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July 22, 2016 CapitalPress.com 3 Stevens County ranchers protest Oregon farmer wins his zoning dispute the Profanity Peak wolf pack By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Area in WASH. detail NAT’L FOR. 395 25 Republic 20 FERRY Colville Approximate site of Profanity Peak wolfpack COLLVILLE CONFEDERATED 21 TRIBES um bia River 395 C ol A northeastern Washing- ton ranchers’ organization says members of the Profanity Peak wolf pack have become “chronic killers” of livestock and wants them removed. The wolf pack has killed three calves belonging to the Diamond M Ranch within the past 20 days, according to the Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association. Justin Hedrick, Diamond M Ranch co-owner and president of the cattlemen’s association, criticized the steps required by the state before problem wolves can be killed. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife protocols require four confi rmed kills in one calendar year by the pack, non-lethal deterrents have to fail and the public must be no- tifi ed that the wolves will be removed. Donny Martorello, wolf policy lead for WDFW, said 21 COLVILLE STEVENS 25 N Capital Press graphic the department has not begun transitioning to killing any wolves in the pack. According to the WDFW, the offi cial toll in the Profanity Peak pack area is two confi rmed livestock kills by wolves and two proba- ble kills by wolves. “We are coordinating with the county in the event we get two more confi rmed depreda- tions on livestock and continue to meet the expectations for deterrence measures,” Mar- torello said. Local law enforcement asked for more coordination with the department, particu- larly regarding public safety and staff safety. “Hopefully no more live- stock are lost, but we’re keeping a diligent eye out there in case something does go down,” Martorello said. “We’re continuing to keep an eye on the situation, working with local livestock producers and monitoring the situation in case of additional livestock losses.” Hedrick stated in a press release he believes the WDFW is trying to avoid reaching the four killings needed to start le- thal removal. “This situation needs to be addressed because if it isn’t, we are going to see as many losses as we did in 2012 from the Wedge Pack,” Hedrick stated. “That is rugged country and the wolves are just going to keep killing.” Capital Press In 2012 the ranch lost 40 calves to the Wedge pack and 20 the previous year. WDFW ultimately killed seven Wedge Pack wolves. Hedrick estimated the ranch lost 26 calves and four cows in 2014 to the Profanity Peak pack. The department confi rmed the loss of only one cow-calf pair and a calf to Pro- fanity Peak wolves that year. The ranchers have met the expectations of the wolf plan, Martorello said. The use of range riders will help reduce the risk of future losses or help discover depredations, he said. The department has two ac- tive GPS radio collars on Pro- fanity Peak wolves and moni- tors them daily for clusters of wolf activity. “Our goal is not to have dead livestock,” Martorel- lo said. “It’s a reality of wolf management, if you see esca- lation in depredations, preven- tative tools have been tried and they’ve failed, we’re going to do that part of our job.” Straw-compressing facil- ities can be built on Oregon farmland without a county conditional use permit, ac- cording to the Oregon Court of Appeals. The appellate court has rejected arguments that com- pressing bales of straw for easier shipment to overseas markets is a form of “pro- cessing” that’s disallowed within farm zones without a permit. The ruling upholds a fi nd- ing by Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals, or LUBA, that straw-compressing is crop “preparation” that’s al- lowed outright on farmland. “The record refl ects that the straw is unchanged in substance from when it is fi rst baled in the fi eld to when it is packaged for resale,” the appellate court said in the July 20 ruling. The case is seen as sig- nifi cant for Oregon land use law because it could have changed allowable farm ac- tivities on a county-by-coun- ty basis. Farmer John Gilmour of Albany, Ore., said that time restrictions imposed on his straw-compressing facility by Linn County were hurting its competitiveness, while some neighbors complained of traffi c hazards and noise. The ruling ensures uni- formity across Oregon in the defi nition of “farm use,” said Alan Sorem, attorney for Gilmour. If each county were to have its own interpretation of farm use, with different restrictions on operations, it would be destabilizing for agriculture, he said. “It’s a great decision in Feds increase immigration-related fi nes By DAN WHEAT Capital Press OLYMPIA — The U.S. departments of Homeland Security and Labor are sig- nifi cantly increasing immi- gration-related fi nes on Aug. 1, according to the farm labor association WAFLA. The minimum penalty for mistakes and omissions on I-9 Employment Eligibility Verifi cation forms nearly dou- bles from $110 to $216 per violation. If underlying docu- ments show an undocumented worker, the employer may be charged $539 more per viola- tion, WAFLA said in an email alert to members on July 13. “The government is fol- lowing a typical pattern, making it more diffi cult for employers to use legal work- er programs like H-2A, and at the same time blaming em- ployers for undocumented im- migration,” Dan Fazio, WAF- LA CEO said in the alert. Fazio said to prevent un- documented immigration, the government needs to make it substantially easier for em- ployers to obtain work visas Dan Wheat/Capital Press H-2A-visa foreign guestworkers from Mexico head to their crew bus for a 9 a.m. break at Zirkle Fruit Co.’s CRO Orchard south of Rock Island, Wash., April 26. The federal government is in the process of increasing fi nes for employers who violate immigration and labor laws. for people willing to do work Americans choose not to do. The minimum penalty for discriminating against immi- grant workers goes from $375 to $445 per worker, he said. This can include an employer requesting updated informa- tion when a legal permanent resident card expires, he said. DHS proposes to raise a fee for H-2A-visa applica- tions for foreign guestworkers from $325 to $460. That one needs fi nal approval which could happen by Aug. 1, the alert states. DOL is increasing pen- alties for violations of H-2A contracts and program re- quirements from $1,500 to $1,625 per violation. The penalty for failure to cooperate in a DOL Wage and Hour Division investiga- tion is going up 9.8 percent to $5,491. Failure to cooperate is somewhat subjective and has been used as a bargaining chip in negotiating fi nes in the past, the alert states. If an employer lays off, displaces or improperly re- jects a U.S. worker to hire an H-2A worker, the maximum fi ne is $16,312 per violation per worker, up from $15,000. Penalties for willful violations of worker contracts and pro- gram regulatory requirements are increasing from $5,000 to $5,491. Employers may be fi ned up to $54,373 per worker for violations related to housing, transportation, safety and health provisions that cause death or serious injury to H-2A workers, the alert states. The maximum penalty for violations of the H-2B (non-agricultural temporary foreign workers) program go from $10,000 to $11,940 per violations. Applicable viola- tions include those related to wages, impermissible deduc- tions, prohibited fees and ex- penses and improper refusal to employ or hire U.S. work- ers, among others. Employers should review their I-9s, make sure they are in good shape and conduct mock audits or hire WAFLA to conduct mock audits for them, the alert states. that it provides stability for farmers,” Sorem said. Suzi Maresh, a neighbor opposed to the facility, said that straw-compressing is a great business but should be situated in an area where trucks don’t cause road haz- ards. “This is an entirely inap- propriate development for this location in Linn Coun- ty,” Maresh said. The Oregon Court of Ap- peals decision is disappoint- ing because it doesn’t resolve the traffi c problem and could allow it to grow worse if Gilmour expands, she said. Critics of the facility ar- gued for a reversal of the LUBA opinion, claiming the board’s analysis of “pro- cessing” was incomplete and should have followed Linn County’s interpretation, which held that straw com- pressing was a “commercial activity in conjunction with farm use” and required a per- mit. The Oregon Court of Ap- peals has disagreed with this view, ruling that LUBA is not required to defer to the coun- ty’s legal reasoning. Critics claimed facility compresses up to 25,000 tons of straw collected from oth- er farms, compared to 5,000 tons grown by Gilmour, and it operates year-round, which disqualifi es it as a “farm use.” Gilmour countered that the facility may accept out- side straw because it’s also grown on property zoned ex- clusively for farm use. Compressing is simply a “preparation” of the crop for shipping, as it doesn’t fun- damentally change the char- acter of the straw — unlike turning berries into jam, he said. Grass Expertise. Over 40 Years Experience LET’S TALK! DON’T PLANT TEFF FOLLOWING TRITICALE! ASK ME WHY. GREENWAY SEEDS Caldwell, Idaho • Alan Greenway, Seedsman Cell: 208-250-0159 • MSG: 208-454-8342 Alan Greenway, Seedsman 30-1/#17 By MATTHEW WEAVER Large Transmission Power Lines on Your Property? Lease Us Your Land! 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