July 31, 2015
CapitalPress.com
7
Judge clears barred owl removal study
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Killing barred owls to
study the potential effects on
threatened spotted owls does
not violate federal environ-
mental laws, according to a
federal judge.
Populations of the northern
spotted owl, which is protect-
ed under the Endangered Spe-
cies Act, have continued to
decline in recent decades de-
spite strict limits on logging.
Federal scientists believe
the problem is partly due to
the barred owl, a rival species
that’s more adaptable, occu-
pies similar habitats and com-
petes for food.
In 2013, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service authorized
an experiment to remove
3,600 barred owls over four
years, typically by shooting
them, to see if spotted owl re-
covery improves.
Friends of Animals and
Predator Defense, two animal
rights groups, filed a com-
plaint last year accusing the
agency of violating the Na-
tional Environmental Policy
Act by failing to evaluate al-
ternatives to lethal removal of
barred owls.
They also claimed the Fish
and Wildlife Service’s study
is contrary to the Migratory
Bird Treaty Act, under which
the U.S. and other countries
agreed to protect migratory
birds.
U.S. District Judge Ann
Aiken has rejected these argu-
ments, finding that the agency
wasn’t obligated to undertake
other “recovery actions” for
the spotted owl that didn’t call
for removal of barred owls.
The agency took a suf-
ficiently “hard look” at the
study’s effects, including the
possibility that it may disrupt
an “equilibrium” between the
two owl species in some ar-
eas, Aiken said.
The experiment also falls
within an exception to the Mi-
gratory Bird Treaty Act which
permits birds to be killed for
“scientific research or educa-
tional purposes,” she said.
From the Fish and Wild-
life Service’s perspective, the
judge’s opinion validates the
significant amount of time
AP Photo/The Herald, Barton Glasser, File
A barred owl is shown in this 2004 file photo. A federal judge has
approved an experiment in which barred owls will be killed to allow
the northern spotted owl population to recover.
and effort the agency spent
studying the issue, said Robin
Bown, biologist for the agen-
cy.
“I think we made our
case,” she said. “We feel we
did very inclusive work on
this.”
The plaintiffs are still un-
decided whether to challenge
Aiken’s ruling before the 9th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals,
said Michael Harris, director
of Friends of Animals’ wild-
said.
“There is no evidence
of any environment where
spotted owls can outcompete
barred owls,” Bown said.
While the removal study
costs $1 million a year, that
includes costs related to the
scientific analysis, she said.
“When you’re doing a
study, it costs more than op-
erational activities,” she said.
If removal proves effective
at protecting spotted owls,
other less-costly methods of
controlling the barred owl’s
population growth may be-
come available in the future,
Bown said.
Seventy-one barred owls
were removed during the first
year of the study and 54 were
removed during the second
year, both at a site in Northern
California.
The Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice expects the removals to
begin in at least two new sites
in Oregon and Washington
during the autumn of 2015.
Data collected during the
first two removal periods is
insufficient to indicate wheth-
er the removals are helping
spotted owls, Bown said. “It’s
hard to look for a trend with
only two points.”
California navel
orange production
meets expectations
WSDA levies
maximum fine
for pesticides
drifting over
schools
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
Orchard workers
failed to check
weather conditions
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
An Eastern Washington man
has been fined $7,500 for failing
to keep pesticides from drifting
over a Grant County school
campus last spring, sickening
three school employees, accord-
ing to the Washington State De-
partment of Agriculture.
Ron Wyles, identified by
WSDA as an orchard manager
and a pesticide applicator for Ag
Management Group of Yakima,
also will have his applicator’s
license suspended for 90 days.
The fine and length of suspen-
sion are the maximum penalties
WSDA can levy.
The case merited the sanc-
tions because the pesticides
drifted a considerable distance
and endangered students, teach-
ers and other school employees,
according to WSDA.
Wyles can appeal the penal-
ty. Efforts to reach Wyles were
unsuccessful. Ag Management
Group declined to comment.
Although Wyles was not in
the orchard when the spraying
occurred, he was responsible for
the crew, which didn’t follow la-
beling directions to ensure wind
and atmospheric conditions
were favorable, according to
WSDA.
According to the depart-
ment’s investigation, Wyles or-
dered a crew to start spraying
at 4 a.m. March 19 in an apple
orchard about 75 feet from the
Wahluke School District cam-
pus in Mattawa. At 7 a.m., the
smell on campus was strong, a
school employee said.
The campus includes district
offices, a high school, middle
school and two elementary
schools. That morning, 2,323
students and 281 teachers and
staff members were on campus,
according to WSDA.
A teacher walking between
the buildings developed a head-
ache and felt nauseous. At 8:30
a.m., school employees went to
the orchard and were told “the
pesticide application was almost
complete.”
At 9 a.m., a teacher outside
with children smelled the odor
and had “a reaction,” according
to the investigation. A school
resource officer summoned fire
and law enforcement officers to
the orchard. By the time they
arrived at around 10 a.m., the
spraying was over. A fire offi-
cial reported seeing “a cloud
of spray over the top of the or-
chard.”
The Washington Department
of Health reported that three
school employees suffered mild
stomach and breathing prob-
lems.
life law program.
Habitat loss remains the
primary culprit for the decline
of spotted owls, he said. “The
amount of old growth habitat
hasn’t increased.”
Spending millions of dol-
lars by shooting barred owls
in the Northwest year after
year isn’t feasible but it is cru-
el to the birds, Harris said.
It’s possible that the two
owl species will find niches
and coexist over time, he said.
Fish and Wildlife officials
are rushing to judgment to
blame barred owls to escape
making tough decisions about
forest management, Harris
said. “You’re just taking a
shortcut by scapegoating the
barred owl.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service disagrees with this
perspective.
Biologists initially hoped
the two species would be able
to occupy different habitats,
but the barred owl has con-
sistently invaded the spot-
ted owl’s territory since the
1970s, said Bown.
As soon as the barred owl
took over riparian areas, it
“began marching up the hill-
sides” to upland territory fa-
vored by the spotted owl, she
John O’Connell/Capital Press
Mink peer from their cage at an eastern Idaho farm. Following the recent break-in of a Burley, Idaho,
mink facility, the national trade organization for mink producers is urging mink farmers to step up secu-
rity. The FBI recently arrested two suspects related to attacks on mink operations.
Arrests made in mink farm attacks
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
SAN DIEGO — The FBI
has arrested two animal-rights
activists in connection with a
series of 2013 attacks on mink
farms in several states, includ-
ing Idaho.
Joseph Buddenberg, 31,
and Nicole Kissane, 28, both
of Oakland, Calif., were re-
cently arrested on charges of
conspiracy to violate the Ani-
mal Enterprise Terrorism Act,
according to an FBI press re-
lease.
The maximum penalty un-
der the act is up to 10 years
in prison and a $250,000 fine.
They’ll likely face trial in the
Southern District of Califor-
nia, according to the press
release.
The suspects allegedly tar-
geted animal farms in Idaho,
Iowa, Minnesota, Pennsylva-
nia and Montana, typically
releasing mink and destroying
breeding records. In Montana,
they released a bobcat, and in
San Diego, they vandalized
a retail furrier, Furs by Graf,
and vandalized the Spring
Valley and La Mesa residenc-
es and property of the current
and former owners of the
business.
They also allegedly sought
to flood the Wisconsin home
of an employee with North
American Fur Auctions.
Cindy Moyle and her fam-
ily, owners of a Heyburn, Ida-
ho-based mink farm that the
suspects allegedly attacked,
watched as coyotes came
down from the hills and car-
ried off mink, said Michael
Whelan, executive director
with Fur Commission USA
in Medford, Ore. Whelan
said several other mink re-
leased from the Moyle farm
were struck by vehicles on the
highway.
The suspects allegedly
posted details of their actions
on an animal-rights website.
Several FBI joint terror-
ism task forces throughout the
country reportedly contribut-
ed to the arrests.
“Whatever your feelings
about the fur industry, there
are legal ways to make your
opinions known,” U.S. Attor-
ney Laura Duffy said in the
press release.
Whelan believes investiga-
tors increased their focus on
the case after a U.S. district
judge in Illinois upheld the An-
imal Enterprise Terrorism Act.
“Twenty years ago, they
wouldn’t have pursued it at
all,” Whelan said. “It goes to
show we have the support of
law enforcement, and people
who commit crimes are go-
ing to have to pay for their
crimes.”
According to a July 24
report by USDA’s National
Agricultural Statistics Ser-
vice, both domestic mink
prices and production are on
an upswing. Production of
pelts raised in 2014 for sale
this year increased by 6 per-
cent to 3.76 million pelts.
The average price per pelt, at
$57.70 was up $1.40 from the
prior year. Idaho was the No.
3 mink producing state, with
345,590 pelts, trailing Wis-
consin and Utah and ranking
ahead of Oregon, which pro-
duced 309,350 pelts.
SACRAMENTO — As the
season’s last navel oranges
have left packing houses, pro-
duction came close to match-
ing the 79 million cartons
forecast by an agency here, an
industry insider says.
Now growers are turning
their attention to next season,
for which the developing crop
looks to be average or better,
said Bob Blakely, vice presi-
dent of the Exeter-based Cali-
fornia Citrus Mutual.
“It depends on who you
talk to,” Blakely said. “Some
growers are seeing a heavier
crop and for some the crop is
smaller.”
The trees from which or-
anges were harvested earlier
in the season tend to have a
better fruit set, while trees that
still have fruit on them during
the bloom don’t set as much
because they’re still carrying
a crop, he said.
In any case, there’s been
very little fruit drop this sum-
mer, Blakely said.
“The fruit that’s set seems
to be holding, which would
indicate it’s probably an aver-
age to slightly better-than-av-
erage crop,” he said.
Packing houses are still to-
taling production figures, but
the National Agricultural Sta-
tistics Service in Sacramento
reported in July that this sea-
son’s navel production would
end up at 79 million cartons,
or 1.58 million tons.
That’s down 1 percent
from the agency’s initial es-
timate of a nearly 81 million
carton crop but up 2 percent
from last year’s production.
Growers maintained a
fresh-utilization rate of more
than 80 percent through most
of the season before rates fell
into the 70s near the end. Or-
anges not suitable for the fresh
market are diverted to juice.
The navel season wrapped
up as the harvest of Valencia
oranges will continue through
the summer. NASS now ex-
pects a 19 million carton crop,
down 5 percent from its fore-
cast earlier this year and down
11 percent from last year’s
utilization.
Valencia acreage has seen
a precipitous decline in recent
years as growers replace them
with navels or other more lu-
crative citrus varieties. There
are about 34,000 bearing
acres of Valencias this year,
down from 65,000 in 2001-
02, according to NASS.
Tim Hearden/Capital Press
Valencia orange slices are served on a plate on a summer after-
noon. As the Valencia orange harvest proceeds, the season’s last
navel oranges have been shipped from packing houses.
BUYING 6” and UP
Alder, Maple, Cottonwood
Saw Logs, Standing Timber
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ROP-27-5-4/#24
Experiment intended
to gauge impacts on
spotted owl
31-4/#6