit American Christmas Tree Associa- tion. With a dramatic shortage that's not expected to re- verse for another six or eight years — if not longer — Hupp, in Oregon, is worried customers will buy artifi- cial because they can't find the real thing. "Their families will get used to that being the norm," he said. Reach reporter Jonathan Bach by email at jbach@statesmanjournal.com or by phone at 503-399- 6714. Follow him on Twitter @JonathanMBach and Facebook at www.facebook.com/jonathanbachjournal- ist. people accountable. Sometimes, however, convicting people struggling with a public health issue like addiction can worsen the problem, Clarkson said. Convictions and incarceration can be a barrier to housing, employment and keeping families together. "As law enforcement officials, we really need to question ourselves and ask: Do we need to convict that person to solve the problem?" Clarkson said. Or, she asked, are there other resources, like hous- ing and treatment, that could be used to actually ad- dress the root of the problem. Instead of being a barrier, law enforcement can serve as a bridge to these resources, Myers said. They can catch people "upstream" and get them into treatment before they fall too deeply into addiction, as well as working with health services to help chronic, "downstream" addicts. This different approach will be costly, Clarkson said. Funding is sorely needed for transitional housing, Nal- oxone for overdoses, public education, treatment and a sobering center, which the greater Salem area does not have. But by keeping people out of jail, away from the cumbersome criminal justice system and involved in the community, the measures could ultimately be cost- saving, Clarkson said. "This is a community effort," Myers said. "It takes all us working together. At the end of the day... we probably all know somebody in our family that either suffers from a mental health condition or an ad- diction." A new approach For years, prosecutors and officers in Oregon heard horror stories from their East Coast colleagues, Clark- son said. They learned about cities in Pennsylvania re- porting 35 drug-related deaths in one week and of am- Invest in something that matters to you Tax-free municipal bond 3.037 TRACY LOEW STATESMAN JOURNAL Oregon officials are warning coast visitors to keep Callable on: 06/15/2027 @ $100.00 Final Maturity: 06/15/2035 Call or visit your local Edward Jones fi nancial advisor today. P.O. Box 13009 Salem, OR 97309 Address P.O. 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Yield and market value may fl uctuate if sold prior to maturity, and the amount you receive from the sale of these securities may be more than, less than or equal to the amount originally invested. Bond investments are subject to interest rate risk such that when interest rates rise, the prices of bonds can decrease, and the investor can lose principal value. Any bond called prior to maturity may result in reinvestment risk for the bond owner. OR-0000394417 Email sanews@salem.gannett.com Web site LOCAL ADVISORS Salem Area For questions, comments and news tips, email report- er Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodwort@statesman- journal.com, call 503-399-6884 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth Officials: Sea lion disease % outbreak could spread to dogs DESCHUTES CNTY ORE ADMINSTRATIVE SCH DIST NO 1 lets you invest close to home. That means you can watch civic progress and still enjoy the tax-free income from a quality bond. Yield to Call Public safety is the top priority for prosecutors and law enforcement. Criminal convictions are often the best option for keeping communities safe and holding www.SilvertonAppeal.com Staff President Ryan Kedzierski 503-399-6648 rkedzierski@gannett.com Advertising Terri McArthur 503-399-6630 tmcarthur@Salem.gannett.com Deadlines News: 4 p.m. Thursday Letters: 4 p.m. Thursday Obituaries: 11 a.m. Friday Display Advertising: 4 p.m. Wednesday Legals: 3 p.m. Wednesday Classifieds: 4 p.m. Friday News Tips The Appeal Tribune encourages suggestions for local stories. Email the newsroom, submit letters to the editor and send announcements to sanews@salem.gannett.com or call 503-399-6773. To Place an Ad Classifieds: call 503-399-6789 Retail: call 503-399-6728 Legal: call 503-399-6791 Missed Delivery? Call: 800-452-2511 Hours: until 7 p.m. Wednesdays; until 3 p.m. other weekdays To Subscribe Circulation Manager Art Hyson ahyson@salem.gannett.com 503-399-6846 To subscribe Call: 800-452-2511 $21 per year for home delivery $22 per year for motor delivery $30.10 per year mail delivery in Oregon $38.13 per year mail delivery outside Oregon Main Statesman Journal publication Suggested monthly rates: Monday-Sunday: $22, $20 with EZ Pay Monday-Saturday: $17.50, $16 with EZ Pay Wednesday-Sunday: $18, $16 with EZ Pay Monday-Friday: $17.50, $16 with EZ Pay Sunday and Wednesday: $14, $12 with EZ Pay Sunday only: $14, $12 with EZ Pay their dogs away from dead or stranded sea lions, which have been washing up in increasing numbers due to a leptospirosis outbreak. “Over the past few months, we have been getting calls for multiple sick or dead sea lions daily, which is higher than normal,” said Jim Rice, a researcher at Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute. At least eight cases of leptospirosis have been con- firmed through OSU’s Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory since the outbreak began in late September, mostly on beaches in Lincoln, Tillamook and Clatsop counties. The disease also has struck sea lions in California. Leptospirosis occurs worldwide, but outbreaks oc- cur only sporadically in marine mammals. The last Ore- gon outbreak was in 2010. The disease can spread through contact with urine or other bodily fluids of an infected animal. There is a small risk of transmission to people, but dogs are most at risk of coming into contact with body fluid from sick or dead sea lions. The bacteria can also sicken livestock and other wildlife. Leptospirosis can cause severe disease in dogs, State Veterinarian Emilio DeBess said. Symptoms in- clude kidney failure, fever, weakness and muscle pain. “If your dog becomes ill after being exposed to sick or dead sea lions, contact your veterinarian immediate- ly,” DeBess said. A vaccine for dogs also is available. Officials are asking people who observe sick sea li- ons or other marine mammals on the beach should to at least 50 feet away and report them to the Oregon State Police at 1-800-452-7888. tloew@statesmanjournal.com, 503-399-6779 or fol- low at Twitter.com/Tracy_Loew To report delivery problems or subscribe, call 800-452-2511 Published every Wednesday by the Statesman Journal, P.O. Box 13009, Salem, OR 97309. USPS 469-860, Postmaster: Send address changes to Appeal Tribune, P.O. Box 13009, Salem, OR 97309. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID: Salem, OR and additional offices. Send letters to the editor and news releases to sanews@salem.gannett.com. At least eight cases of leptospirosis in sea lions have been confirmed through OSU’s Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory since the outbreak’s start in late September. ANNA REED/STATESMAN JOURNAL