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CapitalPress.com
April 22, 2016
Lawsuit claims USDA undermining organics board
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Cornucopia Institute has
filed a lawsuit against USDA
alleging misconduct by the
department resulted in its in-
appropriate influence in the
workings of the National Or-
ganic Standards Board.
Cornucopia alleges USDA
actions demonstrate a “shirk-
ing of its duty to maintain
the integrity of organic food
standards on behalf of the
American people,” according
to the complaint, filed in U.S.
District Court in Wisconsin
on April 18.
The NOSB is a 15-mem-
ber, independent, federal advi-
sory committee that provides
recommendations to USDA
regarding the implementation
of the Organic Food Produc-
tion Act. It is also charged
with developing and review-
ing a national list of allowed
and prohibited substances for
use in organic agriculture and
organic food processing.
Cornucopia claims USDA
has illegally hijacked the
NOSB to make it and the
National Organic Program
friendlier to the needs of big
agribusiness interests that
have gotten into the growing
organic market.
The
lawsuit
alleges
non-growers were appointed
to NOSB seats reserved for
owners or operators of organ-
ic growers. By appointing un-
qualified people — agribusi-
ness executives — to those
grower seats, USDA deviated
from the viewpoint balance in
the NOSB required by federal
law, the complaint states.
Cornucopia is joined in
the lawsuit by two certified
organic farmers — Dominic
Marchese of Farmdale, Ohio,
and Rebecca Goodman of
Wonewoc, Wis. — who ap-
plied for seats on the NOSB
but were passed over by
USDA in favor of agribusi-
ness executives, the com-
plaint states.
“Not only are farmers be-
ing denied their right to partic-
ipate in organic decision-mak-
ing, but statistics illustrate
the corporate representatives
sitting in farmer seats have
been decisively more willing
to vote for the use of ques-
tionable and controversial
materials in organics, weak-
ening the organic standards,”
Cornucopia Co-Director Will
Fantle said in a press release
announcing the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also alleges
USDA inappropriately influ-
enced NOSB by disbanding a
policy development subcom-
mittee, allowing the self-ap-
pointment of a USDA dep-
uty administrator as NOSB
co-chairman, removing the
NOSB’s ability to set its own
work plan and agenda, and
changing the rules regarding
allowed substances in organic
production without public no-
tice or comment.
“USDA, through NOSB,
has a responsibility to en-
sure that food bearing the
organic certification has been
produced using organic mea-
sures,” the complaint states.
“USDA’s unlawful med-
dling with the composition
and rules governing the
NOSB has created an NOSB
hostile to the public interest
it was created to protect,” the
complaint states.
The plaintiffs claim US-
DA’s actions undermine the
integrity of organic food stan-
dards, causing both economic
and reputational harm to or-
ganic farmers.
The complaint alleges
USDA violated the Organic
Food Production Act and the
Federal Advisory Committee
Act.
The USDA defended its
NOSB selections.
“USDA selects Nation-
al Organic Standards Board
(NOSB) members each spring
based on nominations made
by the organic industry,”
USDA said in a statement to
the Capital Press. “While we
cannot comment on the pend-
ing litigation, we stand by our
procedures to ensure that the
NOSB, like all of our adviso-
ry boards, includes a diverse
group of experts that best rep-
resent the organic agriculture
industry.”
Hard cider makes easy connection between urban, rural
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
ODELL, ORE. — About
3,200 people packed the
Hard-Pressed Cider Fest here
April 16, which itself isn’t
that unusual. In terms of con-
sumer tastes and response,
hard cider is following in the
successful Pacific Northwest
footsteps of regional beer and
wine.
The news may lie in who
attended. Anecdotally, at
least, the crowd’s demograph-
ics leaned heavily to young
and urban. Cider makers say
the same kind of people who
like microbrews and fine wine
also like hard cider.
And rural producers, gen-
erally, are glad they do. In
some cases, especially with
niche markets, winning the
favor of city buyers can lead
to success.
“Seattle and Portland are
really good about trying new
things,” said Bob Fox, who
manages Fox-tail Cider in
the Hood River Valley, where
the festival was held. He said
many of the people stopping
at his tasting station were
from those cities, and from
Bend and the Tri-Cities area
as well.
Fox is a fifth-genera-
tion orchardist, an oper-
ation that began with his
great-great-grandfather, Au-
gust Paasch. He said he grows
“Pears and cherries, apples,
peaches and whatnot.”
Looking to diversify op-
erations, the family branched
off a new business and be-
gan making Fox-tail Cider in
2012.
“So far, so good,” Fox
said. “People keep drinking
it, so we keep making it. It’s
a good agricultural product.
I think it helped out with the
apple market.”
Hood River vineyard
owner and winemaker Rich
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
Patrick Martin of Bull Run Cider in Forest Grove, Ore., pours a tasting glass during the Hard-Pressed Cider Fest April 16 in Hood River,
Ore. More than a dozen Northwest cideries brought samples of their products.
Online
http://www.foxtailcider.com/
home.html
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
Multiple Pacific Northwest hard
cider makers were pouring
tastes April 16 at the Hard-
Pressed Cider Fest in Hood
River, Ore.
Cushman said hard cider is a
good fit for the valley. With
the cornucopia of fruit grown
nearby, much of which can be
used to make or flavor cider,
the valley ought to lay claim
to the title of the U.S. “cider
capital,” he said.
“I think we should be all
over that in Hood River,” he
said.
Cushman said there is
“huge interest” in cider and
demand is strong. “We need
more staff to really serve the
market that’s out there for us.”
Cushman teamed with
high school classmate Steve
Bickford, an orchardist and
vineyard owner, to form Hood
River Ciderworks in 2013.
Valley residents, long familiar
with traditional, fresh-market
pear and apple production, ap-
pear to have embraced wine,
cider and other new forms of
value-added agriculture.
“They now recognize that
diversity in business is a good
thing to have here, rather than
focus solely on one business
segment like lumber or some-
thing,” Cushman said. “Some
other counties, that was their
entire ball of wax and they’re
still struggling.”
Detailed attendance data
for the cider fest, including
where online ticket buyers
reside, wasn’t immediately
available. But the Hood River
Chamber of Commerce, the
event organizer, believes ur-
ban attendance was strong.
Industry observers say pro-
duction of hard cider — the
alcoholic cousin of sweet ap-
ple cider — is growing rapid-
ly, especially in the West.
A retired Cornell Univer-
sity apple researcher and pro-
fessor, Ian Merwin, estimated
that people in Oregon, Wash-
ington and California drink
80 percent of the hard cider
consumed in the U.S. Speak-
ers at the U.S. Cider Associa-
tion’s annual convention, held
in Portland in February, said
cider accounts for 1.7 percent
of alcohol sales nationally, but
about 4 percent in Portland
and Seattle.
The February convention
attracted about 1,200 cider
makers, apple growers, dis-
tributors and others from 44
states and eight countries.
In related news, the North-
west Cider Association an-
nounced Emily Ritchie will
become the group’s executive
director effective May 2.
Ritchie, now the associ-
ation’s program manager,
previously was a market-
ing and sales associate for
Truitt Family Food in Sa-
lem and directed the Ore-
gon FoodCorps program at
the Oregon Department of
Agriculture.
Foresters seek solution to clear-cut image problem
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Oregon’s timber industry
has a blemish on its otherwise
positive public image: People
consider clearcutting unsight-
ly.
Most Oregonians know
that state law requires trees to
be replanted after harvest, but
clearcutting is nonetheless as-
sociated with negative words,
including “ugly,” “sad” and
“greed,” according to the Or-
egon Forest Resources Insti-
tute, which educates the pub-
lic about forestry.
According to an OFRI
survey, 68 percent of Oregon
residents had a favorable view
of the forest products indus-
try — more than for tourism,
construction and high-tech
manufacturing — and 62 per-
cent agreed that current forest
protection laws are strong
enough.
Even so, only 25 percent
said that clearcutting was ac-
ceptable compared to 45 per-
cent who found it unaccept-
able.
About 24 percent had a
neutral opinion and 6 percent
said they didn’t know, which
LEGAL
NOTICE OF OREGON BEEF COUNCIL
PUBLIC BUDGET HEARING
NOTICE HEREBY IS GIVEN that a public meeting will be held pursuant to
ORS 577, the Oregon Beef Council Statue, by Conference Call on Friday
May 6, 2016, at 8:00 am upon a proposed budget for the operation of
the Oregon Beef Council during Fiscal Year July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017.
At this meeting, any producer of beef in Oregon has the right to be
heard with respect to the proposed budget, a copy of which is available
for inspection, under reasonable circumstances, in the Oregon Beef
Council office in Portland. Any producer of beef in Oregon may join this
conference call by calling toll free 1-866-210-1669. Participant login
number is 7890221.
For further information, contact the Oregon Beef Council office at 1827
NE 44th Ave., Ste 315, Portland, Oregon 97213.
The meeting location is accessible to persons with disabilities. A request
for an interpreter for the hearing impaired or for other
accommodations for persons with disabilities should be made at least
48 hours before the meeting to the Oregon Beef Council at 503-274-
2333.
Dated this 22nd Day of April 2016
ATTESTED: Jason Chamberlain, Chairman
William N. Wise, CEO
17-4/#4
is a sizable amount of people
who can be swayed in an elec-
tion, said Mike Cloughesy,
OFRI’s director of forestry.
Public perceptions of for-
estry practices could impact
Oregon’s timber industry in
2016, as three prospective bal-
lot initiatives seek to restrict
logging and aerial spraying of
herbicides this year, he said.
Educating people about
legal requirements to pro-
tect waterways and wildlife,
as well as practices that re-
duce soil disturbances, can
improve their perception of
clearcutting, said Cloughesy.
The industry may also
consider using techniques to
make clearcuts less jarring
aesthetically, he said. “It’s
important that we do visual
management.”
It’s not always economi-
cally feasible to harvest trees
in way that’s pleasing to the
eye, but the added investment
can be worthwhile in areas
that are highly visible to the
public, according to experts
at a recent timber industry
conference on visual manage-
ment.
Photos of denuded hillsides
and landslides have common-
ly been used by environmen-
tal groups in campaigns, such
during elections for Washing-
ton’s Commissioner of Public
Lands, said Gordon Bradley,
a retired University of Wash-
ington forestry professor.
“This imagery is not with-
out consequence,” he said.
Though it’s often said
LEGAL
NOTICE OF OREGON TALL FESCUE COMMISSION BUDGET HEARING
TO: ALL OREGON TALL FESCUE SEED GROWERS
Notice is hereby given that a public hearing will be held pur-
suant to ORS 576.416 (5), on Thursday, May 19, 2016, at 6:00
p.m., at the Cascade Grill Restaurant, 110 Opal St. NE, Albany,
Oregon, upon a proposed budget for operation of the Tall
Fescue Commission during the fiscal year July 1, 2016 through
June 30, 2017. At this hearing any producer of Oregon-grown
Tall Fescue seed has a right to be heard with respect to the pro-
posed budget, a copy of which is available for public inspection,
under reasonable circumstances, in the office of each County
Extension Agent in Oregon. For further information, contact the
Tall Fescue Commission business office, P.O. Box 3366, Salem, OR
97302, telephone 503-364-2944. The meeting location is acces-
sible to persons with disabilities. Please make any requests for an
interpreter for the hearing impaired or for other accommoda-
tion for persons with disabilities at least 48 hours before the
meeting by contacting the Commission office at 503-364-2944.
17-2/#4
that “beauty is in the eye of
the beholder,” research has
shown that people have sim-
ilar preferences and dislikes
for certain landscape features,
Bradley said.
A guiding principle is to
“minimize discordance” be-
tween the harvest area and
the surrounding landscape, he
said.
Clearcuts that have geo-
metric shapes with straight
lines and sharp corners are
more likely to contrast with
the organic, undulating shapes
of the hills and horizon, Brad-
ley said.
Irregularly shaped clear-
cuts that complement the
scenery and emulate natural
meadows are less visually
grating, he said.
“Squares stand out, but so
do triangles,” Bradley said.
“You want what you’re add-
ing to the landscape to fit.”
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 819
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder,
on 5/6/2016. The sale will be
held at 10:00am by
Wiltse Towing, LLC
3120 Cherry Ave NE
Salem, OR
2007 Jeep Commander SUV
VIN= 1J8HG48K17C562681
Amount due on lien $3,540.00
Reputed owner(s)
Jamina Ameilia Bells Owens
Legal-17-2-4/#4
Courtesy of Calif. Dept. of Water Resources
Snow covers the mountains
during the California Depart-
ment of Water Resources’ third
snow survey of the winter, con-
ducted at Phillips Station about
90 miles east of Sacramento,
on March 1.
March storms
were likely
swan song
for El Nino,
forecasters say
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
SACRAMENTO — The
sometimes-ferocious rainstorms
that hit California in March were
likely the beginning of the end
for El Nino, as the warm ocean
system that produced a wet win-
ter in many parts of the West is
continuing to fade.
Any storms that remain on
tap this spring will likely be
mild and not contribute much
to seasonal precipitation totals,
experts say.
“Now that we’re into the
spring months, widespread rain
events will become less and
less likely as we transition into
our ‘spring shower and thunder-
storm’ season,” National Weath-
er Service warning coordinator
Michelle Mead said in an email.
As surface temperatures in
the equatorial Pacific Ocean
continue to drop, the federal
Climate Prediction Center has
issued a formal La Nina watch
for next fall, confirming specu-
lation over the past few months
that conditions favoring storms
in Northern California and dry
weather is the rest of the state
could develop.
“Nearly all models predict
further weakening of El Nino,
with a transition to (neutral con-
ditions) likely during late spring
and early summer,” scientists
from the CPC’s National Cen-
ters for Environmental Predic-
tion wrote in an April 14 advi-
sory. “Then, the chance of La
Nina increases during the late
summer or early fall.”
While El Nino typically
produces warmer-than-average
storms coming from the south,
La Nina is cooler and often
means wet winters in the Pacif-
ic Northwest and far Northern
California, perhaps feeding key
reservoirs like Shasta Lake but
leaving the rest of California dry.
The big storms in March that
enabled the U.S. Bureau of Rec-
lamation to give full water allo-
cations to Northern California
farms put a cap on an El Nino
season that was one of the stron-
gest on record. But while the
storms produced above-average
precipitation in much of the Si-
erra Nevada, they provided be-
low-average snowpack and the
snow is melting quickly, Mead
said.
“We are two weeks into
snowmelt season and based on
the automated station report, the
northern region has already lost
one-third of its water equivalent
that had built up this winter,” she
said. “The higher elevation cen-
tral and southern Sierra regions
have lost 25 percent.”
While many northern reser-
voirs are nearly at capacity for
the first time in several years,
reservoirs in the central and
southern half of the state are still
half-full or less, Mead said.
Though the precipitation
improved drought conditions in
Northern California, much of
the middle of the state is still in
the most severe of drought cat-
egories, according to the U.S.
Drought Monitor.
State officials have said the
uncertainty surrounding next
winter’s rainfall and snowpack
underscores the need for Cali-
fornians to continue to conserve
water for an ongoing drought,
which is now in its fifth year.
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder,
on 5/4/2016. The sale will be
held at 10:00 am by
VISION DIESEL
12142 SKY LANE AURORA, OR
2004 FORD F250 P/U
VIN = 1FTNW21P14EE02713
Amount due on lien $898.13
Reputed owner(s)
Traci & Nicholas Butler
Ford Motor Credit Legal-17-2-4/#4