Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 2016)
February 26, 2016 Oregon man who shot a radio- collared wolf pleads guilty By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Don Jenkins/Capital Press Ephrata, Wash., beekeeper Tim Hiatt carries jaws of honey Feb. 18 on the Capitol Campus in Olympia. He planned to present honey to lawmakers who sponsored a bill calling on the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board to test planting pollen- and nectar-rich plants. The bill passed the House 96-1 and now goes to the Senate. Washington looks at modest bee forage experiment Beekeepers stung by weed control By DON JENKINS Capital Press OLYMPIA — For the sake of honeybees, Washington may cautiously experiment with introducing pollen-rich plants on small pieces of pri- vate land, testing whether noxious weeds can be con- trolled without killing every blooming plant. House Bill 2478, similar to legislation that stalled last year, would authorize the State Noxious Weed Control Board to supply landowners with bee-friendly plants or seeds. Landowners would then see over several years wheth- er forage for pollinators could supplant noxious weeds, re- ducing herbicide spraying that also eradicates plants that bees feed on. “That’s been a source of frustration for many beekeep- ers, that often weed control is out of control and leaves noth- ing for the bees to forage,” said Ephrata commercial bee- keeper Tim Hiatt, legislative chairman of the Washington State Beekeepers Association. HB 2478 has been passed 96-1 by the House and has re- ceived a favorable reception from the Senate Agriculture Committee. The Washington Farm Bureau has indicated its support. A more ambitious and ex- pensive bee-forage bill last year would have directed the weed control board to work with state and federal land managers to replace noxious weeds with pollen- and nec- tar-rich plants. The bill passed the House, but received 31 “no” votes and never came to a vote in the Senate. The bill encountered opposition from legislators concerned about the dangers of inadvertently introducing new invasive plants. This year’s bill, intro- duced by Rep. Strom Peter- son, D-Edmonds, focuses on working with private land- owners on a modest scale. The weed control board’s executive secretary, Alison Halpern, said that if the Senate passes the bill, she envisions about 100 landowners around the state supplanting noxious weeds with bee forage on one- tenth of an acre plots. “I think it’s a great bill,” she said. “It allows us to do more outreach to landowners about long-term management, not just weed control.” The bill also encourages state agencies to look at plant- ing bee forage. The bill does not dic- tate any changes in current weed-control efforts by land- owners or counties. The state would spend an estimated $17,000 the irst year on seeds, plants and printing up information about the pilot project. A Washington State De- partment of Agriculture study group last year concluded that 5 CapitalPress.com An Oregon man who shot an endangered wolf while hunting coyotes last fall pleaded guilty Tuesday in Grant County Justice Court. As part of a negotiated deal, Brennon D. Witty, 26, of Baker City, pleaded guilty to taking a threatened or en- dangered species, a Class A violation, Harney County District Attorney Tim Colah- an said in a news release. A companion charge of hunting with a centerire rile with no big game tag was dis- missed. Witty originally was charged with two Class A misdemeanors; the reduction of one charge to a violation and dismissal of the other was part of the plea negotiation. Witty was ined $1,000 and ordered to pay $1,000 restitution to Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife. The rile he used, a Savage .223 with a scope, was for- Courtesy of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife OR-22, a male wolf that separated from the Umatilla River Pack in February, is pictured walking through a Northeast Oregon forest on Jan. 26. A Baker City, Ore., man who reported he shot the wolf while hunting coyotes, has pleaded guilty in a related charge. feited to the state. The investigation began Oct. 6, 2015, when Witty vol- untarily notiied ODFW and Oregon State Police that he’d shot a wolf while hunting coyotes on private property south of Prairie City. Police recovered the carcass of a ra- dio-collared wolf, designated OR-22, on the property. The shooting happened in Grant County but Colahan, the prosecutor in neighbor- ing Harney County, handled it as a courtesy. The Grant County district attorney was acquainted with Witty’s fam- ily and wanted to avoid the appearance of a conlict of interest. The shooting happened a month before Oregon re- moved gray wolves from the state endangered species list, but that had no apparent bear- ing on the case. The ODFW Commission on Nov. 9 re- moved wolves from the state list, and they remain on the federal endangered species list in the western two-thirds of the state. The wolf was a male that had worn a GPS tracking col- lar since October 2013 and dispersed from the Umatilla Pack in February 2015. He was in Malheur County for awhile, then traveled into Grant County. Wildlife biologists don’t believe he had a mate or pups. Young or sub-domi- nant wolves often leave their home packs to establish their own territory and ind mates. lack of forage was a prime reason for high bee mortality rates. Among 147 plants des- ignated by the state as noxious weeks, at least 27 of them are good sources of bee nutrition, according to a legislative re- port. The pilot project would have little immediate effect. One hundred landowners planting pollen-rich plants on one-tenth acre plots equals 10 acres. “This project wouldn’t cre- ate acres and acres of forage for bees, but it would create, we hope, good guidelines for landowners to go forward if they’re interested in creating forage when they remove noxious weeds,” Hiatt said. 9-4/#14 Agricultural education teaches students about agriculture, food and natural resources. Through these subjects, agricultural educators teach students a wide variety of skills, including science, math, communications, leadership, management and technology. Ag teachers never have the same day twice. One day they might be in a classroom or laboratory, the next visiting students in the field, preparing teams for an FFA Career Development Event, or leading a community service activity with their FFA Chapter. • Teach by doing, not just telling • Share their passion for agriculture • Create lessons that are hands-on • Reach students, including those who might not be successful in a traditional classroom • Teach about cutting edge topics, like cloning, satellite mapping, biofuels, alternative energy and more. • Travel in state, nationally, and even internationally. • Work with new and emerging technology from agribusiness companies. Currently there is a national shortage of agricultural educators at the secondary level. It is estimated that there will be hundreds of unfilled positions across the United States this year, simply because not enough students are choosing to be agricultural educators. 9-2/#13