May 5, 2017
CapitalPress.com
5
Okanogan ranchers still leery of U.S. Forest Service
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
OKANOGAN, Wash. —
Ranchers shocked and upset
by the U.S. Forest Service
grazing reprimands they re-
ceived in January have now
gotten agency grazing instruc-
tions for this season and will
keep a wary eye on how the
agency monitors them.
The agency has been
scolded and received enough
pressure from members of
Congress for its “blatant mis-
takes” and “environmental
bias” in monitoring that it’s
“kind of in a sit-back mode,”
said Jim DeTro, Okanogan
County commissioner. “They
know they’ve messed up. We
are assured this year’s moni-
toring will be done by range
techs in coordination with
permittees,” DeTro said.
Nicole Kuchenbuch, a
rancher and president of
Okanogan County Farm Bu-
reau, said the staffs of U.S.
Sens. Patty Murray and
Maria Cantwell and U.S.
Reps. Dan Newhouse and
Cathy McMorris Rodgers
told Okanogan-Wenatchee
National Forest Supervisor
Mike Williams that the agen-
cy failed to follow its own
policies and should rescind
letters of non-compliance it
issued to 25 ranchers early
this year.
Dan Wheat/Capital Press File
Bunk Ayers, who ranches north of Riverside, Wash., fixes a fence last year while cattle remained on
winter ground before being turned out on grazing allotments.
“The crux of the issue is
the Forest Service breached
our contracts by not includ-
ing us in the monitoring and
planning,” Kuchenbuch said.
“Williams responded that
the letters are no big deal
and that he is sure we will
find resolution during the
2017 grazing season. The
permittees do not accept that
at all. The letters are a very
big deal. They’re a black eye.
They’re step one in a four-
step process for suspension
or termination of our grazing
contracts,” she said.
The letters alleged over
grazing, grazing in unautho-
rized areas and streambank
damage on grazing allot-
ments in the Tonasket Ranger
District.
Williams could not be
reached for comment.
USFS Tonasket Ranger
Matt Reidy said the agen-
cy does not rescind letters
but has issued new letters
of compliance in two cases
based on new information.
Letters of compliance will be
issued for the rest after this
season if monitoring shows
no problems, he said.
With one exception, all
Annual Operation Instruction
meetings with ranchers have
been held and concerns have
been addressed. Ranchers
will be notified and allowed
to help pick monitoring sites
and be present when moni-
toring is done in September
and October, he said.
Newhouse wrote a letter
to USFS Region 6 Forester
Jim Pena on March 10 say-
ing the non-compliance let-
ters violated USFS policy
and that Williams and Reidy
seemed reluctant to resolve
the issue.
In a March 24 response,
Pena wrote that he fully sup-
ports allotments, that issues
of concern arose from mon-
itoring and that non-compli-
ance letters did not mean any
decisions had been made on
permit authorizations.
“The
Okano-
gan-Wenatchee
National
Forest does not intend to
shorten, limit or in any other
way reduce permitted graz-
ing during the 2017 field
season,” Pena wrote. The
USFS will work “closely and
collaboratively to resolve is-
sues,” he wrote.
Reidy has told Capital
Press that policies were not
violated because permittees
were told monitoring would
occur and notification re-
quirements differ depending
on circumstances.
Kuchenbuch said new let-
ters of compliance were is-
sued if monitoring was done
where it was not supposed to
be, where cattle congregate
near water and salt licks.
A Washington State Uni-
versity Extension range and
livestock specialist “strongly
disagrees” with monitoring
close to water and salt licks
and will hold a clinic for
ranchers and USFS personnel
in July on proper grass moni-
toring, Kuchenbuch said.
She said ranchers have for
years had good relations with
USFS personnel who un-
derstood the region but that
Pena, Williams and Reidy are
all relatively new in their po-
sitions.
Last summer’s monitors
were ill-trained and the Forest
Service needs to acknowledge
the mistakes, she said.
“Whether they came with
a malicious agenda or making
errors of rookies doesn’t mat-
ter. They need to fix this and
start over,” Kuchenbuch said.
“This isn’t how we do things
out West.”
Soilborne
wheat mosaic
virus on the
rise in Walla
Walla Valley
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Wheat farmers in the Wal-
la Walla Valley are experi-
encing more soilborne wheat
mosaic virus this year, a re-
searcher says.
Researchers have iden-
tified 16 fields that tested
positive for the disease since
March 5, said Christina Ha-
gerty, assistant professor of
cereal pathology at Oregon
State University.
“It really seems as though
we have an increase of the
virus this season,” Hagerty
said. “Growers who have
not dealt with this disease in
the past, it has shown up in
their fields this year. Grow-
ers who have dealt with this
disease in small patches of
their fields are now seeing it
in much larger areas.”
Hagerty blames wet con-
ditions and the likely trans-
portation of infected soil for
the increase in the disease,
which causes severe stunt-
ing in wheat.
“We think about equip-
ment sanitation and boot
sanitation, and while those
things are crucial, this can
be picked up in a dust storm
by wind,” she said. “I think
about the elk tracks in my
plots in Walla Walla Coun-
ty.”
The disease was first
identified in 2005 in the
Hermiston, Ore., area, and
in the Walla Walla, Wash.,
area in 2008.
Hagerty credits OSU pro-
fessor emeritus Dick Smiley
and Washington State Uni-
versity professor and exten-
sion plant pathologist Tim
Murray for leading research
efforts. In a moderate infes-
tation, Murray estimated the
virus would reduce yields
by four bushels an acre. In
a severe infestation, it can
cause a 20-bushel reduction
in yield.
“Some locations are quite
severe, some are moderate,”
Hagerty said.
Planting a resistant wheat
variety is the best option for
growers, Hagerty said.
Breeding programs are
screening for resistance to the
virus, she said.
Hagerty recommends un-
derstanding conditions favor-
able for the disease. OSU is
studying possible effects of
an extra nitrogen application
to boost the plant.
Farmers who suspect they
have the virus need to send
their wheat to a plant clinic
for molecular analysis, Hag-
erty said.
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