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8 CapitalPress.com March 6, 2015 Oregon Juniper funding garners bipartisan support Bills would devote more than $1M toward juniper wood products By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press SALEM — Legislation that would direct more than $1 million toward strengthening Oregon’s juniper wood prod- ucts industry has garnered bipartisan support from law- makers. A bevy of Republican and Democrat legislators recent- ly testified in favor of three House bills — HB 2808, HB 2997 and HB 2998 — that would assist companies that harvest and process juniper, a Courtesy of In the Sticks sawmill Juniper logs are stacked for cutting outside a mill in Fossil, Ore. A better market for juniper might help sage grouse and cattle ranchers. tree that’s native to the West but has overrun arid land- scapes to the detriment of oth- er species. Removing a high-density juniper stand can cost sever- al hundred dollars per acre, which poses a staggering fi- nancial challenge in light of the roughly 10 million acres occupied by the trees in Or- egon, said Tim Deboodt, a Crook County extension agent with Oregon State University. The tremendous expansion of juniper is related to wildfire suppression and other effects of European settlement in the West, Deboodt said during a Feb. 26 hearing before the House Committee on Agricul- ture and Natural Resources. Juniper acreage has grown by tenfold since the 1930s in Oregon and continues to in- crease faster than it’s being cut, he said. “We’re still losing Extension ballot measure gains support By MITCH LIES For the Capital Press Bob Zielinski, a farmer in Marion County, Ore., has been relying more and more on private consultants to help with crop management deci- sions on his diverse farm in the years since he lost access to field and vegetable crops extension agents. And Zielinski is getting tired of it. “Oregon State University doesn’t see (extension) as a big need, so if they get short on funds, they dump us,” Ziel- inski said. “And we’re tired of being dumped. “We’re tired of them de- ciding what the priorities and the needs are for the commu- nities, and we’re trying to take the control of this entity out of their hands,” he said. Zielinski is one of a hand- ful of sponsors of a ballot measure that Marion County voters will consider in May that would form a tax service Mitch Lies/For the Capital Press Bob Zielinski, pictured in his hazelnut orchard just north of Salem, is among a handful of sponsors of a ballot measure to create an extension service district for Marion County. Vot- ers will consider the measure in May. district to support the county extension service. Backers have formed a political action committee, developed a website and are seeking campaign donations and volunteers. The Citizens for Marion County Extension Political Action Committee has a goal of raising $50,000, according to Chuck Adams of New Me- dia NW, which is helping run the campaign. Backers are seeking a tax rate of 5 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, or $10 a year for a $200,000 home. If passed, the tax is expected to generate around $900,000 annually for the county extension service. The Marion County Board of Commissioners voted last year to advance the measure, relieving backers of gathering signatures to place it on the May 19 ballot. If approved, the tax rev- enue would free up some $350,000 in funding the coun- ty annually provides to the ex- tension service. Zielinski said he chose to back the measure not just because of his needs, but be- cause a robust county exten- sion service provides multiple services that benefit a com- munity. “There are a lot of things extension does for the home- maker, the person that is try- ing to can, for youth devel- opment through 4-H, the list goes on and on,” Zielinski said. Mark Dickman, who farms near Mount Angel, said he, too, questions OSU’s com- mitment to extension and has decided to back the measure. “I think OSU has been less than committed to keeping this extension system work- ing for us here,” he said. “We went from three field crops agents (in the Willamette Val- ley) to two, and we’ve had staffing issues even with just two positions, and that is dis- appointing to me. “It takes so long to fill a vacant position, and it takes so long to get a position re- stored,” Dickman said. the battle in the expansion.” The prevalence of juni- per is problematic because it crowds out sage brush and other plants are necessary for sensitive species such as the sage grouse, a candidate for Endangered Species Act pro- tection. The trees also have a major thirst for water in a re- gion where it’s often lacking. The gnarled trees are common in economically de- pressed areas in Eastern Or- egon, which has spurred the idea of turning their wood into a marketable commodity. However, juniper grows in inaccessible areas that compli- cate economical logging. Its twisted wood and multitude of limbs also render it difficult to cut. The three bills aim to help Oregon companies overcome these hurdles: • HB 2998 would create a Western Juniper Industry Fund to provide juniper har- vesters and manufacturers with $900,000 in business de- velopment loans and grants, technical assistance, worker training and mapping services during the 2015-2017 bienni- um. The bill would also desig- nate juniper cutting as a farm activity and exempt such har- vest from regulations under the Oregon Forest Practices Act. • HB 2997 would provide Portland State University and community organizations with $250,000 to help juniper companies with “technical business assistance, market development and supply chain coordination.” Wine industry honors five at annual awards dinner By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Two pioneering Oregon wine couples and a veter- an vineyard manager won awards at the Oregon Wine Board’s annual dinner in February in Portland. Jim and Loie Maresh earned the Founders Award. They founded Maresh Red Hills Vineyard in the Willa- mette Valley’s Dundee Hills area in 1970, and it is the state’s fifth oldest vineyard. Wine made from the fruit of their vineyard earned early acclaim for Oregon’s signa- ture wine, Pinot noir. Earl and Hilda Jones, owners of Abacela Winery in Roseburg, in Southern Oregon, won the Lifetime Achievement Award. They were the first to make Tem- pranillo wine in the Pacific Northwest, planting grapes in 1995 and pursuing their passion for the Spanish-style wine for 20 years. A news release from the Oregon Wine Board credits them with altering the course of Oregon wine history and adding to the state’s “arse- nal of acclaimed wines.” Chad Vargas, vineyard manager of Adelsheim Vine- yard in the Willamette Val- ley, won the Outstanding Industry Service Award. He is described as active in the industry’s relations with fed- eral and state representatives and is chair of Low Input Viticulture and Enology, or LIVE, an organization that pushes industry sustainabil- ity. He also served on the technical committee for Ore- gon State University’s Wine Research Institute. The awards dinner was held Feb. 24 in conjunc- tion with the annual Oregon Wine Symposium in Port- land. 10-2/#4N
