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August 12, 2016 CapitalPress.com 3 Threatened species policy challenged Federal agency asserts too much power, petition claims Analysis By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press The federal government has got it backwards when it comes to rules for killing or harming threatened species, according to a prominent property rights group. Under the Endangered Spe- cies Act, it’s illegal to “take” any species that has been listed as “endangered,” which means they’re protected from being shot, captured or otherwise ha- rassed. However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also ap- plies that “take” prohibition to species that are classifi ed as “threatened,” which generally face a lower risk of extinction. According to the Pacifi c Legal Foundation, a nonprofi t that defends farmers, ranchers and other property owners in court, the federal agency has gone too far with its policy for threatened species, which in- clude the northern spotted owl and Oregon spotted frog. The government should be evaluating each threatened species on a case-by-case basis to see if the “take” prohibition should apply to it, according to PLF. Instead, the Fish and Wild- life Service applies a blanket prohibition against “take” of all such species, and then oc- casionally exempts some from the rule, the group argues. Pacifi c Legal Foundation is now trying to reverse the agen- cy’s approach with a petition fi led on behalf of the Washing- ton Cattlemen’s Association, whose members face civil or criminal penalties if they run astray of the “take” prohibition. Eliminating the “take” pro- hibition for threatened species would give the government more fl exibility in crafting con- servation plans with private landowners, PLF claims. Meanwhile, they wouldn’t face severe restrictions on agri- cultural activities similar to the drastic reduction in logging due to the spotted owl’s listing, the petition argues. If the Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice ignores or denies the pe- tition, the Pacifi c Legal Foun- dation is likely to fi le a lawsuit against the agency. The Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental nonprofi t, believes the petition is a “ridiculous action,” said Noah Greenwald, the group’s endangered species director. “It has very little legal ba- sis,” he said. The PLF may face an uphill battle, since previous litigation agency’s interpretation is “rea- sonable and permissible,” the ruling said. Since then, though, the U.S. Supreme Court has is- sued two rulings that give the Pacifi c Legal Founda- tion hope for a different out- come, said Damien Schiff, the group’s principal attorney. In those cases, the nation’s highest court held the feder- al government doesn’t have “unrestricted power” in in- terpreting the Clean Air Act, which may lead to the same conclusion regarding the En- dangered Species Act, said Schiff. “That degree of discretion, we believe, is just not sup- portable,” he said. that attempted to overturn the “take” policy failed more than two decades ago. In 1993, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected similar arguments against the regulation by a co- alition of Oregon timber and community groups. The appellate court held the Fish and Wildlife Service has the “discretion to extend max- imum protection to all threat- ened species at once if, guided by its expertise in the fi eld of wildlife protection, it fi nds it expeditious to do so.” The language of the Endan- gered Species Act is ambig- uous as to whether the “take” prohibition must be evaluat- ed species-by-species, so the Larger apple crop causes price worries By DAN WHEAT Capital Press WENATCHEE, Wash. — Growers have begun picking Washington’s 2016 fresh ap- ple crop, which is forecast at 132.9 million, 40-pound boxes, up 15 percent from last year’s crop. The in- crease could cause strong prices to slip. “I’m working on price forecasts. I see Gala coming in at $21 (per box wholesale) which is $3 below last year, so it could be 10 percent or more drop in Gala prices,” said Desmond O’Rourke, owner of the consulting firm Belrose Inc. He is a retired Washington State University agricultural economist and longtime student of the apple industry. He predicts $21 as the average price for Gala for the coming sales year, down from $24 for the 2015-2016 sales season soon ending. Gala is forecast up 27 per- cent in volume at 30.3 mil- lion boxes just behind Red Delicious, at 33.7 million, up 15.7 percent. Fuji is forecast up 20 per- cent at 18.3 million boxes and O’Rourke expects an annual average price of $21 per box, down from $27. The anticipated price slippage is nothing like the industry experienced two years ago with the record 141.8-million-box crop. “Guys with mainstream varieties will be hit more than guys with premium Washington fresh apple crop (Millions of 40-pound boxes) Variety 2015* Red Delicious Gala Fuji Granny Smith Honeycrisp Golden Delicious Cripps Pink Braeburn Jonagold Cameo Other Total 29.1 23.8 15.3 17 7.3 8.1 5.4 1.7 0.8 0.4 6.1 114.9 *Close to final (8/1/2016) **Forecast Dan Wheat/Capital Press varieties with a bigger crop like this,” he said. Honey- crisp and newer varieties will keep average prices up, he said. Honeycrisp is up 31 per- cent at 9.6 million boxes in the crop forecast by the Washington State Tree Fruit Association, in Yakima. The forecast breaks out 10 varieties and groups “other varieties” as up almost one- third, from 6.1 million to 8 million boxes. Most of that is club vari- eties not open to growing by all producers. “The big question is will the club varieties cannibal- ize the mainstream varieties or will they eat each other’s lunch or a little of both? They are certainly getting big enough to shake up the market,” O’Rourke said. There isn’t great concern about prices within the in- dustry as Honeycrisp and club varieties are increasing 33.7 30.3 18.3 16.8 9.6 7.8 5.6 1.4 0.7 0.4 8 132.9 Percent change 15.8 27.3 19.6 -1.2 31.5 -3.7 3.7 -17.6 -3.9 16.7 31.1 15.7 NOTE: Totals may not equal 100 due to rounding. Source: Washington State Tree Fruit Association Eva Maria Sanchez thins Gala apples at Zirkle Fruit Co.’s CRO Orchard near Rock Island, Wash., on July 14. Gala is estimated to be 23 percent of the 132.9 million-box 2016 Washington apple crop. 2016** and “people are willing to pay good prices for them,” said Bruce Grim, manag- er of the Washington Apple Growers Marketing Associa- tion in Wenatchee. “I’m optimistic prices will hold,” he said. The Gala harvest start- ed around Aug. 1 in Matta- wa and other early districts and runs to early Novem- ber. There are orchards and spots within orchards where the crop is light, Grim said. Weather can play a major role and warm days and cool nights could enlarge fruit making a larger crop, he said. Capital Press graphic “Cooler weather in July for Gala is giving better color de- velopment this year than last and we are earlier which is helpful getting into markets,” Grim said. East Coast apple grow- ers are dealing with drought and could have smaller fruit which would give Washington an advantage, he said. The European apple crop is forecast to be down 3 per- cent, but that is insignifi cant, O’Rourke said, because the crop is still very large, the Polish crop is huge and the Russian embargo remains in place. Immigration: How organization would improve system Online http://www.renewoureconomy. org/front/ By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press A New York-based group that released state-by-state re- ports on immigrants’ econom- ic contributions said it favors a broad range of immigration reforms. In an email, Executive Di- rector Jeremy Robbins of the group Partnership for a New American Economy, said the organization wants secure borders and a simplifi ed sys- tem for supplying seasonal labor and verifying employ- ment eligibility. It also favors establish- ing a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants now in the U.S., and making it easier for foreign students to stay and work so the coun- try will “attract and keep the best, the brightest and the hardest-working, who will strengthen our economy,” Robbins said. Partnership for a New American Economy describes itself as a bipartisan organi- zation made up of 500 CEOs and mayors. It hopes to fi nd middle ground on the immi- gration question by framing it as an economic issue, includ- ing the need for agricultural labor. Robbins, the executive director, was an adviser and Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek said national immigration reform is necessary to fi x a “disjointed” system that hurts families and hampers the economy. legal counsel in the offi ce of former New York Mayor Mi- chael Bloomberg. In various venues, includ- ing a 2013 YouTube video, Robbins said the country’s political left wing viewed im- migration reform as a matter of reuniting families, while the right wing talked about law and order and “What part of illegal don’t you under- stand?” The conversations weren’t meshing, Robbins said, but people do agree when the is- sues are posed as economic questions. They agree that immigrants who start compa- nies here and hire Americans should be supported, and agree it’s “crazy” to train top scientists and engineers and send them back home instead of allowing them to stay and work. They also agree it’s a prob- lem that America’s food crops are harvested and processed by a workforce that’s 75 per- cent undocumented, he said. “What are the economic solutions? That’s where you fi nd middle ground,” he said. Establishing a path to legal status for the undocumented immigrants could include re- quirements such as registering with the federal government, learning English, paying tax- es and following all laws, he said. Partnership for a New American Economy also fa- vors strengthening federal, state, local and employer pro- grams that offer English lan- guage, civics and educational classes to immigrants, Rob- bins said. The group’s report on the economic impact of immi- grants in Oregon showed that nearly 390,000 Oregon resi- dents were born outside the U.S., and 14,599 people im- migrated to Oregon between 2010 and 2014. Immigrants make up 10 percent of the state’s pop- 33-1/#8 ulation, the report showed, but 13 percent of the overall workforce and an estimated 56 percent of the workers who hand-harvest crops. About 73 percent of immigrants are working age, between 25 and 64, compared with 51 percent of the native-born population. In 2014, undocumented immigrants earned an estimat- ed $1.6 billion in wages and paid $61 million in state and local taxes and $104 million in federal taxes, according to the report. PEACH LUGS & 1 1 ⁄ 2 QT. CORRUGATED PEACH BASKETS 503-588-8313 2561 Pringle Rd. SE Salem, OR Call for Pricing. Subject to stock on hand. Delivery Available ROP-32-2-7/#7 33-1/#14 Reform group also favors streamlined approval for seasonal workers