FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2017
VOLUME 90, NUMBER 24
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
A rising star for apple producers
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
The tiny yellow specks in the skin on the Cosmic Crisp are lenticels or pores. That they look like little stars is the basis for the Cosmic name.
Washington apple growers have high hopes
for new variety that could change industry
By DAN WHEAT
M
Capital Press
ANSON, Wash. — Chris Anderson is
in his 37th year of operating a small
apple orchard once owned by his fa-
ther on the north shore of Lake Chel-
an.
He’s among more than 50 Wash-
ington growers selected in a drawing
for this spring’s fi rst planting of the
Cosmic Crisp, a new apple variety that industry lead-
ers hope will usher in a new era.
It’s a $275 million to $500 million risk on an ap-
ple the industry hopes consumers will love. Plans
call for it to replace the Red Delicious as the new
Washington state apple and be the foundation for
higher and steadier fi nancial returns for decades to
come.
Apples are big business in Washington state.
Five million
Cosmic
Crisp trees
will go out
during each
of the next
two springs.
The rapid
roll-out
marks a
fi rst for the
industry.
Turn to COSMIC, Page 12
Senate presses McLerran on What’s Upstream
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — Former En-
vironmental Protection Agen-
cy Northwest director Dennis
McLerran said Wednesday
that the What’s Upstream
campaign was “harsh,” but
he declined to condemn it at a
Senate hearing.
McLerran faced sharp
questioning during an unusual
hearing on whether he should
be confi rmed to serve in an
unpaid capacity on the Puget
Sound Leadership Council,
a state agency that oversees
water quality and habitat proj-
ects. The forum provided an
opportunity for senators to
question McLerran, who had
never spoken publicly about
What’s Upstream.
Senate environment com-
mittee chairman Doug Erick-
sen, who called the hearing,
asked McLerran about his
role in allowing the Swin-
omish Indian tribe to spend
nearly $500,000 in EPA funds
to hire Seattle lobbying fi rm
Strategies 360 and press for
restrictions on farming near
water in Washington.
“Today, will you con-
demn the What’s Upstream
program?” asked Ericksen,
a Republican whose district
includes north Puget Sound
farmers targeted by the cam-
paign.
“Condemn is not a word I
would use,” McLerran said.
Ericksen pressed on, ask-
ing whether McLerran would
characterize the campaign as
“wrong.”
“Yeah, it shouldn’t have
happened,” McLerran said.
The 50-minute confi rma-
tion hearing was a rarity. Many
gubernatorial appointees who
are technically subject to Sen-
ate confi rmation serve with-
out ever being summoned for
Turn to SENATE, Page 12
Azure Farms, Sherman County
near agreement on weed control
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
A weed control plan for
the Azure Farms organic
operation is up for discus-
sion by the Sherman Coun-
ty Court June 21 in Moro,
Ore.
The plan is under negotia-
tion by Rod Asher, the coun-
ty’s weed district supervisor,
with brothers Nathan Stelzer
and David Stelzer, the Azure
Farms manager and CEO of
Azure Standard, respective-
ly.
Nathan Stelzer said he
and the county are close to
a weed control agreement
but some details remain to
be settled. Particularly, he
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
Sherman County weed district Supervisor Rod Asher, left, and
Azure Farms Manager Nathan Stelzer, right, spoke to the coun-
ty court about the farm’s proposed weed control plan in May.
The county court will again discuss the plan on June 21.
wants the control options
“totally spelled out” so the
county weed offi cer doesn’t
come on the property and
spray.
“We both want the same
end result,” he said. “We
want to trust each other.”
Turn to WEEDS, Page 12
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By DON JENKINS
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Chris Anderson of Manson, Wash., on June 9 with the Cosmic
Crisp apple trees he planted in April and May. He spent about
$20,000 on 2,200 trees and hopes they bring him good returns.
About 50 growers, selected in a drawing, also planted Cosmic
Crisp trees this spring.