WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2020 ❚ SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
Many
initiatives
still have a
chance for
2020 ballot
Connor Radnovich
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Beehives in the yard of Mike Rodia, with the Oregon State Beekeepers Association, in Salem on Dec. 23.
PHOTOS BY ANNA REED / STATESMAN JOURNAL
Backyard beekeeping
receives major boost
Bill Poehler
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
For decades, beekeeping enthusiasts in Oregon cit-
ies have been hampered by farming regulations left
over from when the cities were forming.
Residents sought to keep hives in their backyards,
much as David Lindquester did in his unincorporated
East Salem home, until a couple years ago when a
Marion County code enforcement employee dropped
by his house and said he had to get rid of his five hives.
The Oregon Legislature addressed the issue in 2015
by passing House Bill 2653, which gave local govern-
ments the option to allow beekeeping in residential
areas.
Marion County passed its local ordinance Dec. 18 to
allow a limited number of hives in backyards in resi-
dential areas, following the lead of Salem, which
passed a more generous ordinance in June.
“Certainly there is some point where your whole
backyard is bee hives,” Marion County Commissioner
Sam Brentano said. “That’s probably a problem, and if
you’re that close to your neighbors, that’s probably a
problem.
“We’ll try to be reasonable and see if it works. We’ll
adjust if it doesn’t.”
The problem is the bees aren’t told how many
square feet a property is.
“It doesn’t make any difference what the limits
are,” said Mike Rodia of the Oregon State Beekeepers.
“You can have 10 hives or 15 hives and have no prob-
lem, and have one hive in a backyard and have a prob-
lem. Lot sizes don’t make any difference whatsoever.
“Bees fly a mile and a half to two miles from wher-
ever they’re at. They go to wherever the pollen is at-
tractive.”
Bee die-offs lead to cities adopting standards
There were mass die-offs of bees in Oregon in 2014,
later called colony collapse disorder, where entire
hives were wiped out.
Many reasons were given for the phenomenon, in-
cluding the use of pesticides, starvation, poor nutri-
tion and deadly parasites.
And it wasn’t limited to Oregon.
In a 2015 national survey, beekeepers reported los-
ing 42.1 percent of their colonies in the prior 12
months, and it impacted bee colonies worldwide.
See INITIATIVES, Page 3A
Bees swarm in a hive in the yard of Mike Rodia.
Bees serve more purposes than just producing
honey.
Each year in Oregon, bees are estimated to provide
$600 million in agricultural value with the food they
help produce. Pollination services are estimated to be
worth $10 billion to $15 billion each year in the United
States.
About the same time, Raine Ritalto moved from her
Portland home east and took her hives with her. But
officials from Gresham ordered her to remove her
bees, and State Rep. Chris Gorsek took up her cause.
There had been attempts to keep colonies on resi-
dential lots in Oregon for decades, but there were no
uniform beekeeping codes in cities and counties.
Oregon’s legislature took up the issue of allowing
residential beekeeping in 2015, but opted to recom-
mend guidelines and allowed local governments to
decide if they wanted to adopt them, instead of man-
dating a change.
“The timing happened to be perfect,” Rodia said.
“Because everyone was focused on that at the time,
the bills of the pollinators all survived.”
See BEES, Page 3A
Ranchers fined for burning dead animals
Tracy Loew
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
A Lebanon ranching couple has been fined $17,869
for creating an illegal burn pile that included at least
40 dead animals.
On May 13, 2019, the Lebanon Fire Department re-
sponded to a large, unattended burn at 32704 Agan
Road, on property owned by Mark and Bethany Wahl.
The pile — 30 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 6 feet high
— contained at least 35 dead cattle and five dead
sheep, the Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality said in its penalty order, made public last
Petitioners have submitted more than 60 prospec-
tive initiatives to the Oregon Secretary of State’s Of-
fice this election cycle, and many still have a chance
to appear before voters on the November 2020 ballot.
Of the 62 initiatives, four have been approved to
gather signatures, 16 were officially withdrawn by
their petitioners and seven were rejected by Secre-
tary of State Bev Clarno.
The remainder are in various stages of the proc-
ess, including on appeal to the state Supreme Court
or still needing the initial 1,000 sponsorship signa-
tures.
Currently, three initiatives that were approved to
gather signatures are moving forward. The fourth —
an initiative to allow campaign finance regulation
through a constitutional amendment — will not be-
cause a legislative referral seeking that same goal is
already going to be on the ballot.
“The referral, we didn’t write it word for word, but
it’s certainly satisfactory. More than satisfactory, it’s
good for the state,” said Ron Buel, chief petitioner of
IP 1 and activist with Honest Elections. “We’re pretty
confident that the voters will pass this referral.”
The three others would:
❚ Decriminalize the possession of most drugs and
expand addiction treatment services;
❚ Create a program to administer psilocybin in the
treatment of mental health issues;
❚ Require that certain new transportation fees or
tolls be approved by voters.
Additional petitions could still be introduced,
though the longer petitioners wait to begin the proc-
ess, the less time they have to gather the necessary
signatures.
To qualify for the ballot, an initiative’s petitioners
must submit signatures to the Secretary of State’s
Office by July 2, 2020. Initiatives attempting a statu-
tory change must gather 112,020 valid signatures,
while those seeking a constitutional change must
gather 149,360.
The Secretary of State’s Office will verify signa-
tures by Aug. 1.
week.
The pile also contained decomposable garbage,
plastics, asphaltic materials, furniture and petroleum
products.
Open burning of all those materials is prohibited at
all times everywhere in the state, DEQ said.
“Toxic chemical burning can result from such
burning, and each illegal burn contributes to the cum-
ulative amount of pollution in the atmosphere,” DEQ
wrote.
Reached by phone, Mark Wahl said the couple is
appealing the fine. He declined to comment further.
Traeger Grills
settles lawsuit
with founder
Bill Poehler
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
The world’s largest wood pellet grill manufacturer
has settled a lawsuit against its company founder over
the use of his name and imagery in advertising for a
rival barbecue company.
Traeger Pellet Grills reached a settlement of a Flori-
da lawsuit Dec. 6 against company founder Joe Traeg-
er and sons Brian and Mark Traeger, who live in and
near Mt. Angel, and aspects of a similar Arizona law-
suit against rival pellet grills manufacturer Dansons,
for which Joe and Brian Traeger have worked.
Under terms of the agreement, the Traeger family
members and rival Dansons won’t use their names or
likenesses, and the Traeger Barn in Mt. Angel in ad-
vertising and the family members will not make public
appearances that communicate endorsements of
Dansons and its brands.
Financial terms of the settlements were not dis-
closed.
“As we said from the beginning, we respect the right
of the Traeger family to earn a living, so long as they do
not violate their contracts with us,” Traeger Grills CEO
Jeremy Andrus said in a statement.
“The settlement agreement reached today provides
strong protections against the future misuse of the
See TRAEGER, Page 3A
See RANCHERS, Page 4A
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