COURT REJECTS LATEST ATTACK ON POULTRY RULES Page 9
FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 2016
VOLUME 89, NUMBER 1
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
Ranchers,
local allies
wary of
militia
Hammonds plan to
surrender despite
calls to resist
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Two Oregon ranchers con-
victed of setting fi res on fed-
eral lands say they will report
to prison Jan. 4, though militia
organizations with ties to Ne-
vada cattleman Cliven Bundy
are rallying supporters to pro-
tect them.
Dwight Lincoln Ham-
mond, 73, and his son, Steven
Dwight Hammond, 46, were
resentenced
Oct. 7 to fi ve
years in prison
for the fi res on
U.S. Bureau of
Land Manage-
ment property
near Diamond,
Steven
Ore.
Hammond
Bundy has
had
ongoing
disputes with
the BLM in Ne-
vada for more
than 20 years.
In 2012, the
federal
gov-
Dwight
ernment fi led a Hammond
lawsuit against
Bundy, alleging that he al-
lowed cattle to graze on BLM
property, despite an earlier in-
junction barring him from the
land.
When the BLM tried to re-
move Bundy’s cattle, armed
militia members surrounded
the ranch and began a tense
standoff with federal agents.
Bundy’s son, Ammon,
posted a Facebook video ask-
ing Bundy Ranch supporters
to come Saturday to Burns,
Looking for resolutions in
2016
Tim Hearden/Capital Press
Michael Vasey, manager of
Lindauer River Ranch in Red
Bluff, Calif., talks about the
walnut harvest in Los Molinos,
Calif., in mid-October. Vasey
says rising wages are among
the key issues growers will
encounter in 2016.
Producers look ahead to New Year
fi lled with uncertainties
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
T
Turn to HAMMOND,
Page 12
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Mike Miller, a Ritzville, Wash.,
wheat farmer and member of
the Washington Grain Com-
mission board, listens during
a meeting at the commission
offi ce Nov. 18 in Spokane.
he new year is a symbol of new beginnings in farm country, a
time to look ahead to what the future may bring and to engage
in that age-old tradition of making resolutions.
Eastern Oregon wheat farmer Tyson Raymond has some
tongue-in-cheek resolutions for 2016, starting with “Get a little
more rain, particularly in April and May.”
Raymond, a member of the Oregon Board of Agriculture, also vows to pay
closer attention to what successful farmers are doing and “do more of that.”
Beyond that, he resolves: “Don’t buy my fuel and fertilizer at their year-
ly highs (again)” and “Don’t sell my wheat at yearly lows (again).”
In addition, he said he’ll “try not to buy a tractor in August if they sell
for $40,000 less in December” and he’s going to “try to grow wheat that
weighs 60 pounds (a bushel) and is below 10 percent protein.”
“If I can stick to these, I’m sure to have a better year than last,” he said.
The staff at Our Table Cooperative, a 58-acre farm near Sherwood, Ore.,
southwest of Portland, put their heads together and came up with collective
resolutions.
“Feed more people and fewer deer. Invite more people to share meals
with us on the farm. Grow the best tomato crop this region has ever known,”
are on their list.
Turn to 2016, Page 12
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Hunters, Wash., rancher
Dave Dashiell asks Wash-
ington State Department
of Agriculture Director
Derek Sandison a question
Oct. 30 during the Cattle
Producers of Washington
annual meeting in Airway
Heights, Wash. Dashiell
and CPOW plan to empha-
size the need to relieve reg-
ulation stresses on livestock
producers in 2016.
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Paterson, Wash., wheat
farmer Nicole Berg says
her family often sticks
with its plans for the farm,
including cleanup of old
equipment.
“Feed more people and fewer deer. Invite more people to share meals with us
on the farm. Grow the best tomato crop this region has ever known.”
Our Table Cooperative staff
Heavy snow eases Oregon drought
concern, but uncertainties remain
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
TIMBERLINE LODGE,
Ore. – Making her way on
cross-country skis to take a
snowpack reading near this
historic lodge on Mount
Hood, hydrologist Julie
Koeberle stopped to admire
the sight of big fi rs bent si-
lent with weight.
“It’s so awesome to see
the snow hanging on the
trees,” she said. “We sure
didn’t see that last year.”
Irrigators, wildlife man-
agers, hydro-power opera-
tors and others throughout
the Pacifi c Northwest and
Northern California are ex-
pressing similar relief. A se-
ries of pounding December
storms brought unrelenting
torrents of rain to the coasts
and valleys and, in the moun-
tains, snow at last.
While skiers and snow-
boarders celebrate abundant
snow for its
recreational aspects, it is
the snowpack’s stored water
that will help irrigate crops,
cool salmon and spin tur-
bines in the summer months
to come.
“Snowpack is the lifeblood
of the West,” said Koeberle,
Turn to SNOW, Page 12
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
NRCS hydrologist Julie Koe-
berle plunges a measuring tube
into the snow near Timberline
Lodge on Mount Hood.
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