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O RC ORCHARDS, NUTS & VINES SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE H NUT ARDS, VINE S & S FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2016 VOLUME 89, NUMBER 16 WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM $2.00 WATER EPA mum as What’s Upstream stays afl oat More lawmakers question EPA’s role in continuing anti-farm campaign By DON JENKINS The Capital Press An Environmental Pro- tection Agency-funded me- dia campaign to change how Washington state regulates agriculture remained largely intact Tuesday, one week after the agency said the campaign misused EPA funds and that it was taking corrective action. What’s Upstream, a part- nership between the Swinom- ish Indian tribe and environ- mental groups, has maintained a website, letter-writing cam- paign, Facebook page and one billboard. The EPA through a spokes- man in Seattle declined Tues- day to comment on what, if anything, the agency is doing to dismantle the campaign. The tribe last week took down a billboard in Olympia and said it voluntarily planned to take down a second one in Bellingham because of EPA’s concerns. The billboard has remained up. Efforts to reach a tribe offi cial Tuesday were unsuccessful. The tribe and environmen- tal groups characterize What’s Upstream as a campaign to educate the public about sources of water pollution. Farm groups and some lawmakers criticize the cam- paign as on over-the-top smearing of farmers and ranchers and possibly an il- legal use of federal funds for political activities. “The campaign goes on and the damage being done to farmers continues. We’re very concerned and disappointed EPA won’t take stronger ac- tion to end this abuse, so we will have to look to our elect- ed representatives,” said Ger- ald Baron, director of Save Family Farming in northwest- ern Washington. EPA records show the agency encouraged the cam- paign as far back as 2011 and directed the tribe to use EPA grants for public education “directed at decision makers and regional stakeholders.” The tribe implemented ele- ments of the media campaign in 2013 with the help of a public-relations fi rm, Strate- gies 360, and the knowledge of the EPA, according to EPA records. What’s Upstream appar- ently garnered little attention Turn to EPA, Page 12 How we use it By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press M More than 4 trillion gallons of precipitation falls on the country every day on average. That’s nearly enough fresh water to fi ll the Great Salt Lake in Utah. But roughly two-thirds of that water almost immediately evaporates into the at- mosphere or is used by plants. Of the remaining water, which fl ows to the ocean in rivers or collects in lakes and underground aquifers, less than half can realistically be put to “intensive benefi cial uses,” according to a federal government report. Since only a fraction of the nation’s rainfall and snow is available to use, water managers have been understandably ner- vous about meeting the multitude of needs in the future — particularly in the face of a larger population and warmer climate. Estimated water use in the U.S., 2010 At nearly 355 billion gallons per day in 2010, water use in the U.S. was still down 13 percent from 2005. The largest water user by far was the thermoelectric* power industry, accounting for nearly half of water usage overall. However, this industry managed to use 20 percent less than it did in 2005. NOTE: Totals may not equal 100 due to rounding. Source: U.S. Geological Survey Thermoelectric* power: 161 Bgal/d or 45.4% *Coal, nuclear and biomass electricity generation Irrigation withdrawals: 115 Bgal/d or 32.5% Public/domestic: 45.6 Bgal/d or 12.9% Industrial/mining: 21.2 Bgal/d or 6% More people, less water Aquaculture: 9.4 Bgal/d or 2.7% The good news is those worries have forced Americans to fi nd ways to consume less water. Livestock: 2 Bgal/d or 0.6% Turn to WATER, Page 12 Alan Kenaga/Capital Press Though we use a lot of water, most of it evaporates or returns to ground BLM’s Western Oregon forest plan disappoints everyone By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Timber industry groups believe the federal Bureau of Land Management’s proposed new forest management plan for Western Oregon is a di- saster that locks up 75 percent of the land, will cost jobs and leave forests more vulnerable to fi re. One group called it a “lose, lose, lose” plan for the envi- ronment, wildlife and rural communities. As it turns out, conserva- tion groups also think the pro- posed Resource Management Associated Press fi le This photo shows Bureau of Land Management timber outside Ruch, Ore. The BLM has released its draft of a new Western Oregon manage- ment plan, which niether the industry nor conservationists say they like. Plan is lousy. They say it will increase logging, cut stream buffer zones in half, threaten drinking water quality and harm endangered species. For its part, the BLM be- lieves it followed legal man- dates and successfully split the difference between oppos- ing points of view. In a news release, Acting State Director Jamie Connell said the BLM “achieved an extraordinary balance” between protecting threatened and endangered wildlife and allowing timber harvests that support the econ- omy of rural communities. Spokeswoman Sarah Levy said the BLM had to follow legal mandates that require the agency to protect threat- ened species such as salmon and northern spotted owls, protect waterways, provide recreation opportunities and assure sustainable timber har- vests on former Oregon & California Railroad (O&C) land it manages. “It’s really a middle-of- the-road plan,” she said. “I would say both sides can fi nd something in this plan that they like.” The Resource Manage- ment Plan covers about 2.5 million acres that the BLM administers in Western Ore- gon, including the Coos Bay, Turn to PLAN, Page 12