 March 20, 2015 CapitalPress.com 11 Washington Organic bulletin board helps buyers, sellers By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Organic grain and hay buyers and sellers now have a place to find each other on- line. Washington State Univer- sity Extension has launched a searchable bulletin board that allows farmers and oth- ers to post either the organic grain and hay they have for sale or what they want to buy. Diana Roberts, region- al extension specialist for WSU in Spokane, said de- mand for organic grain has outpaced supply as consum- ers have increased over the last decade. The bulletin board is “an opportunity for growers in- terested in organic produc- tion to explore that,” she said. Worley, Idaho, farm- er Ted Lacy raises organic peas for nitrogen and spring wheat, barley and oats on 80 acres. He has listed his crops on the bulletin board. “What we raise, people have a need for,” he said. “Certain people have certain needs, and it’s hard to figure out what to grow, because everyone’s got different needs.” The Pacific Northwest has a tiny share of the organ- ic grain market. According to WSU Extension, in 2011, Washington had about 6,500 acres of certified organic wheat, Idaho had 10,000 acres and Oregon less than 5,000. Montana grew 66,000 acres of organic grain. Online http: //smallgrains.wsu.edu/ organic-grain-sales-bulle- tin-board/ Senate deadline cages cougar bill Ranchers say losses are mounting By DON JENKINS Capital Press OLYMPIA, Wash. — Op- timism turned into disappoint- ment for Central Washington ranchers who asked lawmak- ers to loosen the ban on using dogs to pursue cougars. A measure that would have exempted six counties from statewide restrictions on hound hunting died Wednes- day in the Senate. “I’m disappointed more than I can say,” Klickitat County rancher Keith Kreps said. “I really thought that this year we had a chance.” Kreps and other ranch- ers testified in February that they’re suffering heavy and increasing losses to cougars. Don Jenkins/Capital Press Klickitat County, Wash., rancher Keith Kreps shows photos of calves wounded by cougars after he spoke Feb. 18 to the Senate Natural Resources and Parks Committee. They said dogs are the most effective way to make cougars wary about stalking livestock. Senate Bill 5940 would have allowed county com- missioners in Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Chelan, Okano- gan and Klickitat counties to work with state wildlife man- agers to pursue or kill trouble- some cougars with the aid of dogs. The bill passed the Senate Natural Resources and Parks Committee in a bipartisan vote, but wasn’t brought up for a vote by the full Senate. The deadline for bills to pass the chamber they were intro- duced in was Wednesday. The committee’s chair- man, Monroe Republican Kirk Pearson, said the bill, sponsored by Sen. Brian Dan- sel, R-Republic, fell victim to the crush of legislation as 49 senators divvied up floor time. Two wolf-related bills backed by livestock groups and spon- sored by Dansel passed before the deadline. “A lot of good bills died, and that was one of them,” Pearson said. Efforts to reach Dansel on Thursday were unsuccessful. Washington Cattlemen’s Association Executive Vice President Jack Field said he was disappointed the cou- gar bill didn’t pass, but that wolves were “far and away probably the biggest priority.” The Senate and House passed similar bills instruct- ing the Department of Fish and Wildlife to reopen the state’s wolf recovery plan in response to livestock preda- tion in the northeast corner of the state. The differences in the Senate and House bills are fairly minor. Field said he was optimis- tic a wolf bill will reach Gov. Jay Inslee’s desk. Kreps said he agrees wolves are more worrisome, but he said he wished law- makers had addressed cou- gars, too. The big cats are costing him tens of thousands of dol- lars, he said. “It comes down to dollars and cents, and I guess people just feel our livestock are ex- pendable,” he said. The Humane Society of the United States opposed the bill, and WDFW stayed neu- tral. Washington voters in 1996 banned hound hunting through an initiative. In 2003, the Legislature authorized a “pilot project” that relaxed the ban in five counties. The pilot project expired in 2011 and has not been renewed. WDFW said it was unclear whether the pilot project pro- tected people or livestock. Washington House passes Carlton Complex fire bill Landowners would have more freedom to jump on blazes By DON JENKINS Capital Press OLYMPIA, Wash. — A bill sparked by anecdotes about a sluggish state re- sponse to the Carlton Com- plex fires last summer in north-central Washington passed the House unani- mously on Tuesday. House Bill 2093 would allow landowners to cross property lines without per- mission to fight a spreading wildfire. The state Department of Natural Resources also would be required to appoint a wildland fire liaison and form a committee to advise it on fighting wildfires. The bill, which passed 97- 0, now goes to the Senate. The measure was in- spired by Okanogan County residents who said they had Dan Wheat/Capital Press Old Highway 97, just north of Malott, Wash., served as a fire break on the eastern edge of the Carlton Complex Fire last summer. The Washington House has unanimously passed a bill that would autho- rize landowners to cross property lines without permission to fight a spreading wildfire. chances to stop small light- ning-ignited blazes from growing into the largest wild- land fire in the state’s history. Residents said they waited in vain for permission from DNR to enter public lands. House Agriculture and Natural Resources Commit- tee Chairman Brian Blake and Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wau- conda, met with residents in January in Okanogan Coun- ty. Kretz introduced the bill, which came through Blake’s committee. “This is probably the most important bill I have this ses- sion,” said Blake, an Aber- deen Democrat. The bill’s main provision would protect initiative-tak- ing residents from being ar- rested or sued, unless they do something grossly negligent while trying to extinguish a fire on somebody else’s property. Residents would be prohibited from lighting backfires, attacking fires by aircraft or directing oth- er people’s firefighting ef- forts. HB 2093 would establish about five new positions at the DNR, including the wildland fire liaison, who would represent landowners and the public during a fire. The liaison also would lead the advisory commit- tee and prepare a report on how to improve training and speed up responses to fires. DNR would be authorized to provide on-the-scene train- ing to people who could be employed in an emergency. Earlier proposals by Kretz to shift more authority to lo- cal fire officials or counties were opposed by DNR and the union representing state wildland firefighters. The Office of Financial Management estimates that implementing the bill would cost more than $1 million during the 2015-17 two-year budget cycle. WSU, wheat growers seek support for new plant sciences building By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Washington State Uni- versity agricultural college’s leaders are seeking legislative support for a new plant scienc- es building. The proposed 100,000- square-foot plant sciences building and a 30,000-square- foot greenhouse are high on the list of university priorities, said Jim Moyer, director of WSU’s Agricultural Research Center and associate dean for research in the College of Ag- ricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences. The building would serve as laboratory and office space, bringing together plant scien- tists from crop and soil scienc- es, biological chemistry, plant pathology and horticulture. The design phase will cost $6.6 million, Moyer said. The total cost of the building would be determined during the design phase. Moyer said construction would hopefully begin in 2017. Capital projects typically get funds in three phases. Plan- ning funds are provided in the first biennium, design funds are provided in the second biennium and construction is funded in the third biennium. Washington Association of Wheat Growers and univer- sity representatives met with legislators on the building several weeks ago and hope to see funding for the design phase in the capital budget, WAWG past president Nicole Berg said. Matthew Weaver/Capital Press Jim Moyer, director of Washington State University’s Agricultural Research Center, addresses Washington Grain Commission board members during the commission meeting March 12 in Spokane. Moyer provided an update during a Washington Grain Commission board meeting in Spokane. “It’s highly needed,” com- missioner Mike Miller said. Improved facilities will en- hance the university’s ability to recruit top-notch scientists, he said. Commissioner Dana Her- ron said the facility is critical to bolstering WSU’s research capabilities. “We are desperately short of lab space,” he said. “If you’re waiting six months to put your pots in a lab, you’re slowing research down. Our job primarily is to make sure those constraints are no longer constraints.” The building would take pressure off WSU’s Johnson Hall, where most of the univer- sity’s plant researchers work. “Johnson Hall is about in the same shape it was when I was an undergraduate,” Moyer said with a chuckle. “I always hoped I’d live long enough to see the day they tear Johnson Hall to the ground,” said Randy Suess, Whitman County representative on the commission. “Johnson Hall was designed before the days of computers, so wiring, plumb- ing, heating and cooling” all need to be upgraded. “It makes a lot more sense to move out of that dilapidated old building.” WAWG will keep talking with state legislators about the importance of the build- ing, Berg said. WSU leverages state funds it receives with outside funding, Moyer said. “It’s important we have the infrastructure to be com- petitive,” he said. “If we can’t do top-notch research, then we’re not going to be competitive for federal fund- ing.” 12-7/#14