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January 9, 2015 CapitalPress.com 11 Washington Senator introduces bill to Group uses billboards to take stand on wolves tax beekeepers as farmers By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Legislation would extend exemptions for apiarists A Spokane-based group has mounted a billboard ad- vertising campaign to in- crease awareness of the impact wolves have on Wash- ington state. Washington Residents Against Wolves began the campaign using eight bill- boards in November and December. The billboards in- clude such messages as “En- dangered? No. Deadly? Yes. Good for Washington? Abso- lutely not” and “The wolf — Who’s next on their menu?” It shows pictures of a deer, an elk, a calf, a dog and a young girl. The billboards were in- tended to stir interest and ed- ucate residents about the im- pacts of wolves on the state, a spokesman for the group said. “We’ve received many good inquiries and inputs on the billboards, although we’ve also had death threats as well from people who mostly don’t even reside within our state,” said David Burdge, a spokes- man and member of the group. The group has 20 members and is not affi liated with any other organization. Its mem- bers are concerned about the health and safety of Wash- ington wildlife and residents, Burdge said. “We would like to see a new wolf management plan drawn up that manages our wildlife equally,” he said. WARAW believes the Wash- ington Department of Fish and Wildlife is not following its wolf management plan and using lethal control when the plan calls for it. “(The state needs) to be concerned about Washington residents and not special in- terest groups that keep threat- ening to sue them,” Burdge said. “Most of those people don’t reside here, they don’t have to live with the wolf. We do.” He said the group realizes By DON JENKINS Capital Press OLYMPIA, Wash. — A Washington state senator has again proposed defining commercial beekeepers as “farmers,” a title that comes with tax breaks. Senate Bill 5017, filed by Sunnyside Republican Jim Honeyford, would direct the state Department of Revenue to tax apiarists as farmers and ranchers and bee prod- ucts as crops and livestock. The bill would make per- manent tax relief lawmakers gave beekeepers in 2008 to soothe losses from colonies collapsing. The tax exemp- tions are due to expire in 2017. Honeyford said consider- ing the importance of bee- keepers to agriculture, they shouldn’t have to periodi- cally lobby to renew the tax breaks. “Agriculture couldn’t go on without them, especially the tree fruit industry,” he said. Making the tax exemp- tions permanent would en- shrine tax savings of roughly $100,000 a year for about 100 beekeepers, according to DOR estimates. Being designated a farm- er by the state would also mean something, said Mark Emrich, president of the Washington State Beekeep- ers Association. “It’s finally being recog- nized. We’re a piece of agri- culture. We’re not a service organization. Seriously, I think it’s huge for beekeep- ers,” he said. A similar bill, also intro- duced by Honeyford, passed the Senate last year, but Don Jenkins/Capital Press A Washington state senator has introduced a bill to take some of the sting out of taxes paid by beekeepers. stalled in the House Finance Committee. The 2015 Legis- lature convenes Jan. 12. Honeyford’s bill would make beekeepers eligible for lower taxes on the mon- ey they collect for their ser- vices, such as pollination, or goods, such as honey and beeswax. Beekeepers would save the most, some $84,000 a year in state and local taxes, by being exempt from sales taxes on the sugar-syrup api- arists must sometimes feed bees, according to DOR. The agency estimated in 2013 that beekeepers spend $945,000 a year on feed. DOR estimated beekeep- ers also would save $7,000 a year on earnings from polli- nating services. Pollinators from anoth- er state are supposed to pay the tax for work they do in Washington, but DOR says it doesn’t have a way to check who came into the state to pollinate crops, so the tax goes uncollected. Washing- ton beekeepers say this puts them at a disadvantage to out-of-state competitors. Matthew Weaver/Capital Press Traffi c on Nevada Street in Spokane passes a Washington Residents Against Wolves billboard on Dec. 26. The grassroots group is critical of how the state Department of Fish and Wildlife manages the growing wolf population. wolves are here to stay. “We are not for eradicat- ing the entire population. We would like to have the de- partment look at their wolf management plan and cut the numbers down to something much more realistic.” WARAW would prefer fi ve or six breeding pairs across the state. There are cur- rently 11 packs in northeast Washington. “We’re trying to give people who may be on the fence or just don’t know a truly factual base from which they can educate themselves,” he said. Mitch Friedman, exec- utive director of Conserva- tion Northwest, an organi- zation that supports wolves, said WARAW is not trying Online http: //waraw.org/ to demonstrate that they are thoughtful people. “I respect groups that try to advance calm, fact-based, common-interest discus- sions, not so much those who try to infl ame entrenched positions,” Friedman said. “When I look at those bill- boards and other information WARAW posts on social me- dia, it strikes me that they’re just ideologues trying to fan fl ames, and I don’t think that’s good for farmers, wolves or democracy.” Conservation Northwest doesn’t plan to respond to the billboards. “We don’t feel like waving our arms in response to their arm-waving,” Fried- man said. Jack Field, executive vice president of the Washington Cattlemen’s Association, says WARAW’s efforts demon- strate the impact of wolf re- covery efforts. His association is not affi liated with WARAW. “It shows there’s a broad crosscut of folks that have opinions on it,” Field said. “I think these billboards help to explain some of the concerns folks have. In the northeast corner of Washington, the overall pack density looks disproportionate compared to the rest of the state. This just helps elevate the discus- sion.” Farm groups join opposition By DON JENKINS Source: Washington State Department of Ecology Alan Kenaga/Capital Press Wash. 28 28 8 Moses 90 90 GRANT ADAMS 395 26 9 2 26 5 Connell l 240 241 BENTON FRANKLIN er 24 b i u m Agrium Kennewick Fertilizer Operation 2. McCain Foods, Othello 3. Tyson Fresh Meats, Wallula 4. Basic American Foods, Moses Lake 5-7. ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston, Connell, Pasco and Richland 8, 9. JR Simplot, Moses Lake and Othello 17 395 R 7 Richland iv 1. Area in detail 2 Co Sn Pasco 6 Kennewick 1 N 221 82 15 miles and effi ciencies would be a better way. Besides the state Farm Bureau, the Northwest Food Processors Association, Washington Association of Wallula h. Was e. Or 12 Wheat Growers, Washington Food Industry Association and Washington Potato and Onion Association joined the collaborative. 11 th Annual Cattleman’s Workshop “Achieving Sustainable Beef Cow/Calf Production” Saturday, January 24 th , 2015 Blue Mountain Conference Center 404 12 th Street • La Grande, OR FREE! No Pre-Registration Required. Lunch Included! 9:00-9:15 Workshop Introductions & Overview 9:15 -10:15 The March Towards Continuous Improvement Cameron Bruett; Chief Sustainability Officer, JBS, Windsor, CO 10:15-10:45 Break (provided by sponsors) 10:45-11:45 Beef Industry Sustainability Kim Stackhouse-Lawson; Director of Sustainability Research, NCBA 11:45-1:00 Lunch (provided by sponsors) Outlook for Agriculture and Rural Interests 1:00-2:00 in Washington, DC Todd Van Hoose; Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, Co-Bank, Washington, DC 2:00-3:00 Weather and Climate, Past, Present & Future... in Oregon and Beyond George Taylor; President, Applied Climate Services, Corvallis, OR 3:00-3:15 Break (provided by sponsors) 3:15-4:15 Value Based Marketing for Feeder Cattle Tom Brink; Founder/Owner, Brink Consulting/ Trading, Brighton, CO Note: for more information, please contact Kim McKague or Tim DelCurto at (541) 562-5129 http://oregonstate.edu/dept/eoarcunion 2-7/#6 An organization formed to oppose Washington Gov. Jay In- slee’s carbon-cutting proposal in- cludes several agriculture groups. The governor’s cap-and-trade plan would apply to at least 130 plants, including one fertilizer manufacturer and eight food processors, according to the state Department of Ecology. The companies, which re- lease at least 25,000 metric tons of carbon in a year, would bid for “allowances” to emit carbon. The bidding would start at $12.60 per metric ton, a fl oor price based on California’s experience with cap- and-trade, according to DOE. “It’s another tax on ag,” Washington Farm Bureau di- rector of governmental relations Tom Davis said. “There’s noth- ing we can do about what China is sending our way, so why would we cripple our industries?” Factories in China produce large amounts of greenhouse gases, which are seen as contrib- uting to climate change. Legislators, motivated by concern about climate change, in 2008 mandated carbon reduc- tions, but they have never passed a plan to achieve those cuts. In- slee says pricing carbon would get the state on track and, in the process, raise $1 billion a year for government programs. DOE special assistant to the director Hedia Adelsman said the proposal is modeled after other cap-and-trade markets, such as California’s. “We are not pio- neers. We are not the fi rst,” she said. In response, 19 business and labor groups formed the Wash- ington Climate Collaborative, which criticizes Inslee’s ap- proach to reducing carbon emis- sions. On its website, the group says it’s “disappointing that the gov- ernor wants to step in and create a complicated government-run fi nancial program to regulate carbon emissions by coercing Washingtonians, not collaborat- ing with them.” The group states that pri- vate and public investments in energy-saving technologies Ag businesses impacted by Washington cap- and-trade plan ak e Capital Press 2-7/#6