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CALIFORNIA TO STRENGTHEN ASIAN CITRUS PSYLLID QUARANTINE FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016 VOLUME 89, NUMBER 20 Page 7 WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM $2.00 Farm group launches campaign to counter What’s Upstream EPA: No comment until internal review fi nished By DON JENKINS Capital Press A Washington farm group plans to counter the What’s Upstream anti-agriculture campaign with a social media blitz of its own, Save Family Farming director Gerald Baron said May 9. “We’ll use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube — all the channels neces- sary to reach younger urban voters, who we think are key,” he said. “We think, defi nitely, damage has been done, and we need to correct that.” Save Family Farming was formed this year primarily to defend dairies in northwestern Washington Courtesy of Save Family Farming A new video from Save Family Farming, an agriculture advocacy group in Wash- ington, seeks to counter the media campaign What’s Upstream by portraying producers as conscientious stewards of the land. and before the Environmental Pro- tection Agency’s support for What’s Upstream was widely known. What’s Upstream was funded by EPA grants allocated to restore Puget Sound fi sheries, but its theme was a general call to restrict agricul- ture. Baron said the campaign has gal- vanized producers in Eastern and Western Washington to push back against claims that farmers and ranchers are unregulated polluters of waterways. “This is getting attention state- wide because it affects all farm- ers,” he said. “It’s important to get the message out that farms are very heavily regulated, but more than that, those regulations are effective.” With EPA grants, the Swinomish Indian tribe, based in north Puget Sound, hired a Seattle public rela- tions and lobbying fi rm, Strategies 360, and collaborated with environ- mental groups on What’s Upstream. The campaign’s push for manda- tory 100-foot buffers between farm fi elds and streams failed to win the Washington Legislature’s attention. But Baron said he’s concerned that the ongoing campaign will mold vot- er attitudes. He noted that a Strategies 360 memo to the tribe described public opinion on water-quality issues as “malleable.” “So many decisions are really driven by the perception political leaders have about where the pub- lic is,” Baron said. “We’re certainly very concerned about the impression that’s been left with urban voters who don’t have much exposure to farms and don’t know what farmers are doing to protect water and fi sh.” The counter-campaign, called Thank Family Farmers, will be fi - nanced by farmers, food processors and agriculture-related businesses, but not producer-funded commodity commissions to avoid the perception of public funding, Baron said. Turn to UPSTREAM, Page 12 and Wildlife Service AGRICULTURE 65,000 acres designated Oregon spotted frog ‘critical habitat’ SLIPS OFF POLITICAL RADAR By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press More than 65,000 acres have been designated “critical habitat” for the Oregon spot- ted frog, a threatened species at the center of a lawsuit over irrigation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the critical habi- tat designation in Oregon and Washington, which includes 20 miles of river, provides a “road map” to guide conser- vation efforts for the frog. While the federal govern- ment claims the designation won’t have regulatory impacts on private property, attorneys for natural resource industries say critical habitat does pose a concern for landowners. Actions that adversely af- fect or slow the recovery of critical habitat are considered unlawful “take” that’s prohib- ited by the Endangered Spe- cies Act, said Karen Budd- Falen, a natural resource attorney in Wyoming. “If I’m a private landown- er, I’m going to be a little ner- vous,” she said. Several environmental groups are already suing the federal government over the impact that irrigation reser- voirs in Oregon’s Deschutes Basin allegedly have on the frog. Turn to FROG, Page 12 www.donaldjtrump.com Republican presiden- tial candidate Donald Trump. go.berniesanders.com Democratic presiden- tial candidate Bernie Sanders. hillaryclinton.com Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. While some observers say agriculture deserves more attention, others say it’s a good thing presidential candidates are distracted by other issues I By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press DAHO FALLS, Idaho — In a crowded gymnasium at Skyline High School, Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders espoused his many posi- tions for more than an hour on a long list of issues. “We’re doing something pretty radical in Amer- ican politics. We’re telling the truth!” the Vermont sena- tor shouted over the cheers of raucous supporters during the mid-March stop. “We can’t go forward as a nation unless we honestly discuss the real problems we face.” In a hoarse voice, he ticked off a list of his issues: Campaign fi nance, deteriorating infrastructure, glob- al warming, health care, crime, education, clean water, Wall Street recklessness and other topics. One notable exception was agriculture. In the middle of Idaho farm country — and near the epicenter of the state’s po- tato industry — farming was not on the candidate’s agenda. Sanders is not alone. The other remaining candidates for chief executive, Democrat Hillary Clinton, a former senator and secre- tary of state, and Republican businessman Donald Trump have also given agriculture short shrift in their speeches during the long campaign. Political operatives see 2016 as the continuation of a decades-long slide in which agriculture’s infl uence in presidential politics has been fading. Turn to ELECTION, Page 12 John O’Connell/Capital Press Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent running for president as a Democrat, delivers a March 18 speech in Idaho Falls. Sanders touched on a host of issues during the speech but said nothing about agriculture. 20-4/#5
