October 28, 2016
CapitalPress.com
3
Supreme Court turns down Hage lawsuit appeal
9th Circuit reversed
earlier favorable
decision
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
The U.S. Supreme Court
won’t review a court decision
that stripped deceased Neva-
da rancher Wayne Hage of a
legal victory against the fed-
eral government.
In 2013, the estate of Hage
— an icon of the “Sagebrush
Rebellion” against federal
land policies — prevailed
in a lawsuit fi led by feder-
al agencies that alleged his
cattle trespassed on public
land.
U.S. District Judge Robert
Jones ruled that Hage’s cattle
could legally cross federal
property to access a stream in
which he owned water rights.
The judge also found that
federal offi cials had engaged
in a “literal, intentional con-
spiracy” against him.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals reversed that de-
cision earlier this year, ruling
that water right ownership
doesn’t give ranchers the
right to run cattle across fed-
eral land.
Mark Pollot, attorney for
Hage’s estate, claimed the 9th
Circuit misinterpreted the law
and undermined water rights
across the West.
He asked the Supreme
Court to review the case, but
that request has now been de-
nied.
The federal government
initially didn’t react to the
Supreme Court challenge, but
the nation’s highest court or-
dered it to fi le a response.
For that reason, Pollot was
optimistic that the justices
were interested in the case, so
their denial comes as a sur-
prise, he said.
“It’s directly contrary to
prior decisions by the Su-
preme Court and to state
laws,” Pollot said.
It’s possible the eight jus-
tices were evenly split on
whether to take the case and
Eastern Oregon water reservations renewed
Water rights
available for up to
144,100 acre-feet
New water rights on
tap in three Eastern
Oregon river basins
UMATILLA
WALLOWA
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Grande Ronde:
35,900 acre-feet
395
UNION
Irrigators in Eastern Ore-
gon can develop up to 144,100
acre-feet of new water rights
due to the renewal of “water
reservations” in three river ba-
sins.
The Oregon Water Re-
sources Commission has unan-
imously approved the renewal
of water reservations in the
Grande Ronde, Malheur and
Owyhee basins, which were
set to expire early next year.
The water was “reserved”
for economic development
by the Oregon Department of
Agriculture nearly 30 years
ago, when the state mandated
minimum in-stream fl ows for
environmental reasons.
However, few water rights
have been established from the
available reserved water since
then.
Irrigation experts in Eastern
Oregon say it’s unclear wheth-
er the story will play out any
differently now that the reser-
vations have been renewed for
20 years.
In eight out of 10 years, the
Vale Irrigation District doesn’t
receive enough water to make
any available to junior water
right holders, said Dan Fulwy-
ler, its executive director.
In the years there is enough
BAKER
GRANT
84
26
395
Malheur:
48,200
acre-feet
78
HARNEY
N
30 miles
Owyhee:
60,000
acre-feet
MALHEUR
95
Capital Press graphic
water for junior water right
holders, it’s only available for
about two weeks a year, he said.
Due to this scarcity, farm-
ers probably wouldn’t want to
invest in new water rights and
facilities, Fulwyler said.
However, Fulwyler said it’s
conceivable the water reserva-
tions could be useful in fi lling
existing reservoirs.
“It would have to be for
storage, because nobody would
want it for just two weeks,” he
said.
In the Grande Ronde Basin,
irrigators have been discour-
aged by failed past attempts to
create a new in-channel res-
ervoir, largely because of po-
tential environmental impacts,
said Jed Hassinger, president
of the Union County Farm Bu-
reau.
“It’s been a challenge to fi nd
suitable storage in the basin
here,” he said.
However, Union County is
evaluating other options, such
as off-channel or underground
storage, under a $197,000
place-based planning grant
from the Oregon Water Re-
sources Department, Hassinger
said.
The region can grow
high-value crops, including
peppermint, sugar beets and
seed potatoes, that would jus-
tify investment in new water
facilities, he said.
In the Owyhee Basin, irriga-
tors have been more focused on
boosting water effi ciency than
developing new water rights,
said Jay Chamberlin, manager
of the Owyhee Irrigation Dis-
trict.
“The big driver has been
conservation,” he said. “The
drought has expedited that.”
With the renewal of the
Owyhee Basin’s reservation,
irrigators will look at possible
water right development, po-
tentially involving the existing
Owyhee reservoir, Chamberlin
said.
Water storage and distribu-
tion are expensive, particular-
ly with regulatory barriers, he
said. “There’s going to be tre-
mendous cost if anybody tries
to put that into use.”
realized that it would likely
result in a stalemate, which
would effectively uphold the
9th Circuit decision, he said.
Though the Hage case
wasn’t granted Supreme
Court review, Pollot said the
litigation is likely to continue.
For one, Hage’s son and
namesake is still liable for
trespass, which he plans to
challenge, he said.
Secondly, there’s a possi-
bility for future problems if
federal agencies don’t permit
Hage’s estate to divert wa-
ter from the stream in which
it holds water rights, Pollot
said.
“We still have some op-
tions I’m not ready to dis-
cuss,” he said.
AP Photo/Elko Daily Free Press, Mark Waite, File
Rancher Wayne Hage is shown in 1997 in the area where federal
agents seized 100 head of his cattle in 1991, in Meadow Canyon
near Tonopah, Nev. Hage, who battled the federal government for
decades over public lands and private property rights and came to
epitomize Nevada’s Sagebrush Rebellion, died in 2006.
Washington, Oregon hopeful
gypsy moth campaign worked
Too early to
declare victory
Capital Press
Washington and Ore-
gon agriculture departments
trapped European gypsy
moths this year, but no Asian
gypsy moths, a sign that
dropping insecticide over
thousands of acres in the two
states worked, offi cials said.
Washington’s pest pro-
gram manager, Jim Marra,
said WSDA will need the
same result for two more sum-
mers to consider Asian gypsy
moths eradicated.
“While it is too early to
declare the spring treatments
a success, this year’s trapping
results are very encouraging,”
he said in a written statement.
WSDA sprayed more than
10,500 acres at six locations
where the department trapped
a total of 10 Asian gypsy
moths in 2015.
Asian gypsy moths, which
had not been detected in the
state since 1999, feed on a
wider variety of plants and are
more mobile than European
gypsy moths.
WSDA also sprayed the
Capitol Hill neighborhood in
Seattle, where 22 European
gypsy moths were trapped.
WSDA caught 25 Euro-
pean gypsy moths at 21 sites
Courtesy of Washington State Dept. of
Agriculture
Two gypsy moths stick to a trap
collected by the Washington
State Department of Agriculture
Aug. 3 in Bangor adjacent to
a naval base on the Kitsap
Peninsula. Washington and
Oregon agriculture departments
trapped European gypsy moths
this year, but no Asian gypsy
moths, a sign that dropping
insecticide over thousands of
acres in the two states worked.
this year. The heaviest con-
centration was near the U.S.
Naval Base in Kitsap Coun-
ty, where four gypsy moths
were caught. No gypsy moths
were found in areas that
had been sprayed.
The Oregon Department of
Agriculture oversaw three ap-
plications of Bacillus thuring-
iensis var. kurstaki, common-
ly referred to as Btk, in the
Forest Park and North Port-
land areas. A check of 3,000
traps in Portland and 19,000
traps statewide yielded no
Asian gypsy moths, consid-
ered a particularly destructive
crop pest. It’s more of a threat
than European gypsy moths
because the female of the
Asian variety can fl y, poten-
tially leading to quicker and
more widespread infestations.
Two Asian moths in Port-
land were among the 14 gyp-
sy moths found in Oregon
traps last year. Another Asian
gypsy was trapped across the
Columbia River near the Port
of Vancouver. Asian gyp-
sy moths most likely arrive
aboard cargo ships that ply up
the river from Russia, Korea,
China and Japan.
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Jim and Shirley Heater
nwagshow.com
im Heater walks the length of the floor
at the Northwest Agricultural Show,
greeting old friends and customers. At age
76, it’s an experience he relishes.
“It’s great to go back and help and have a
reunion with these older exhibitors who
have been there so long,” says Jim. “We’ve
made many, many friendships. It’s very
enjoyable.”
Jim, with his wife Shirley, is the founder of
the NW Ag Show, the longest-running and
largest show of its kind in the Pacific
Northwest. Billed as “Everything for Every
Farmer under One Roof,” the show features
200 exhibitors and educational seminars for
more than 8,000 customers who attend over
three days. The 48th annual show will be
held January 24-26, 2017, at the Portland
Expo Center.
According to daughter Amy, Jim recognized
the importance of establishing an agriculture
show in the Northwest after visiting what is
now called the World Ag Expo in Tulare,
California. Her dad, a Christmas tree farmer
and farm equipment devotee, “saw the
benefit of bringing together all the types of
ag under one roof.”
The first show, held at Oregon State
Fairgrounds in 1969, featured 40 to 50
exhibitors and a couple hundred attendees.
The show has been held at the Portland
Expo Center for the past 40 years.
“It’s beneficial to have a wide variety of
exhibitors,” says Amy, who with her husband
Michael Patrick, has managed the NW Ag
Show for the past eight years.
“I’m targeting agriculture. At my own farm
we raise beef, we have a garden that’s large
enough to can and preserve, and we have
some acreage in transition. These are the
people who are at the show and the
customers we’re trying to reach,” she says.
Amy and her siblings Joan and Tim, grew up
on a Sublimity, Oregon farm that’s been in
the family for six generations. Her parents
still live there.
“On a farm the family works together,” says
Shirley. “it’s always take your kids to work
day.”
So it was only natural that the Heater kids
began helping out at the ag show when
they were young. Amy and Joan worked in
the show office alongside Shirley while Tim
was out on the floor during show setup with
dad.
Amy recalls the fun of being able to get out
of school to work at the ag show. That was
the big deal for a 10-year-old.
“My first job was running messages to
people in their booths. Dad taught me you
don’t want to interrupt and stall potential
sales.”
In college, Amy became more involved and
started working as the show’s assistant
manager 18 years ago. Now, she is in the
office on move-in day while Michael handles
the equipment and the logistics of setting
up the show. During the show they both
spend time on the floor visiting with
exhibitors and checking how it’s doing. It’s a
mirror of her parents’ responsibilities.
“I love the role reversal,” says Shirley. “Amy
grew up helping me at the office and now I
go up to help her.”
The Patrick’s three teenagers – Wyatt, Kate
and Abby – also grew up with the show.
Wyatt would shadow his dad and the girls
would spend time in the office before they
each entered high school.
“It’s very satisfying and very exciting to see
Amy and the kids step up and do those
things and be so capable,” says Shirley.
For Amy, her favorite part of the NW Ag
Show is seeing the transition from open
floor space to “a hall full of gorgeous
displays and products in just one day. It’s
pretty cool.”