OREGON: WINE INDUSTRY PACKS A SURPRISING ECONOMIC PUNCH Page 11
Capital
Press
The West s
Weekly
FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2015
Attorney:
DOL
complicates
minimum
wage
compliance
VOLUME 88, NUMBER 5
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
AGRICULTURE’S BILLION-DOLLAR
CHALLENGE
Recent court
actions by
environmental
groups
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
A sampling of recent court
fi lings show environmen-
tal groups’ wide range of
interests.
• The Center for Biological
Diversity on Jan. 20 sued
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service in Colorado over listing
the Gunnison sage grouse
as “threatened” rather than
“endangered.” USFWS ex-
plained that states, tribes, local
communities and landowners
are taking measures to save
the grouse. The CBD accused
the federal agency of bowing to
“intense pressure from industry
groups and states.”
Environmental groups oppose
many aspects of farming, ranching, timber
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
T
he 10 largest environmental organizations
operating in the West collectively raise al-
most $1 billion each year to fund their ac-
tivities, including fi ling lawsuits targeting farmers,
ranchers, timber companies and the federal govern-
ment.
The lawsuits often attack farming and ranching
activities, but most focus on how the government
enforces the federal Endangered Species Act, a law
Congress passed in 1973 to protect some plants and
animals. They include salmon, sage grouse, wolves
and hundreds of other species either listed or under
consideration for protection.
Turn to DOL, Page 12
Environmental groups have pushed government
managers — often through lawsuits — to protect
the populations. In California alone, 321 species
are protected under the ESA, according to the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service. In Oregon, the number
is 62, in Washington it’s 57, and in Idaho 22 spe-
cies are listed. Those listings are accompanied by
reams of regulations to protect the species and their
habitats.
Though government agencies and agricultural
groups attempt to negotiate with the environmental-
ists, doing that is often diffi cult, industry representa-
tives say.
Turn to NO, Page 12
Illustration by Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
• The CBD and Earthjustice
sued a day after the USFWS
announced on Jan. 15 a plan
to manage Mexican gray
wolves in Arizona and New
Mexico. The agency antici-
pates a fourfold increase in
the wolves’ range, with a pop-
ulation of 300 to 325 wolves.
Environmental groups say the
plan is too restrictive.
• Earthjustice on Jan. 14
notifi ed USFWS it will sue to
stop the “incidental take” of 15
grizzly bears around Yellow-
stone National Park.
• CBD sued USFWS on Dec.
30 for not putting two wildfl ow-
ers in Utah and Colorado on
the endangered species list.
The group alleges voluntary
conservation measures should
be replaced with mandatory
Endangered Species Act
protections.
• CBD petitioned the Oklahoma
Department of Wildlife Con-
servation on Dec. 18 to put
the Texas horned lizard on the
state’s protected species list.
The center said a 15-year-old
boy contacted the center for
help after learning a shopping
center would be built in a fi eld
where he likes to catch lizards.
• CBD petitioned USFWS on
Dec. 18 to reintroduce grizzly
bears into the Selway-Bitteroot
Wilderness in Idaho and Mon-
tana. The group said putting
grizzlies there would be a key
part of establishing them over
110,000 square miles in seven
states.
• CBD notifi ed USFWS on Dec.
11 it will sue to protect the Tini-
an monarch, a small bird found
only on the 39-square-mile
Tinian Island in the Northern
Marianas. Missions to drop
atomic bombs on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki were launched
from there. CBD alleges U.S.
military training on the island
threatens Tinian monarchs.
“It’s really hard to hold hands and sing ‘Kumbaya’ and roast marshmallows
over the fi re when you’re in the middle of depositions.”
Dairy farmer Jay Gordon
director of governmental affairs for the Washington State Dairy Federation
Bird fl u found in commercial fl ock
Area in
detail
28
Moses
Wash. Lake
90
Potholes
Res.
26
Othello
26
24
lu
Co
260
b
m
By DON JENKINS
395
ve
Capital Press
Richland
e R
i
r
Quarantine
zone
Quarantine lifted in Benton,
Franklin counties in Wash.
k
Sn a
Pasco
124
Kennewick
12
N
221
82
h.
Was e.
Or
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Highly pathogenic bird fl u has struck
a commercial turkey fl ock in California’s
Central Valley, escalating the virus’ threat
to the U.S. poultry industry.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
posted a notice Jan. 24 reporting that
H5N8 bird fl u had been confi rmed in
Stanislaus County.
Foster Farms, which has several poul-
try farms in the county, said it detected
the virus during routine testing and alert-
ed the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service.
The virus was confi rmed in one turkey
house with 9,000 birds and is related to
avian infl uenza strains previously found
in migrating ducks in Washington, Ore-
gon, Idaho, California and Utah, accord-
ing to a report by the World Organization
for Animal Health.
Although tests were negative for avian
fl u in other turkey houses on the farm, the
other birds will be euthanized, according
to the USDA.
The USDA and California Depart-
ment of Food and Agriculture have quar-
antined the farm.
Bird fl u spread to 11 British Colum-
bia, Canada, commercial poultry farms in
the fi rst half of December, but until this
Turn to FLU, Page 12
5-5/#5
The U.S. Department of
Labor is changing its enforce-
ment of minimum wage laws
for farmworkers, potentially
creating a new headache for
growers, an agricultural attor-
ney says.
The shift will pertain to
workers who are paid on a
“piece rate” based on the
amount of crops they harvest,
said Tim Bernasek, an attor-
ney with Dunn Carney, at the
law fi rm’s recent annual Ag
Summit in Wilsonville, Ore.
Until now, farmers just
had to ensure that employees
were paid enough at the end
of the day to satisfy the min-
imum wage requirement, he
said.
For example, a worker
who harvests enough berries
in eight hours to earn $100
for the day is paid more than
the $74 necessary to meet
Oregon’s minimum wage re-
quirement of $9.25 per hour,
regardless of how much time
he actually spent picking
fruit.
Under DOL’s new ap-
proach, however, farmers will
need to account separately for
time that employees spend
on the job but do not per-
form piece rate duties, such
as when they’re waiting for
weather to clear or tools to
arrive, Bernasek said.
So, if a worker must wait
an hour for adequate weath-
er before picking berries for
seven hours, he would have
to be paid $9.25 for that fi rst
hour in addition to the piece
rate for the crops he harvested
— even if the total piece rate
amount exceeded the mini-
mum wage requirement for
the day.
Apart from potentially in-
creasing labor costs, the new
enforcement strategy could
complicate recordkeeping re-
quirements for farmers.
Growers will be expected
to pay the minimum wage for
tasks that are hard to moni-
tor, such as the time individ-
uals spend waiting in line to
register for work, Bernasek
said.