April 14, 2017
CapitalPress.com
11
Washington
State legislature seeks to shield
wolf-plagued ranchers from threats
Bill to prevent
WDFW from
disclosing records
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — The Wash-
ington Senate and House have
approved legislation to with-
hold records that name ranch-
ers who report that wolves
are attacking livestock or sign
agreements to prevent depre-
dations.
House Bill 1465 stems from
threats ranchers and public
employees received last sum-
mer as the Department of Fish
and Wildlife shot wolves prey-
ing on cattle in the Colville
National Forest in northeast
Washington.
The region’s senator, Shelly
Short, R-Addy, said she hoped
holding back the identity of
ranchers would encourage pro-
ducers to work with WDFW.
“I don’t take lightly that this
bill allows this information
to be exempt from the Public
Records Act,” she said. “What
this bill doesn’t do is (prevent)
folks from having access to de-
partment decisions.”
The Senate passed the bill
40-7 on Friday after making
Courtesy of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
A wolf walks in the snow. State lawmakers are moving a bill to with-
hold records that identify ranchers who help state wildlife manag-
ers investigate and prevent attacks by wolves on livestock. The bill
stems from threats against ranchers from people angry with state’s
use of lethal control to stop depredations.
minor changes to a version the
House passed last month.
Ranchers along with state
and local officials reported
being harassed and receiving
death threats from people an-
gry with the shooting of seven
wolves in the Profanity Peak
pack. No suspects were identi-
fied or arrested.
The bill originally pro-
posed withholding records that
would identify state wildlife
managers or contractors con-
nected with responding to dep-
redations.
The original bill also would
have allowed WDFW to
withhold where wolves were
attacking livestock, beyond
citing the pack’s territory.
Washington wolfpacks range
over territories as large as 635
square miles, according to
WDFW. The department now
reports the township where
attacks occur. Townships are
normally 36 square miles.
The bill was narrowed to
focus on withholding WDFW
records that identify ranchers
who report depredations or
have signed agreements spec-
ifying how they will prevent
conflicts between livestock
and wolves. The agreements
make ranchers eligible for
state funding.
WDFW reported entering
into 54 agreements with live-
stock producers in 2016 and
spending $410,000 to help
them guard their animals.
Some ranchers who work
informally with WDFW to
prevent depredations say
they’re concerned that signing
an agreement implies they’re
satisfied with the state’s poli-
cy of encouraging wolves to
recolonize the state.
WDFW estimates the state
has at least 115 wolves and
anticipates the population
will grow by about one-third
a year. Most wolves are in
Ferry, Okanogan, Stevens and
Pend Oreille counties.
Short said lawmakers
whose constituents support
having a stable and wide-
spread wolf population should
back the bill.
“I believe this bill becomes
an important tool to increase
the willingness of folks who
are dealing with recovering
populations,” Short said. “It
will encourage them to work
more directly with the depart-
ment.”
Washington hemp rules near finish line
Licenses may be
available by mid-May
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — Washing-
ton’s rules for hemp were crit-
icized Friday as too restrictive
and expensive, but also praised
for keeping the state and pro-
spective growers on the right
side of federal authorities.
If state Agriculture Director
Derek Sandison signs the rules
April 13 as scheduled, the state
could issue licenses to grow or
process hemp as soon as May
15.
“It’s hard to say with any
certainty who will pull the trig-
ger and plant. I know there’s a
lot of interest,” WSDA hemp
coordinator Emily Febles said.
The rules, which went
through a final public hearing
Friday, hew to the leeway the
2014 Farm Bill gave states
to test hemp as a commercial
crop, even though it remains a
federally controlled substance.
As a result, Washington
rules for buying and planting
seeds, and selling, transporting
and processing plants likely
will be more restrictive than in
some states.
WSDA inspectors will have
access to hemp farms and pro-
cessing plants, and their re-
cords. The state will test hemp
fields to make sure the plants
aren’t too high in the chemical
compound that makes marijua-
na popular.
WSDA and some hemp ad-
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Hemp consultant Joy Beckerman, left, and farmer Ellen Russo of Centralia talk after a Washington De-
partment of Agriculture hearing on rules for growing and processing hemp April 7 in Olympia. WSDA
could start issuing licenses as soon as May 15.
vocates say the industry will
profit in the long run by stay-
ing within federal law.
The advantages include be-
ing eligible for USDA research
grants and organic certifica-
tion, federal water and finan-
cial services, hemp consultant
Joy Beckerman said.
“This is the beginning. To
expect to go from prohibition
to utopia right away is unreal-
istic,” she said.
Fees and location restric-
tions are two possible obsta-
cles for hemp farms.
The Legislature instructed
WSDA to make the regulato-
ry program self-supporting.
WSDA can only make a rough
estimate for how high the fees
need to be. To start, prospec-
tive hemp pioneers must pay
a nonrefundable $450 appli-
cation fee and then $300 for a
license good for one year.
Farmers and processors
also must pay for field inspec-
tions, and seed and plant tests,
likely costing hundreds of
dollars, according to a WSDA
analysis.
Centralia vegetable farmer
Ellen Russo said she’s interest-
ed in planting hemp, but won’t
be able to afford the fees.
“No way,” she said. “I think
it’s pushing small farmers
away. The fees are so high.”
Also, Washington already
has a thriving, tax-gener-
ating marijuana industry.
Hemp farms must be at least
4 miles from the nearest mar-
ijuana grow to guard against
cross-pollination. Febles said
the department would be inter-
ested in research to determine
whether a 4-mile buffer is too
much or too little.
“We don’t want to create
in-fighting between our indus-
tries,” she said. “If we can play
nice with everybody, it would
be best both for industrial
hemp and marijuana.”
Other rules include:
• No one with a felony drug
conviction in the past 10 years
will be issued a hemp license.
• Processing hemp won’t be
allowed in homes. Some peo-
ple said Friday this will pre-
vent hemp from developing as
a cottage industry. Febles said
the department was concerned
about requiring unrestricted
access to private homes.
• Growers must immediate-
ly plant hemp seeds delivered
to their farm.
• The federal Drug En-
forcement Administration re-
cently gave the state permis-
sion to import hemp seeds.
Growers can order seeds now
and have them delivered to
WSDA’s storage locker in
Spokane in anticipation of
planting in May. “You will
be taking a risk,” Febles said.
“If you’re not licensed, you
would never be able to access
your seeds.”
Courtesy of Tim Murray/Washington State University
Snow mold on a wheat field. Some farmers in southeastern Wash-
ington say they are seeing pink snow mold, an unusual occurrence
in that region.
SE Washington
wheat farmers face
pink snow mold
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Wheat farmers in south-
eastern Washington state are
dealing with pink snow mold
following the unusually hard
winter.
Snow mold is most com-
mon in wheat crops on the
northern tier of the state, said
Tim Murray, Washington
State University Extension
plant pathologist.
The disease isn’t typical
for the southeastern corner
of the state, which tends to
be a little warmer, he said,
adding that pink snow mold
is a first for the farmers in
the area.
“It’s certainly uncommon
to have two solid months of
snow cover with no let up,”
Murray said. Prolonged snow
cover promotes snow mold.
Wheat varieties tended to
vary in their response to the
disease, Murray said. Most
tended to be more suscepti-
ble.
“Up (north), the growers
know this is a chronic prob-
lem and so would typically
have planted a variety that’s
resistant,” he said. “Whereas
down in the Prescott-Waits-
burg-Walla Walla area, this
is not a problem that grow-
ers are thinking about. Their
variety selection is based on
other problems.”
Prescott has a lot of rolling
hills. The fields showing the
most damage were north-fac-
ing slopes, Murray said.
“In some fields there
were a lot of smallish areas
with damage, but collective-
ly they add up,” he said.
Brad Tompkins, who
farms in northern Walla Wal-
la County, estimates the dis-
ease has impacted 20 percent
of his fields.
“It’s the first time we’ve
ever seen it,” he said. “Our
family’s farmed in this area
over 100 years, so it’s un-
usual.”
It wasn’t clear how much
the fields would recover,
Murray said. He typically
advises growers to wait three
to four weeks to see what re-
grows.
“When the snow comes
off, everything looks bad,”
he said.
Tompkins said his fields
were not recovering.
“We’re a 70-bushel ranch,
and in those places I’d be
lucky to get 10 bushels,” he
said. “It’s pretty devastat-
ing.”
One farmer told Murray
the spots in his field were 10
percent regrown, but he was
electing not to re-seed.
“With the (price) of
wheat at $4, he figured it
wasn’t really worth it to try
to till in these little spots,”
Murray said. “It’s a lot eas-
ier to get in and reseed a
large area than it is a small
area.”
A farmer with 90 acres
did plan to reseed.
Tompkins doesn’t plan to
reseed, due to spring weath-
er delaying planting. He
doesn’t expect many neigh-
bors to opt to reseed either,
he said.
Crop insurance will help
if Tompkins has a yield loss.
Snow is still coming off
fields in some of the more
usual snow mold areas far-
ther north.
“This was a very unusual
winter,” Murray said. “If we
get back to a normal weather
pattern, I would not expect it
to be a problem again right
away.”
Tompkins plans to keep
in contact with Murray
throughout the rest of the
crop year.
“It’s hopefully a once in
a lifetime thing,” he said.
“From a farmer standpoint,
you just add it to anoth-
er bunch of problems that
could potentially happen, I
guess. It wasn’t on the shelf,
but it is now.”
15-2/#6