January 1, 2016
CapitalPress.com
13
Idaho’s AG defends state’s handling of flood control issue
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
BOISE — In a letter to 11
Treasure Valley lawmakers,
Idaho Attorney General Law-
rence Wasden defended the
state’s handling of the con-
troversial issue of how flood
control releases are accounted
for on the Boise River system.
Responding to claims
made in a Nov. 13 letter from
five state senators and six rep-
resentatives, Wasden said his
office and the Idaho Depart-
ment of Water Resources are
“not engaged in ‘reckless and
unfounded attacks’ on” the
water rights of Treasure Val-
ley water users.
Those legislators who re-
ceived Wasden’s Dec. 8 let-
ter side with Treasure Valley
water users who have been
at odds with the IDWR and
AG’s office over how flood
control releases are accounted
for.
The irrigators say water re-
leased from Boise River sys-
tem reservoirs for flood con-
trol should not count against
their storage rights, while the
state says it does.
Wasden defended IDWR
Director Gary Spackman’s
handling of the issue. Spack-
man ruled in October that
flood control releases should
count against reservoir stor-
age rights.
His ruling was contrary to
a decision by a special master
of the Snake River Basin Ad-
judication court six days ear-
lier. Irrigators claim Spack-
man’s ruling is trumped by the
district court decision.
The letter from lawmakers
said Spackman’s ruling was
biased and predetermined.
Wasden said Spackman is
charged by law with distribut-
ing water in accordance with
the state’s prior appropriation
doctrine.
“Part and parcel of this
duty is determining when the
Boise River storage water
rights are satisfied,” he wrote.
“Thus, rather than engaging
in an attack on the Treasure
Valley water users’ storage
rights, Director Spackman is
fulfilling his statutory duty.”
Sen. Jim Rice, R-Caldwell,
one of the lawmakers who re-
ceived Wasden’s letter, said
the IDWR director is not sim-
ply performing his statutory
duties.
“The statutory duty of the
director of the (IDWR) is not
to take away people’s water
rights,” said Rice, chairman
of the Senate Agricultural Af-
fairs Committee.
“Trying to change how all
this works ... is not his stat-
utory duty. It is an attack on
Treasure Valley water rights,”
he said.
Rice and other Treasure
Valley irrigators defended
their Nov. 13 letter’s call for
the AG’s office and IDWR to
“cease their coordinated at-
tacks on Treasure Valley stor-
age rights.”
“You can’t leave irrigators
the choice of having their wa-
ter or avoiding flooding the
cities of the Boise River val-
ley,” Rice said. “The path to
a solution is very, very clear
but that means the director
gets told he can’t do what he’s
trying to do.”
Some of Idaho’s other wa-
ter districts, including Water
District 1, the state’s largest,
have sided with the IDWR on
this issue.
Ron Shurtleff, watermaster
for the Payette River system,
said he’s in complete align-
ment with the IDWR’s stance.
“I ... determined early in
this issue (that) the department
has gotten it right,” he said. “I
admire Director Spackman
and his staff for holding tight
to their conviction.”
Sen. Grant Burgoyne,
D-Boise, stood by legislators’
Nov. 13 letter and said law-
makers need to weigh in on
the issue of how much discre-
tion the IDWR director has to
determine when a water right
is fulfilled.
“The legislature ... must
address this policy question
of how much discretion the
director has,” he said.
Author, scientist inspired by Martian spud research Producers and rural
landowners can tap federal
conservation grant funding
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho —
As a retired potato seed pa-
thologist who also writes sci-
ence fiction novels, Phil Nolte
will pay close attention when
NASA and the International
Potato Center seek to prove
the plausibility of growing po-
tatoes on Mars.
The experiment could help
validate a central theme in
one of Nolte’s favorite books,
“The Martian,” by Andy Weir,
which brought the concept of
raising spuds on the Red Planet
to the world’s consciousness.
Nolte, who retired in early
2015 from University of Idaho
and released his fourth nov-
el, “The Deimos Artifact,” on
Dec. 15, understands authors
must sometimes stretch the
truth for the sake of a good
story. With a few plot tweaks,
Nolte believes the crop pro-
duction system described in
“The Martian,” now a major
motion picture, could be made
“good enough.”
Stretching the truth, how-
ever, won’t be an option when
a team of scientists seeks to
raise potatoes in Peru, in con-
ditions simulating the grow-
ing environment of a hypo-
thetical
climate-controlled
dome on Mars.
Without artistic license at
their disposal, Nolte has no
idea if the simulation will suc-
ceed, but he sees value in the
effort.
“I’m one of those people
who at least hopes we man-
age to colonize other places
besides just the planet we’re
on now,” Nolte said. “A first
step to try to make things like
that happen is to try to create
environments like this and see
how your food source would
do.”
Nolte said sunlight would
have to travel much farther
to reach spuds on Mars, and
researchers will have to find
contingencies for extreme
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
File photo
Phil Nolte, a retired potato seed pathologist who writes science fiction novels, speaks prior to his re-
tirement from University of Idaho during a tour of potato research plots at the UI’s Aberdeen Research
and Extension Center. Nolte has offered an assessment of the science behind potato production on
Mars included in the book and movie “The Martian,” and is intrigued by proposed research to test
potato production in a simulated Martian environment.
temperature fluctuations.
According to a press re-
lease, the joint research proj-
ect aims to “raise awareness
of the incredible resilience of
potatoes” and should demon-
strate that farming is possible
in the most challenging of
environments on Earth. The
researchers also believe the
project will provide valuable
insight into production possi-
bilities in the face of climate
change.
Soil from the Pampas de
La Joya Desert in Peru will be
used to simulate Martian dirt,
and the atmosphere will be
manipulated in a laboratory to
have 95 percent carbon diox-
ide, as on Mars.
“We need people to under-
stand that if we can grow pota-
toes in extreme conditions like
those on Mars, we can save
lives on Earth,” Joel Ranck,
an International Potato Center
spokesman, said in the press
release.
In Weir’s story, stranded
NASA astronaut Mark Watney
plants spuds, originally packed
for a holiday meal, using his
own excrement as fertilizer.
Nolte’s major criticism of
the science in the book is that
spuds would either have to be
treated with a sprout inhibitor,
which would hinder growth,
or they would break dorman-
cy much too soon during the
roughly 10-month journey to
Mars. Furthermore, Watney
immediately replanted the
seed tubers he raised, though
Nolte notes potato seed re-
quires a dormancy period be-
fore sprouting.
To fix the discrepancies,
Nolte suggests the author
could have explained the pres-
ence of the potatoes as part of
a science experiment, perhaps
proposed by a major chemical
manufacturer testing a new
sprout inhibitor. Watney could
then break dormancy in both
the initial seed supply and the
seed saved for replanting with
a chemical included for the
company’s experiment.
Nolte noted seed potato
certification programs in Ida-
ho and other major spud states
use chemicals, such as gibber-
illic acid or rindite, to induce
sprouting of seeds harvested
during fall and planted shortly
thereafter in winter trial plots
in warmer climates. Nolte has
also read reviews by critics
who doubt Watney could have
produced enough “fertilizer.”
However, Nolte approves
of the author’s choice of using
a potato as the astronaut’s sta-
ple food.
“The potato is short a cou-
ple of amino acids from being
a perfect food,” Nolte said,
noting researchers tried sever-
al years ago to introduce those
missing amino acids to the po-
tato through biotechnology.
Nolte acknowledges he
may be nitpicking, but he be-
lieves attention to detail is the
key to helping readers sus-
pend their disbelief. He’s sold
roughly 13,000 copies of his
first three space odysseys. Co-
incidentally, his latest book is
named after a moon of Mars.
Oregon farmers, ranchers
and other rural landowners can
apply for federal money intend-
ed to help reduce wildfire threat,
update irrigation systems, take
care of rangeland and improve
private woodlands, wildlife hab-
itat and stream flows.
Grants are available through
the USDA’s Natural Resources
Conservation Service. Filing
deadlines are Jan. 15. Local
NRCS service centers have
more information, or applicants
can visit www.or.nrcs.usda.gov
for more information.
The funding, which comes
from the 2014 Farm Bill, is part
of an NRCS effort to target and
apply a quick money fix to spe-
cific areas. In Eastern Oregon,
for example, multiple grants
are available for work in Union
County, neighboring Baker
County and the Grande Ronde
River region. Wasco County, in
the Columbia River Gorge, is
another focus area.
Federal agencies spent
$705,000 in 2015 and about $1.3
million in 2014 for pre-com-
mercial thinning and other fire
hazard reduction work as part
of its ongoing East Face of the
Elkhorn Mountains project in
Union and Baker counties.
That money came from the
“Joint Chiefs Landscape Initia-
tive” from NRCS and the U.S.
Forest Service, and the Elkhorns
between La Grande and Baker
City were among 13 sites cho-
sen nationally for the work. The
Ashland watershed in South-
west Oregon also was selected
for the program.
With destructive wildfires of
recent years in mind, La Grande
NRCS District Conservationist
Mike Burton said private land-
owners were quick to sign on.
“It hasn’t been a tough sell at
all,” he said.
More money is available this
year, as the agencies continue a
three- to five-year project along
20 miles of shared boundary
between private land, state land
and the Wallowa-Whitman Na-
tional Forest. The filing dead-
line is Jan. 15; another round of
funding will come with an April
15 application. The past two
years, NRCS funding helped
landowners reduce the fire fuel
load on more than 4,700 acres.
The grant program pays half the
cost.
In Ashland, agencies have
spent $2.3 million for thinning
and slash removal on private,
non-industrial forest lands.
Funding is available in 2016 as
well, and the same filing dead-
lines apply.
Other grant opportunities in-
clude:
• $250,000 to help Union
County farmers improve irriga-
tion systems and reduce water
use.
• $375,000 for private wood-
land owners in Union County to
reduce fire risk by pre-commer-
cial thinning or slash disposal.
• $290,000 for Union Coun-
ty ranchers improve range and
forest health by changing live-
stock grazing and management
practices in the Upper Grande
Ronde.
• Wasco County farmers in
the White River and Tygh Creek
watersheds can apply for money
intended to increase irrigation
efficiency, stream flows and
salmon habitat. Funding will
pay for removing six barriers
that block fish passage, install-
ing irrigation pipes and sprinkler
systems, and building struc-
tures for water control and
wells. The idea is to conserve
7,300 acre-feet of water annu-
ally by making systems more
efficient, and to restore stream
flows in about 22 miles of the
river and creek. The filing
deadline is Jan. 15.
Oregon State University students form a cattlewomen club
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Women studying agricul-
ture at Oregon State Univer-
sity have out-numbered men
since 1998, and now they
have another avenue to find
their footing in the industry.
Students Bailey Jenksand
Jena Ozenna went through the
university process to form the
OSU Collegiate Cattlewomen
club. Officially recognized by
the university in November,
the club has 15 members and
hopes to double membership
in 2016, Jenks said.
Jenks, a junior from North-
ern California with a keen in-
terest in ag communication,
said she and Ozenna, the club
president, wanted to highlight
women’s involvement in the
cattle industry. The club is af-
filiated with the Oregon Cat-
tleWomen.
Jenks said men dominate
the beef cattle industry but
women’s voices are emerging
in it as in other sectors of ag-
riculture. The club is intended
to introduce female students
to the industry and help them
gain professional skills, con-
tacts and experience that will
help them succeed in the busi-
ness.
“Now women are having
a louder voice in the industry,
and maybe we bring a little bit
different perspective,” Jenks
said. OSU already has a cat-
tlemen’s club, she said, and
the two clubs hope to work
together on such things as
professional development and
industry tours. Jenks said peo-
ple seeking more information
may visit the OSU Collegiate
Cattlewomen’s
Facebook
page.
Women’s enrollment at
OSU’s College of Agricul-
tural Sciences has been on
the rise for the past couple
decades, and women stu-
dents have outnumbered men
every year since 1998. As of
fall term 2015, they made up
58 percent of ag students at
OSU, according to statistics
furnished by Penny Diebel,
assistant dean of academic
programs for the College of
Agricultural Sciences. The
university counted 1,319 fe-
male undergrads and 218
female graduate students,
compared to 894 male under-
grads and 179 male graduate
students.
The highest percentages of
female students, well over 50
percent in each category, are
in the fisheries and wildlife,
botany and plant pathology,
ag education and environmen-
tal and molecular toxicology
programs, according to OSU
enrollment statistics.
Women account for 86
percent of students in the an-
imal and rangeland scienc-
es program, but Diebel said
that’s probably because it is
one of the options for entering
OSU’s College of Veterinary
Medicine. Of the vet school’s
230 students, 194 are women,
or 84 percent.
Oregon Food Bank credits farmers with contribution surge
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
PORTLAND — Hunger in
Oregon is leveling off thanks
in part to a growing collabo-
ration with the state’s farmers
and their donations of surplus
fruit and produce, the Oregon
Food Bank’s chief executive
said,
That’s not to say the prob-
lem is solved. Food Bank
CEO Susannah Morgan said
800,000 people in Oregon and
Southwest Washington, one-
in-five residents, go hungry at
times.
“If this was a disease we
would call it an epidemic,”
Morgan said. “This is a cri-
sis.”
But for now the hunger
numbers don’t appear to be
increasing, Morgan said in
speech this month to the Ore-
gon Board of Agriculture. The
board toured the Food Bank’s
operations in Portland and
helped pack some food for
distribution.
In her speech to the board
and in a followup interview,
Morgan said Oregon’s farm-
ers have greatly increased
their contributions of fresh
fruit and produce. The Or-
egon Food Bank and others
nationally primarily received
and distributed canned and
boxed food in the past, but the
state organization set a goal of
increasing vegetable and fruit
distribution by 50 percent
over multiple years.
Instead, with farmers pour-
ing in an additional 2 million
pounds of potatoes, carrots,
onions, pears, apples and oth-
er crops, the Food Bank blew
that goal out of the water in
one year, Morgan said.
The Food Bank takes in
produce that is surplus, blem-
ished or otherwise not suit-
able for commercial markets.
Food is distributed through a
network of four bank branch-
es and 17 independent re-
gional food banks serving
Oregon and Clark County,
Washington.
While the food bank can’t
afford to pay farmers much
for food — or anything in
many cases — state and fed-
eral legislation now encour-
age crop donation.
The 2014 Oregon Leg-
islature passed a law giving
farmers a 15 percent tax cred-
it on the wholesale price of
their donation. As part of a
federal spending bill passed
in mid-December, Congress
permanently extended an
enhanced tax deduction for
charitable contributions of
food by businesses.
Morgan said the possibility
of no one in the region miss-
ing a meal is “doable in my
lifetime.”
“It’s partly in our grasp be-
cause of our new and growing
relationship with farmers,”
she said.
In her talk to the ag board,
Morgan said low income is
the single biggest reason peo-
ple ask for food assistance.
About 72 percent of recipi-
ents live at or below the fed-
eral poverty line. More than
a third of them are retired or
disabled.
“Hunger hurts the most
vulnerable,” Morgan told the
ag board. She said 52 per-
cent of recipient households
have children, 20 percent are
elderly and 20 percent have
a veteran in the household
makeup.
“This is the population that
we continue to try and serve,”
Morgan said. “Hunger re-
mains a steady, persistent and
excruciating large problem in
our state and in our region.”
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
Susannah Morgan, CEO of the
Oregon Food Bank, delivered
her first “State of Hunger”
address to the Oregon Board of
Agriculture in mid-December.