February 19, 2016
CapitalPress.com
11
‘I was totally expecting a repeat after last year, but it didn’t happen’
FLU from Page 1
migrated north. Anticipat-
ing bird lu’s return, oficials
made extensive plans to test
wild birds, euthanize infected
locks and maybe vaccinate
poultry.
The USDA and other agen-
cies have sampled more than
43,000 wild birds nationwide
since July. Two mallard ducks
— in Oregon and Utah —
were carrying Eurasian bird
lu viruses, but tests were in-
conclusive as to whether the
viruses were highly pathogen-
ic or far less dangerous low
pathogenic strains.
In Washington, where the
Eurasian virus irst appeared
in the U.S. in ducks in What-
com County in December
2014, more than 1,200 wild
birds have been tested without
a trace of bird lu.
“I was totally expecting
a repeat after last year, but it
didn’t happen,” Washington
Department of Fish and Wild-
life veterinarian Kristen Man-
sield said. “I think a lot of us
are scratching our heads.”
Bird lu struck an Indiana
poultry producer in mid-Janu-
ary, but the strain was a low
pathogenic North American
virus that mutated into a high-
ly pathogenic one in a single
62,000-turkey lock.
The virus was highly sim-
ilar to low pathogenic strains
Bird lu struck an Indiana poul-
try producer in mid-January, but
the strain was a low pathogenic
North American virus that mu-
tated into a highly pathogenic
one in a single 62,000-turkey
lock.
Stock images
In Whatcom County, Wash., where the Eurasian virus irst appeared in the U.S. in ducks in December 2014, more than 1,200 wild birds
have been tested without a trace of bird lu.
detected in Western and Mid-
western states between 2011
and 2013, but different than
the Eurasian virus that dam-
aged the U.S. poultry indus-
try last year, according to
USDA.
Eight other commercial
turkey locks in the same Indi-
ana county were infected with
the low pathogenic virus. All
of the turkeys, about 258,000,
plus 155,000 healthy chickens
in the area, were euthanized
as a precaution.
In Oregon, more than
1,600 wild birds have been
tested. Only the mallard duck,
collected in Morrow County
in November, was found to
have Eurasian bird lu.
“It kind of shows what we
know and don’t know about
things in the wild. Things
certainly don’t act like you’d
expect in a laboratory setting.
Their lab is the wetlands,” he
said.
More than 4,100 wild birds
have been sampled in Cali-
fornia and more than 400 in
Idaho.
Baker cautioned poultry
owners to continue to be pro-
tect their locks from migrat-
ing waterfowl. “We haven’t
gone through the return mi-
gration yet,” he said.
Obama moves to protect 1.8M acres of Calif. desert Nursery, packing operation
sue state labor board
By JOHN ROGERS
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Pres-
ident Barack Obama granted
national monument status
Friday to nearly 1.8 million
acres of scenic Southern Cal-
ifornia desert, a move the
White House says will main-
tain in perpetuity the region’s
fragile ecosystem and natural
resources, as well as provide
recreational opportunities for
hikers, campers, hunters and
others.
Obama, in California
this week for a fundraising
swing, signed proclamations
establishing three regions as
national monuments — Mo-
Nave Trails, Castle Mountains
(both in the MoNave DesertE
and Sand to Snow in the So-
noran Desert.
The White House says the
designations will nearly dou-
ble the amount of public land
that Obama has designated
as national monument status
since taking ofice.
“In addition to perma-
nently protecting incredible
natural resources, wildlife
habitat and unique historic
and cultural sites, and provid-
ing recreational opportunities
for a burgeoning region, the
monuments will support cli-
mate resiliency in the region
...,” the White House said in
a statement.
The designations will also
connect those regions to oth-
er protected government land,
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
David Danelski/The Press-Enterprise via AP, File
In this ile photo, Joshua trees display unusually abundant blooms in the Cima Dome area of the Mo-
jave National Preserve. President Barack Obama is granting national monument status to nearly 1.8
million acres of California desert wilderness, including land that would connect this preserve to other
established national monuments and national parks in the area. Obama, in California for a fund-raising
swing, made the announcement Feb. 12.
including Joshua Tree Nation-
al Park, the MoNave National
Preserve and 15 other federal
wilderness areas.
MoNave Trails National
Monument, at 1.6 million
acres, is by far the largest of
the three new ones.
Sprawling across the vast
MoNave Desert, it contains
ancient lava lows, spectac-
ular sand dunes, ancient Na-
tive American trading routes
and World War II-era training
camps. It also contains the
largest remaining undeveloped
stretch of America’s Mother
Road, historic Route 66.
Castle Mountains National
Monument, also in the Mo-
Nave Desert, links two moun-
tain ranges as it covers nearly
21,000 acres that hold numer-
ous important Native Ameri-
can archaeological sites. The
area is also home to golden
eagles, bighorn sheep, moun-
tain lions and other wildlife.
Sand to Snow Nation-
al Monument rises from the
loor of the Sonoran Desert
to the 11,503-foot peak of
Mount San Gorgonio, South-
ern California’s tallest alpine
peak.
Its diverse landscape in-
cludes the headwaters of the
state’s Santa Ana and White-
water rivers and is home to
240 species of birds and 12
endangered or threatened
species of wildlife. It also
contains an estimated 1,700
Native American petro-
glyphs and 30 miles of the
Paciic Crest National Scenic
Trail.
The federal Antiquities Act,
adopted in 1906, grants the
president the authority to pro-
tect landmarks, structures, and
objects of historic or scientiic
interest by designating them as
National Monuments.
SACRAMENTO — Two
California agricultural oper-
ations are suing the state’s
Agricultural Labor Relations
Board over the practice of
allowing union representa-
tives to visit farms to organize
workers, which they argue is
unconstitutional.
The lawsuit was iled on
behalf of Dorris, Calif.-based
Cedar Point Nursery and
Fresno-based Fowler Packing
Co., which claim their opera-
tions were disrupted by Unit-
ed Farm Workers efforts to
organize their employees.
The UFW staged a demon-
stration on Cedar Point’s
property during its six-week
strawberry plant harvest last
year and iled an unfair labor
practices complaint with the
ALRB against Fowler, which
prohibited organizers from
entering its property.
The union’s complaint has
since been withdrawn.
The Paciic Legal Foun-
dation, which is represent-
ing Cedar Point Nursery and
Fowler Packing Co., argues
the regulation violates the
owners’ Fifth Amendment
right against government-im-
posed takings, which includes
the freedom to exclude tres-
passers, and their Fourth
Amendment right against
government-sanctioned intru-
sions.
The complaint, iled Feb.
10 in U.S. District Court,
alleges the ALRB regula-
tion promotes trespassing by
granting a “right of access
by union organizers to the
premises of an agricultural
employer for the purpose of
meeting and talking” with
workers.
“This case is about basic
protections for everyone who
owns property,” PLF principal
attorney Joshua P. Thompson
said in prepared remarks.
“Nothing is more funda-
mental for any property owner
than being able to keep tres-
passers out. Bureaucrats can’t
cancel that right — especially
not as a favor to organized la-
bor,” he said.
Thompson and other PLF
oficials announced the iling
at a news conference at the
World Ag Expo in Tulare, Ca-
lif.
Oficials from the union
and the ALRB did not imme-
diately respond to messages
from the Capital Press seek-
ing comment.
The decades-old access
regulation survived a chal-
lenge at the state Supreme
Court in 1976 but has never
been challenged in federal
court on the grounds that it
violates the Constitution, PLF
lawyers say.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Grower
Seminars:
February 23:
Operation, Maintenance &
Troubleshooting for Netafim
Hydraulic Control Valves and
Disc-Kleen Filters
Come see our 1250 SF
fabrication shop! We
are here for all your
welding needs.
Customer Appreciation
BBQ
March 18, 11am-1pm
February 24:
Reinke New Technology
& Training
Please contact our office for more information on these events.
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