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4 CapitalPress.com February 20, 2015 Bird flu strikes second Calif. poultry farm By DON JENKINS Capital Press A second California com- mercial poultry farm has been stricken with highly patho- genic bird flu. It’s the farthest south the virus has surfaced yet. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the Eurasian H5N8 virus in a 114,000-bird chicken farm in Kings County in the San Joa- quin Valley. The agency add- ed the farm Feb. 13 to a list of bird flu outbreaks in U.S. commercial and non-com- mercial flocks since mid-De- cember. No further information, in- cluding the name of the farm, was available Monday from the USDA. The USDA reported to the World Organization for Animal Health that the out- break began Feb. 2 with an increased mortality among chickens. The virus was confirmed Feb. 12, and the premises were quarantined. The flock included ducks, according to a report posted by the Organi- zation for Animal Health. Canadian authorities react- ed Feb. 13 by banning poultry raised, processed or shipped from California. Hong Kong banned poultry from Kings County. China and South Ko- rea have enacted bans on U.S. poultry in response to previ- ous cases. Bird flu has infected wild birds, non-commercial flocks and a game bird farm in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, California and Nevada since mid-December. The only previous com- mercial poultry flock infected in the U.S. was a 145,000-tur- key Foster Farms operation in Stanislaus County. The virus was confirmed there Jan. 23. Stanislaus County’s coun- ty seat, Modesto, is 126 miles north of Hanford, the county seat of Kings County. Highly pathogenic Eur- asian bird flu was first con- firmed in North America Dec. 1 at a British Columbia, Can- ada, commercial poultry farm. The virus spread to 10 other B.C. commercial chicken and turkey operations by Dec. 17. The virus appeared in the United States in a north- ern pintail duck found dead at Wiser Lake in Whatcom County in northwest Wash- ington. Another disease killed the migrating duck. Migratory waterfowl carry the virus, but are immune to its ill effects. The virus is le- thal to poultry and a variety of native birds. The USDA recently added a great horned owl and bald eagle to the list of wild birds infected by avian flu. Both birds were in Canyon County, Idaho. Carlton Complex bill gaining support in Olympia Legislation allows swifter action as wildfires spread By DON JENKINS Capital Press OLYMPIA — Legislation rising from the ashes of the state’s largest wildland fire ever has been tamped down enough to win more political support. House Bill 2093 combines a handful of policies original- ly proposed in several bills in- troduced by northeast Wash- ington Reps. Joel Kretz and Shelly Short. The policies include au- thorizing landowners to go onto public and private lands without permission to nip a wildand fire. “You can go and fight the fire. That’s the key,” House Agriculture and Natural Re- sources Committee Chairman Brian Blake said. HB 2093 also would re- quire Public Lands Com- missioner Peter Goldmark to appoint a liaison to represent landowners during a wildland fire. The liaison also would Dan Wheat/Capital Press Old Highway 97, just north of Malott, Wash., still shows, Oct. 16, that it was a fire break on the eastern edge of the Carlton Complex Fire last summer. Hills in the background were burned. oversee a new advisory com- mittee, on which counties, fire agencies, environmental groups, and timberland and rangeland owners would be represented. The bill does not include an earlier proposal to divert taxes from the state Depart- ment of Natural Resources to fund county-level wildland firefighting divisions. The bill also does not in- clude a proposal to let coun- ties assume command if DNR can’t marshal the resources for a speedy response. Also, landowners would be limited in how they could fight fires on somebody else’s land without permission. Backfires, for example, would be prohibited. At a hearing Tuesday, Kretz, R-Wauconda, said he was satisfied with HB 2093. “I think we’ve got a pret- ty good product. I think we’ll enter the next fire season with more tools,” he said. Okanogan County resi- dents told the committee ear- lier this month that landown- ers missed an opportunity to contain the Carlton Complex fires as they waited in vain for permission from DNR to go onto state lands. The lightning-sparked blazes eventually burned 256,108 acres in north-cen- tral Washington between July 14 and Aug. 25, de- stroying 300 homes and kill- ing 1,000 cattle. One man died of a heart attack defend- ing his home. The DNR and the Wash- ington Public Employees As- sociation, which represents DNR firefighters, dropped their opposition to earlier bills and have indicated support for HB 2093. Blake, an Aberdeen Dem- ocrat, said he’s confident the bill will pass the House. The legislation likely will be amended before it leaves Blake’s committee. As it stands, the bill, which was worked on by DNR, would bar someone from falling tim- ber or bulldozing a fire line without permission. Land- owners would be limited to using hand tools and hoses, opening gates and moving burning vegetation away from buildings. That’s too restrictive, Blake said. “When we spotted the language, we said, ‘Wait a minute.’” Courtesy of Alice Welch, USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service inspectors examine chickens at the Holmes poultry slaughterhouse in Nixon, Texas, in this file photo. Poultry inspection ruling appealed Plaintiffs oppose new inspection system By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press A consumer advocacy group will appeal a federal judge’s decision to throw out its lawsuit against USDA’s new poultry slaughter inspec- tion system. U.S. District Judge Ketan- ji Brown Jackson in Wash- ington, D.C., recently found that Food & Water Watch did not demonstrate its members would be harmed by the reg- ulatory change. Last year, USDA enacted new rules that reduced the number of inspectors moni- toring poultry carcasses for adulteration, instead allowing slaughterhouse employees to perform those duties. The agency said the tra- ditional focus on visually detectable diseases during post-processing inspection was outdated and it made more sense to devote person- nel to preventing microbial contamination of poultry. Food & Water Watch sought a preliminary injunc- tion blocking implementation of the rules, arguing the new system violates the Poul- try Products Inspection Act, which governs processing and labeling. The judge recently reject- ed that request and dismissed the lawsuit because Food & Water Watch and individual members who opposed the rule change lacked the legal standing to challenge it in fed- eral court. To proceed with their law- suit, the plaintiffs would have to suffer an injury from the agency’s action, but Food & Water Watch failed to show the rules will significantly in- crease the risk of disease for its members, Jackson said. As evidence of the new system’s hazards, the group provided statements by cur- rent and former meat inspec- tors who claimed the rules will allow more adulterated meat to enter commerce. However, Jackson said these assertions are “unsup- ported and overblown” be- cause they’re based on an- ecdotes that USDA rebutted with data from pilot projects. The judge also discounted the group’s arguments that processing plants involved in the pilot projects had higher rates of pathogens — salmo- nella and campylobacter — in some years and scenarios. “This narrow focus on certain agency findings is an exceedingly myopic view” of the USDA’s data and over- looks the “larger and far more significant conclusion” that the agency expects an “over- all reduction in foodborne illness under the new poultry inspection system,” she said. Jackson also rejected Food & Water Watch’s legal stand- ing on the basis that plaintiffs were misinformed by the US- DA’s “inspection legend” on carcasses that were not actual- ly approved by federal inspec- tors, among other arguments. Food & Water Watch al- leges USDA’s new inspection scheme allows the poultry industry to police itself and the group has filed a notice of intent to challenge the recent ruling before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Cir- cuit. Two-day Blueberry School to help growers By MITCH LIES For the Capital Press In 2003, after participating in a day-long blueberry confer- ence where presenters reported on research results, Oregon State University Extension Berry Crops Specialist Ber- nadine Strik and other small fruits researchers couldn’t shake the feeling that some- thing was missing. “Considering that blueber- ry acreage doubled from 1990 to 2004, we felt there was a big need for a school that would address everything from site selection to markets, cultivars and how to develop and main- tain good plantings,” Strik said. Behind Strik’s leadership, a year later, the researchers LEGAL Request for Proposals Fiscal Year 8-2/#6 July 1, 2015 - June 30, 2016 The Oregon Beef Council is soliciting proposals for projects in the following areas: 1) Positive Producer Image 2) Studying Legislation 3) Education related to beef 4) Generic promotion of beef Any individual or organi- zation may propose projects in any of the categories listed above. Projects must meet the Beef Council’s mission of enhanc- ing the beef industry’s image of profitability of Oregon’s beef industry. Approved pro- jects must comply with the Beef Promotion and Research Act and O.R.S. 577 To present a proposal you must complete and submit an Authorization Request Form by March 20, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. Download an Authorization Request Form from orbeef.org or by contacting the Oregon Beef Council office (503) 274- 2333 or via e-mail at julie@orbeef.org. legal-8-2-2/#4 Courtesy of Oregon State University launched the first OSU Blue- berry School. “It was a great success,” Strik said. Three years lat- er, after Oregon acreage in- creased another 43 percent, the researchers put on a second blueberry school. It, too, went over well, Strik said, and now, with harvested acreage up 83 percent since 2007, the researchers are back with a third school, scheduled for March 16 and 17 on the OSU campus. Strik described the school’s main emphasis as an attempt “to help growers produce high-quality fruit with high yields while minimizing input costs as much as possible, and to help ensure that those who are getting in the business make the correct decisions.” The school has morphed LEGAL CHERRY AVENUE STORAGE 2680 Cherry Ave. NE Salem, OR 97301 (503) 399-7454 Mon. March 2, 2015 • 10 a.m. • Unit 25 Brandy Logan • Unit 99 Christopher Stewart • Unit 185 Bob Gonzales • Unit 196 Christopher Stanley and Meesha • Unit 218 Brian and Emmy Isle Hudnall Cherry Avenue Storage reserves the right to refuse any and all bids over the years to keep up with changes in the industry. This year, for example, instead of one presentation on organic blueberry production, infor- mation on organic production methods will be interspersed throughout the presentations. Strik made the change both because acres in organ- ic blueberry production have increased substantially since 2007, and because convention- al growers often utilize organic production methods. The school also will pro- vide new information on use of organic amendments, Strik said, and new information on nutrient management in organ- ic and conventional production systems, a presentation that will include information on leaf-tissue standards for vari- ous cultivars. Also, she said, blueberry industry consultants will pro- vide market information. And new this year, the school will include a section on blueberry plant physiology. “This has gone over well in test runs,” Strik said. “It helps growers understand the why and not just the how.” Strik described the work- load involved in putting on the school as “tremendous. Not just from me,” she said, “but from all the speakers in- volved.” LEGAL legal-7-2-5/#4 Virus surfaces farther south than before PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87 Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be sold, for cash to the highest bidder, on 2/23/2015. The sale will be held at 10:00 am by AUTO TRANSPORT LLC 3760 MARKET ST NE #488 SALEM, OR 2014 Subaru Crosstrek VIN = JF2GPAKC9E8245154 Amount due on lien $2,125.00 Reputed owner(s) ALLSTATE INSURANCE CO Grand Auto Legal-7-2-5/#4