12 CapitalPress.com
April 28, 2017
Gebbers family, Chelan Fruit Co-op deserve a lot of credit
GEBBERS from Page 1
They plan to continue op-
erating the town’s only fruit
facilities, which power a large
part of Oroville’s economy.
“The Oroville community
is fortunate that Gebbers came
in and purchased the ware-
house that kept all those jobs
in the Oroville area. We are
thankful for that,” said Dave
Taber, an Oroville grower.
“The whole town is grate-
ful. Any boost to the economy
is a big deal,” said Mayor Jon
Neal, who’s been involved
in town government for 13
years and owns Neal’s Auto
Body. “Gebbers was at max-
imum capacity at Brewster on
packing cherries and already
was having Gold Digger pack
some of theirs, so it’s a win-
win.”
The Gebbers family and
Chelan Fruit Cooperative de-
serve a lot of credit for saving
Oroville’s tree fruit industry,
said Jim DeTro, an Okanogan
County commissioner.
‘A huge impact’
Oroville had been facing
hard times before Gold Dig-
ger’s troubles surfaced.
Hughes Department Store
closed a year ago, the timber
industry is struggling and
Kinross Gold Mine east of
Republic is closing, so “it’s
a huge impact to keep these
jobs here,” said Roni Hold-
er-Diefenbach, executive di-
rector of the Economic Alli-
ance of Okanogan County.
The number of Canadians
who shop in Oroville is also
down because the Canadi-
an dollar is so much weaker
than the U.S. dollar, said Kate
MacKenzie, who sells adver-
tising for the Omak-Okano-
gan County Chronicle.
MacKenzie,
Hold-
er-Diefenbach and others lis-
tened to Cass Gebbers, pres-
ident and CEO of Gebbers
Farms, and other Gebbers
Farms officials at an Oroville
Chamber of Commerce lun-
cheon on April 13.
“There’s a lot of good
growing areas here. We
worked with Gold Digger for
years and when this came up
we said why not keep it go-
ing. We have a lot of belief in
this town,” Gebbers told the
group.
Welcome Sauer, Gebbers’
business development man-
ager, said the company will
invest a lot in upgrading fa-
cilities and replanting some
orchards with newer apple
varieties.
Johnny Gebbers, manager
of the company’s warehouses,
said Gebbers Farms is making
a longterm commitment to
Oroville.
Amy Wise, a grower, said
she would have been sunk had
not Gebbers leased the cherry
plant from the bankruptcy
court last season to keep it
running.
Jeffrey Earl, the U.S. Jus-
tice Department-appointed
bankruptcy trustee, told Cap-
ital Press that part of Gebbers’
hard-working, skilled ware-
house and orchard people,”
Gebbers said.
“We knew and trusted
these folks and understood the
importance of working with
them and that it would hope-
fully have a positive effect on
the community. So yes, we
feel it was a win-win for all
involved,” he said.
Chelan Fruit’s role
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Downtown Oroville, Wash., on April 13. The town of 1,600 has struggled economically for some time and townspeople say they are grate-
ful the Gebbers family bought the bankrupt tree fruit packing plant and is keeping it open.
Gebbers family faces wildfires,
lawsuits — and bullets
inal deputy prosecutor, said he cannot dis-
cuss the facts and that no trial date has been
set. The maximum penalty for attempted
OKANOGAN, Wash. — The Gebbers first-degree murder is life in prison.
Meanwhile, on April 13, a group of peo-
family traces its roots back 132 years in
Okanogan County. In just the past three ple called Chiliwist Residents and Friends
years it has sustained millions of dollars in petitioned the state Supreme Court to hear
its case involving Okanogan
losses to wildfires, faced a law-
County’s closure of a road at the
suit over a road closure and Cass
Gebbers’ request.
Gebbers has even been shot at.
Two years ago, Gamble Land
Mark Worth, 45, managing
& Timber, a Gebbers company,
broker of MW Real Estate in Pa-
convinced county commissioners
teros, has been held in the Okan-
to permanently close the upper
ogan County Jail since Septem-
three miles of Three Devils Road
ber in lieu of $750,000 bail on
leading from Chiliwist Valley,
charges of attempted first-degree
northwest of Brewster, to Loup
murder and drive-by shooting.
Loup Pass and the Methow Valley.
He has pleaded not guilty.
The Gebbers family said they
About 4 p.m. Sept. 7, Worth
had maintained the road for years
allegedly fired two shots from a
Cass Gebbers
while people used it to trespass
gun in his car at Gebbers after
pulling along side Gebbers’ pickup truck onto their property, cut fences and open
as the two were northbound on Old High- gates, allowing their cattle to stray. A coun-
way 97 north of Brewster, according to the ty hearings examiner first denied the Geb-
county prosecutor’s statement of probable bers’ request but two of three county com-
missioners later granted it.
cause.
Chiliwist Residents & Friends was orga-
One bullet went through a window and
struck the headrest inches from Gebbers’ nized to fight the closure in court and said
head while another lodged in the door the historic road is needed for access to
public lands and as a fire escape route. The
frame of the truck.
Gebbers, 52, president and CEO of Okanogan County Superior Court upheld
Gebbers Farms, returned to Brewster, re- the commissioners.
The closure became an issue in the un-
ported the shooting and was treated for
cuts from broken window glass at the successful 2016 re-election bids of the two
county commissioners who voted for it,
Brewster hospital.
Worth was arrested five hours later in Ray Campbell and Sheilah Kennedy.
On March 16, a state Court of Appeals
Wenatchee.
Gebbers told deputy sheriff Kevin Kin- upheld the Superior Court ruling, saying
man that he doesn’t know why but that there was no fraud or collusion, grounds
Worth has been stalking members of his needed to overturn a road closure.
An attorney for the Gebbers family is-
family for years, the probable cause state-
sued a statement saying the ruling con-
ment says.
Authorities have not identified a motive. firmed the road closure was proper and said
Gebbers declined to comment to Capital the family hopes it ends the matter. But
the group is now petitioning the Supreme
Press.
Branden Platter, the county’s chief crim- Court.
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
motivation was keeping the
industry and Oroville viable.
“I frankly think there were
other places that geographi-
cally would have been easier
to conduct business than the
north end of Okanogan Coun-
ty. There is other orchard
ground that would be more
productive and newer, but
they made a decision to help
maintain the industry there
for other reasons than strictly
making money,” Earl said.
“For the city of Oroville
it’s a gigantic blessing to have
things work out in a way that
everything pretty much ran
smoothly as if there really
wasn’t a bankruptcy filed,”
Earl said.
Gebbers leased the cher-
ry packing line last May and
“at that time it was question-
able whether it was viable to
continue operation of the ap-
ple-pear packing facilities, but
ultimately a deal was struck
for those assets as well,” Earl
said.
Cass Gebbers told Cap-
ital Press his company had
worked closely with Gold
Digger
marketing
fruit
through Chelan Fresh Mar-
keting for several years and
knew the Gold Digger opera-
tion well.
“The Oroville and Tonas-
Dairy farmers voluntarily fenced miles of streams to keep cattle out
OYSTERS from Page 1
U.S. Magistrate Judge
John Jelderks has now dis-
missed the case, ruling that
it should have been filed in
state court rather than federal
court.
Thomas Benke, attorney
for the Hayes Oyster Co., said
he’s preparing to refile in an
Oregon court soon.
Benke said DEQ wrongly
assumes that permits issued
to confined animal feeding
operations, or CAFOs, by
the Oregon Department of
Agriculture actually prevent
the discharge of bacteria into
surface water.
But since bacteria are
nonetheless released into
rivers, the DEQ has “sanc-
tioned a pollution easement
across the entire bay by the
dairy farms,” he said.
The Hayes Oyster Co.
has been unable to harvest
oysters during eight of the
past 10 holiday seasons be-
cause of high river flows that
are associated with elevated
bacteria levels, said Jesse
Hayes, the company’s pres-
ident.
After heavy rains, the
company must routinely wait
until 10 high tides wash out
the estuary to resume harvest-
ing, he said. “You can’t imag-
ine how frustrating that is.”
Hayes argues the manure
generated by dairies in the re-
gion exceeds what can safely
be applied to fields.
“If you take the amount
of dairy waste, there is not
enough room for it,” he said.
The goal of Hayes’ law-
suit is for DEQ to recognize
that CAFO permits aren’t
adequately controlling bac-
teria and to tighten manure
management practices to stop
water contamination, said
Benke.
Another possibility would
be for wastewater plants in
the region to pay dairies to re-
duce pollution, rather than be
subjected to stricter discharge
controls by DEQ, he said.
“It’s intended to create a
situation where the citizens of
Tillamook encourage farmers
to abate their fecal coliform
contribution to the estuary,”
Benke said.
Chad Allen, president of
the Oregon Dairy Farmers
Association, bristled at the
notion that dairies are un-
der-regulated.
Manure can only be ap-
plied to fields at agronomic
rates needed to grow crops,
which is subject to oversight
by regulators, said Allen, who
farms in the Tillamook area.
To compare, crop farmers
aren’t subject to restrictions
on synthetic nitrogen, he said.
Dairy farmers have also
voluntarily fenced miles of
streams to keep cattle out and
planted vegetation in riparian
areas to keep streams cool,
Allen said.
“Dairymen here in Tilla-
mook take it extremely se-
rious,” he said. “We’re not
going to survive in this estu-
ary if we can’t show we can
co-exist.”
Reducing the amount of
manure on fields would ba-
sically mean decreasing the
number of dairy cows in the
region, said Troy Downing,
an Oregon State University
dairy specialist.
If dairy operations ceased
operating, pastures could still
be stocked with other live-
stock that also produce ma-
nure, he said.
Septic systems, horses and
wildlife also contribute to fe-
cal coliform bacteria, Down-
ing said. “That’s part of peo-
ple living here in the valley.”
Though manure levels
are applied at rates aimed at
precluding discharge, it is
possible for some bacteria
to get into water, said Wym
Matthews, manager of ODA’s
CAFO program.
“The field is a treatment
system and it’s not as highly
controlled as a factory would
be,” he said.
Even so, farmers are re-
quired to change their waste
management plans if permit
conditions are found to be in-
sufficient, Matthews said.
“The plan is very specif-
ic for each individual farm,”
but none are allowed to dis-
charge, he said.
Genetic tests have shown
the source of fecal coliform
bacteria in the Tillamook
region is most commonly
human in populated areas
while ruminants are the more
common source in rural ar-
eas, said York Johnson, North
Coast basin coordinator for
DEQ.
Over time, though, statis-
tically significant decreases
in bacteria levels have been
documented in the Wilson,
Kilchis and Tillamook rivers,
which feed into the bay, he
said.
“In general, we’re seeing
improvement,” Johnson said.
“We’re making progress to-
ward our goal.”
ket areas have very good
growing sites and we were al-
ready producing fruit in those
areas so it was helpful to have
access to additional storage
and packing. We live and do
business in Okanogan County
and wish to support the local
economy and communities as
much as possible,” Gebbers
said.
‘A natural fit’
Gold Digger Apples
Inc., named for Oroville’s
gold-mining roots and the
last grower-owned tree fruit
cooperative headquartered in
Okanogan County, filed for
Chapter 7 bankruptcy in U.S.
District Court on May 26,
2016, six days after U.S. Bank
sued it seeking $18.5 million
and alleging it defaulted on
loans.
Gold Digger’s attorney,
Peg Callaway of Omak,
Wash., blamed the bank for
trying to force Gold Digger
into receivership, which end-
ed up in bankruptcy. The co-
op was handicapped by high
transportation costs and two
years of crop damage caused
by poor weather, she said at
the time.
Gold Digger laid off vir-
tually all of its seasonal and
year-round employees and
the bankruptcy trustee sold
the 2016 fruit crop to Gebbers
Farms, she said.
Gebbers then leased the
co-op’s fruit packing lines
from the bankruptcy court
for the 2016 season, rehiring
many of the employees.
Stepping in to help keep
the orchards growing during
the heat of summer was crit-
ical to their survival, and get-
ting the cherry line running
with harvest starting just three
weeks after the bankruptcy
shutdown “required quick
action and everyone pulled
together,” Gebbers said.
In past years, depending
on crop size or harvest tim-
ing, Gold Digger packed ap-
ples and cherries for Gebbers
Farms and was always good
to work with, he said.
“So it was a natural fit and
made sense to continue utiliz-
ing the storage and packing
capacity in Oroville, where
there was an existing base of
Gold Digger had more
than 44 grower-members. It
packed about 1 million boxes
of apples and pears annually
and 300,000 boxes of cherries.
It had 613,456 square feet of
fruit storage and packing fa-
cilities with a cherry packing
line and an apple-pear line. It
also owned 500 acres of or-
chard and leased 250 acres.
Beside the packing lines,
Northco bought three of the
Gold Digger orchards, other
buyers bought the other four
and local growers took over
the orchards that Gold Digger
leased, Gebbers said.
Chelan Fruit Cooperative
had for several years rented
Plant No. 2 to serve its grow-
ers in Oroville so it made
sense for the co-op to buy that
plant, he said.
Generally, Gebbers will
pack fruit from its orchards in
Oroville, and the area’s inde-
pendent growers will go with
Chelan Fruit Cooperative, he
said.
About 85 to 90 percent of
the growers who were with
Gold Digger have joined
Chelan Fruit, and all came
as non-members last season,
said Reggie Collins, general
manager of Chelan Fruit.
They will deliver their fruit
to Plant No. 2, saving them
the cost of hauling it 72 miles
south to Brewster or 97 miles
to Chelan.
Chelan Fruit will pay to
truck cherries to Brewster and
apples to Pateros or Chelan
and pears to Beebe near Chel-
an.
“It’s worked out well for
everybody. The town would
have suffered. Growers would
have had longer hauls but the
main thing is saving the jobs
up there in Oroville,” Collins
said.
Chelan Fruit already had
300 grower-members before
the Gold Digger members
joined. It packs the fruit its
growers produce on about
13,000 acres from Oroville to
south of Chelan.
Other pieces
With its acquisitions, Geb-
bers and its Northco opera-
tion now own approximate-
ly 13,000 acres of orchard
in Okanogan County. They
hire 1,800 H-2A visa foreign
guestworkers annually to
prune trees and thin and har-
vest fruit. Gebbers doesn’t
disclose its production vol-
umes.
Altogether, the family
now has orchards, storage,
packing sheds, cattle, 25,000
acres of timberland and a
golf resort.
Trump has used executive orders
aggressively over past 3 months
TRUMP from Page 1
Native Americans and home to
tens of thousands of archaeo-
logical sites, including ancient
cliff dwellings.
Republicans in the state have
asked Trump to take the unusual
step of reversing the designation,
arguing it will stymie growth by
closing the area to new commer-
cial and energy development.
The Antiquities Act does not give
the president explicit power to
undo a designation and no pres-
ident has ever taken such a step.
The order is one of a hand-
ful the president is set to sign
this week as he tries to rack up
accomplishments ahead of his
100th day in office. The presi-
dent has used executive orders
aggressively over the past three
months, despite railing against
their use by Obama when he was
campaigning.
Zinke said that the order
would cover several dozen
monuments across the country
designated since 1996 that to-
tal 100,000 acres or more, from
the Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument in southern
Utah to the Bears Ears in south-
eastern Utah.
He’ll provide an interim re-
port in 45 days in which he’ll
provide a recommendation on
Bears Ears and a final report
within 120 days.
Over the last 20 years, Zin-
ke said, tens of millions of acres
have been designated as national
monuments, limiting their use
for farming, timber harvesting,
mining and oil and gas explora-
tion, and other commercial uses.
Zinke said that while designa-
tions have done “a great service
to the public,” the “local com-
munity affected should have a
voice.”
Some, including Sen. Orrin
Hatch, R-Utah, have hailed the
order as the end of “massive
federal land grabs” by presidents
dating to Bill Clinton.
But Sen. Martin Heinrich,
D-N.M., said that if Trump tru-
ly wants to make America great
again, he should use the Antiqui-
ties Act to protect and conserve
America’s public lands. In New
Mexico, Obama’s designation of
Rio Grande del Norte National
Monument and Organ Moun-
tains-Desert Peaks National
Monument have preserved im-
portant lands while boosting the
economy, Heinrich said, a story
that has been repeated across the
country.