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12 CapitalPress.com January 29, 2016 National attention may have boosted the protesters’ egos CHANGE from Page 1 Federal land by state The national attention may have boosted the protester’s egos, but it also created a backlash against using the threat of violence to infl u- ence federal land policy, Miller said. “What they’ve done is really hurt those with legit- imate beefs with the federal government about how the land should be managed,” he said. In the public’s mind, the protesters’ hostile tactics have been confl ated with the goal of increasing local con- trol over federal property, which weakens their case in the political arena, he said. “If they wanted an up- rising in Congress, they just made it that much harder,” Miller said. The protesters’ actions won’t bolster attempts to transfer federal land to the states, which already had le- gitimacy among conservative lawmakers in multiple state legislatures before the refuge takeover, said Martin Nie, a natural resource policy pro- fessor at the University of Montana. “They’re less of a specta- cle and should be taken more Land area by percent of state 0-10% 11-30% Mont. 31-50% 51-80% > 80% N.H. N N.H H . Idaho Wyo. Nev. Calif. Utah Ariz. Colo. N.M. Alaska Hawaii seriously,” Nie said. The philosophy of Bun- dy and his followers, mean- while, is entangled with far- right interpretations of the U.S. Constitution and the power of county sheriffs but does not offer any serious proposals for changing feder- al land policy, he said. “I don’t think this specta- cle has helped that cause at all,” he said. Among people who were uneasy about excessive fed- eral authority, though, recent events will likely reinforce the notion that the govern- ment is out-of-control, said D.C. Source: Congressional Research Service Fla. Alan Kenaga/ Capital Press Mark Pollot, an attorney who is fi ghting federal agencies in court on behalf of deceased Nevada rancher Wayne Hage. Left-wing protests, such as “Occupy Wall Street,” in- vaded private property and were more disruptive than the refuge standoff but did not elicit a similarly strong- armed reaction from the fed- eral government, he said. Pollot said that distrust of the government will par- ticularly rise if there are in- dications that federal agents overreacted during the arrests and did not have to shoot the protesters’ spokesman, La- Voy Finicum. If nothing else, the con- frontation will show that Western land policy is more than a minor issue and de- serves Congressional atten- tion, Pollot said. “It will add some weight to the debate,” he said. On the other hand, there’s the risk of a shift away from the political and legal chan- nels that critics such as Wayne Hage have tradition- ally used in the “Sagebrush Rebellion” against federal land policy, he said. “I’m concerned there will be people who will now think that’s worthless,” Pollot said. The restrictions placed on ranchers have gained visi- bility in Washington, D.C., Salem and Portland, but that doesn’t mean they will be changed, said Bruce Weber, director of Oregon State Uni- versity’s Rural Studies Pro- gram. It’s unclear how the exis- tence of a perceived “martyr for the cause” will change the situation, Weber said. “People who believe the Constitution prohibits fed- eral ownership and manage- ment of those particular lands won’t change their minds,” he said. Concerns about growing federal restrictions on public lands long predate the refuge occupation and will likely continue even if the current confl ict is resolved. Bob Skinner, a fi fth-gen- eration cattle rancher in the Jordan Valley area, heads a group opposed to the pro- posed Owyhee Canyonlands wilderness and conservation area, which would cover 2.5 million acres in Oreogn’s Malheur County. The designation would severely regulate or prohibit grazing and other activities on an area that is bigger than Yellowstone National Park and covers 40 percent of Malheur County. Skinner said his worst fear is that the arrests of sev- eral protesters and the death of Finicum will “activate” people who hold similar an- ti-government views. Even so, the incident has brought more visibility to Western concerns over public land. “I can’t help but think it’s brought some awareness to government over-reach, that might have some impact,” Skinner said. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., compared the stand- off in southeast Oregon to the “Black Lives Matter” move- ment, which arose in reaction to confl icts between law en- forcement and the black com- munity. “Rural America faces the same lack of recognition,” Schrader said. There’s a “palpable sense” that government policy has focused on the economic welfare of urban areas while overlooking rural areas, he said. As to the effect of the oc- cupation on the federal land debate, Schrader said the im- pact is uncertain. While people sympathize with the hardships faced in the rural West, the occupa- tion has also shown they have no appetite for lawlessness, he said. Schrader said he and other members of Oregon’s Con- gressional delegation are pushing to reform overly re- strictive rules on grazing and logging while protecting the environment on federal prop- erty. “The scales have tipped so far to the left that you can barely do anything there, it’s so cost-prohibitive,” he said. “We’ve got to change the fed- eral policy.” Supply of H-2A workers from Mexico won’t last, lobbyist says By DAN WHEAT Capital Press YAKIMA, Wash. — Im- migration reform is dead in Congress, but agricultural industry advocates are still pushing the issue as they foresee fewer farmwork- ers coming from Mexico on guestworker visas in the years ahead. Mexico’s birth rate is declining, its economy is improving and the Pew Research Center reports 1 million Mexicans returned to Mexico from the United States between 2009 and 2014 while an estimated 870,000 came to the U.S. That’s what Craig Regel- brugge, senior vice president of AmericanHort in Wash- ington, D.C., told the Wash- ington Growers League’s annual meeting in Yakima on Jan. 26. A longtime leading agri- cultural lobbyist on immi- gration reform, Regelbrugge said the working-age popu- lations of advanced nations are declining, China will be- come a “fierce competitor” for labor in Southeast Asia and that “unless U.S. baby boomers are able to work beyond death,” immigration reform must allow for more permanent and transitory workers. “Mexico will continue to Dan Wheat/Capital Press Craig Regelbrugge, senior vice president of AmericanHort, prepares to speak in Yakima, Wash., on Jan. 26. He says the supply of H-2A foreign farmworkers from Mexico will diminish. be relevant for us for labor for a number of years, but the writing is on the wall,” he said. Regelbrugge is involved in the Center for Global Development, which be- lieves labor mobility can lift under-developed countries. The group believes that in the near term the U.S. and Mexico have an interest in a bilateral approach to labor and that the administrations of both countries could reach an agreement solving issues hampering the U.S. H-2A agricultural foreign visa pro- gram without action by Con- gress. “The politics around labor have gotten so en- trenched that we end up with a left-right alliance that kills us. Anti-immigration voices on both sides say foreign- ers are stealing our jobs and employers just want cheap labor,” he said. Anything that is not spelled out in the Immigra- tion and Nationality Act is subject to regulatory inter- pretation for an administra- tive agreement with Mexico, Regelbrugge said. It could include a housing allowance, a pilot portable visa, inter- pret seasonality and even wages, he said. However, rule-making is not as stable as legislation, he said. Bush administration H-2A changes were thrown out by the Obama admin- istration, which has been “very hostile” to H-2A, he said. U.S. H-2A employers should look for workers from other countries, such as Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua that have surplus agrarian workers, he said. Haiti is another possibil- ity. Cooperatives there are interested in sending work- ers to the U.S. to earn money and bring back expertise, he said, adding that he visit- ed those cooperatives with some U.S. growers, includ- ing Washington apple grow- ers, last June. It’s a “coin toss,” Regel- brugge said, as to how the Supreme Court will rule in June on President Obama’s executive action deferring deportation of millions of illegal aliens and granting them work permits. If the court upholds Obama, the administration will make a “mad dash” to implement the action to “box-in” the next adminis- tration, he said. That could force the next administration to address immigration re- form early, instead of wait- ing for its second term, he said. Regelbrugge credit- ed Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., for leading 60 of his colleagues in signing a letter a year ago that stopped an E-verify and enforce- ment-only bill that would have been “devastating to agriculture.” House Judiciary Chair- man Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., has shown some openness to improving visa programs, he said. “Our politics are very divided. We can all pound the table, but if we don’t figure out how to thread the bipartisan needle we get nothing,” Regelbrugge said. “We have to keep edu- cating and agitating. If we sit back and wait to 2017, if people don’t talk about this issue and educate lawmak- ers, we won’t have a basis of support to get something done,” he said. ‘Historically, every single solid time, it starts collapsing on the uses’ MONUMENT from Page 1 Skinner, a fi fth-generation rancher who leads the oppo- sition group, said one faction believes ranchers and other landowners should “settle” with those pushing for estab- lishment of the canyonlands. But Skinner said agree- ments with “radical environ- mental groups” always turn out bad. While they say tradi- tional land uses such as cattle grazing could continue, such assurances soon fall apart, Skinner said. “Historically, every single solid time,” he said. “It starts collapsing on the uses. That’s historic, I can tell you.” Skinner said his contacts among Oregon’s congressional delegation and others in Wash- ington, D.C. indicate Obama will establish the wilderness and conservation area under the Antiquities Act, which can be done by presidential order and does not require approval of Congress. A White House media staff- er said the administration has “no announcement to make at this time” and did not respond to detailed questions. Jessica Kershaw, senior ad- viser and press secretary with the Department of Interior, said in an email that the depart- ment has not made a recom- mendation to the White House, “but we know that this is an important issue to many, and we will carefully consider all input about how to best man- age these lands for current and future generations.” Brent Fenty, executive di- rector of the Oregon Natural Desert Association, did not re- spond to a telephone call and email seeking comment. A press secretary for U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, who rep- resents Eastern Oregon in Congress, said Walden has repeatedly called upon the administration to say what it plans to do. Early in the wild- life refuge occupation, Walden said Obama could ease some of the tension by backing away from the canyonlands propos- al. “If they don’t plan to do it, they should just come out and say so,” press secretary Andrew Malcolm said in an email. Skinner, the rancher, con- sistently distances his cause from the case made by the ref- uge occupiers. “I don’t agree with the Bundys at all, period,” he said. “I don’t agree with their methods, especially with grazing issues. But nobody can help but say, ‘I can under- stand.’ “Greg Walden said it: You understand why people have reached the end of their rope. That’s why they’ve got followers.” Washington Farm Bureau also has concerns about WDFW driving up land prices LAND from Page 1 Comments habitat in the Lake Creek drainage. WDFW consid- ers the land important for sage grouse. The proper- ty was a working ranch until three years ago and has been for sale for fi ve years. • Walla Walla County: 2,560 acres along and near the Touchet River. The land was once used for agricul- ture and is now enrolled in the federal Conservation Re- serve Enhancement Program, in which the owner takes land out of farm production in ex- change for yearly payments. • Pacifi c County: 733 Written comments on the proposed acquisitions may be submitted via email to Lands@dfw.wa.gov or by mail to Lauri Vigue, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501-1091. acres around Willapa Bay. The land has been used for agriculture and shellfi sh farming. WDFW would use the land for recreation and wildlife habitat. • Thurston County: 343 acres of South Puget Sound prairie. Current uses include farming. The land would be important habitat for the Mazma pocket gopher, ac- cording to WDFW. • Snohomish County: 280 acres in the Snoqualmie Val- ley. Current uses include ag- riculture. The land would be- come part of the Snoqualmie Wildlife Area. • Kittitas County: 215 acres in the Teanaway Valley. Current uses of the land in- clude irrigated hay fi elds and logging. If bought by WDFW, agriculture fi elds would be re- stored to wildlife habitat. • Klickitat County: 60 acres in the Bowman Creek area. The land would become part of the Klickitat Wildlife Area. Grazing would continue on part of the land, according to WDFW. • Lincoln County: 59 acres in the Seven Springs area. The land has been used for grazing, according to WDFW. The department intends to use the property for the Swanson Wildlife Area head- quarters and fi re station. The land would also provide sage grouse habitat. • Grays Harbor County: 15 acres near the Wynoochee River. The property is now private timberland. WDFW says acquiring the property would improve angler access to the river and protect hatch- ery steelhead. • Snohomish County: 13 acres on Ebey Island. The land is now controlled by the state Department of Transpor- tation to offset fi lling in wet- lands elsewhere. WDFW says it would improve access to the island. WDFW’s property acqui- sitions have drawn criticism for taking private property off county tax rolls. Following a formula set by the Legisla- ture, WDFW makes payments to counties in lieu of taxes, but the payments are less than the taxes a private landowner would pay. A bill introduced last year in the Senate that would have increased the payments didn’t pass, nor did a bill that would have required WDFW to sell as much property as it bought in a particular county. The Washington Farm Bu- reau also has concerns about WDFW driving up land pric- es and gradually taking land out of agriculture production, even if some remains grazing and crop land. “It’s death by a thousand cuts,” the bureau’s govern- ment relations director, Tom Davis, said. The Farm Bureau, never- theless, respects a landown- er’s right to sell, he said. “We prefer that it not be to a state agency, but if that hap- pens, you have the right to do so.”