June 16, 2017
CapitalPress.com
7
Oregon
Ranchers on lookout for ticks this summer
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Nobody’s out there count-
ing them, but anecdotally this
summer is shaping up as a bad
one for ticks.
That could mean addi-
tional expense for cattle pro-
ducers, who fi ght the blood
suckers with insecticide-load-
ed ear tags, sprays, powders
and dips. It should make rec-
reationists and dog owners
wary as well, because they
could return from walks car-
rying unwelcome hitchhikers.
Emilio DeBess, public health
Dairyman
objects to
delay on
permit
He says it would
cripple operation
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
BOARDMAN, Ore. —
The owner of a controversial
new mega-dairy in Morrow
County says his farming prac-
tices go above and beyond
what’s required to protect the
environment, and efforts to
halt his operation would cause
“tragic” injuries to the cows
already on site.
Greg te Velde, a California
dairyman with more than 40
years of experience, recently
opened Lost Valley Farm on a
portion of the former Board-
man Tree Farm following an
extensive permitting process.
Lost Valley Farm was
approved in March by the
Oregon Department of Ag-
riculture and Department of
Environmental Quality, which
jointly administer the state’s
confi ned animal feeding op-
eration, or CAFO, program.
Offi cials described the permit
as the most restrictive of any
CAFO to date, ensuring the
dairy would properly handle
waste from up to 30,000 cows.
Opponents, however, are
urging regulators to change
their minds. A coalition of
groups has fi led a petition for
reconsideration, arguing the
dairy does not go far enough
to protect water quality. The
petition also asks for a stay of
Lost Valley’s CAFO permit.
Members of the coalition
include the Animal Legal
Defense Fund, Center for Bi-
ological Diversity, Center for
Food Safety, Columbia River-
keeper, Food & Water Watch,
Friends of Family Farmers,
Oregon Physicians for Social
Responsibility, Humane Ore-
gon and Oregon Rural Action.
In response, te Velde said
the permit “refl ects the tough-
est and most stringent envi-
ronmental safety standards
applicable to a dairy in Ore-
gon.” Lost Valley is required
to install 11 groundwater
monitoring wells, which is
seven more than usual, and
will be subject to a minimum
of three annual inspections,
versus one every 10 months.
Beyond state and federal
regulations, te Velde said the
dairy feeds its cows “a unique
blend of food that includes
high-quality starch and addi-
tives” to lower emissions, and
has built a state-of-the-art la-
goon system that rotates water
and reduces emissions.
“I believe that a well-run
dairy not only provides for
contented cows and produces
quality milk, but also proac-
tively implements environ-
mental emissions,” te Velde
wrote in a declaration fi led
June 4 with ODA and DEQ.
For the past 15 years, te
Velde has operated his dairy
in Oregon on land leased from
Threemile Canyon Farms. He
decided to relocate in order
to expand and increase the
amount of milk he sells to Til-
lamook Cheese, which runs
a cheesemaking plant at the
Port of Morrow.
Lost Valley currently has
17,500 animals, including
8,500 milking cows.
veterinarian with the Oregon
Health Authority, said ticks
engage in what entomologists
call “questing behavior” when
it’s time to feed. They climb
to the top of a blade of grass
or hang from a branch, extend
their front legs and wait for a
human or animal to pass by.
They grab on, climb up, stick
their needle-like mouth organ
into your skin and start suck-
ing blood.
The biting and sucking
doesn’t do much damage,
but ticks can carry diseases.
In humans, lyme disease is a
leading tick-borne illness, and
the number of reported cases
in Oregon has steadily in-
creased over the past decade.
Rancher Jon Elliott, of
Eagle Point, Ore., in Jackson
County, said he lives in “tick
heaven.” He treats his dogs
with Frontline insecticide ev-
ery month; if he didn’t, they’d
quickly have a dozen or more
ticks on them.
For his cattle, he uses in-
secticide-loaded ear tags that
repel or kill insects. “The
conventional wisdom is you
change the chemical every
few years so they don’t get re-
sistance,” he said.
He also uses fabric tubes
coated with insecticide and
a carrying agent. He places
them in a way that cattle have
to brush against them to get to
feed. He’s tried dust bags in
the past as well.
In addition to carrying dis-
eases that make people sick,
ticks can weaken cattle and
in some areas of the country
pass along diseases that kill
livestock.
Elliott, who has been
ranching 50 years, is chair of
the beef improvement com-
mittee for the Oregon Cattle-
men’s Association.
Lyme disease
cases in
Oregon *
*As of Sept. 22, 2016
51
48
44 44
45
41
43
35
34
28 27 28
14
2000
16 15
18
Down 18.6% from 2014;
Up 150% from 2000
’03
Source: Oregon Health Authority
’06
’09
’12
2015
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Judge: Federal laws don’t shield Oregon
Timber lawsuit can
proceed, he says
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Federal environmental
laws do not preclude a class
action lawsuit against Ore-
gon by local governments
seeking $1.4 billion for in-
suffi cient logging.
The lawsuit, on behalf of
14 counties and numerous
taxing districts within them,
argues that Oregon’s forest
management policies have
deprived local governments
of logging revenues from
forests they donated to the
state.
Attorneys for Oregon
claimed that federal environ-
mental statutes, including the
Endangered Species Act and
the Clean Water Act, effec-
tively prohibited state forest
managers from maximizing
timber harvests on that land.
Linn County Circuit
Judge Daniel Murphy has
now ruled those defenses are
not valid, since the plaintiffs
allege Oregon’s forest pro-
tections surpassed the re-
quirements of federal law.
The state government
also argued it properly for-
mulated the 1998 “greatest
permanent value” regula-
tions, which the plaintiffs
claim impermissibly reduced
logging levels.
Murphy ruled this defense
is invalid because the regula-
tions could have resulted in
a breach of Oregon’s con-
tract with local governments,
even though the rules were
lawfully enacted “through
legitimate process.”
The judge disagreed with
Oregon’s argument that local
government can’t sue over
the contract while continuing
to benefi t from timber rev-
enues, since a lawsuit “for
partial damages is allowed.”
He struck several other
defenses offered by Oregon’s
attorneys, such as arguments
the lawsuit was time-barred
or was outside the court’s ju-
risdiction.
Capital Press was unable
to reach Oregon’s attorneys
and the Oregon Department
of Forestry to comment on
the ruling.
The judge’s decision re-
moves signifi cant obstacles
in bringing the lawsuit to
trial, said John DiLorenzo,
attorney for the plaintiffs.
“I have no doubt this case
is going to be tried to a jury,”
he said.
DiLorenzo said he ex-
pects the parties will now
focus on gathering evidence
in preparation for a trial
that would likely take place
during the summer of 2018.
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Fourteen counties and roughly 130 tax districts are involved in a
$1.4 billion lawsuit that accuses Oregon’s government of insuffi -
ciently logging state forests. A judge has ruled federal environ-
mental statutes don’t shield the state from potential damages.
George Plaven/EO Media Group
From left, Erin Jenner, Grant Woods and Terry and Debby An-
derson gathered June 9 when Terry Anderson presented Woods
with a check for $5,000.
Rancher pays $5,000
for tip on cattle killers
Two men
convicted after
2016 incident
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
HERMISTON, Ore. —
In all his years ranching,
Terry Anderson had never
received a phone call like
the one he got Jan. 15, 2016.
Anderson, who runs An-
derson Land & Livestock
with his wife, Debby, was
tipped off by one of their
employees that something
was seriously wrong at the
winter pasture along Feed-
ville Road near Stanfi eld.
Not only had one of the
cows been killed, but body
parts were strewn all over
the scene.
“The kid was just in
complete shock,” Anderson
remembers. “It’s more than
emotional. Those cattle are
family to us.”
What happened was two
men — Anthony Haigh of
Stanfi eld and T.J. Kestler
of Hermiston — sneaked
onto the property the pre-
vious night, shot the heifer
and attempted to butcher
the animal right there in the
fi eld. Though the cow was
skinned out, Anderson said
most of the meat was left
to waste. He suspects the
rest of the herd may have
spooked Haigh and Kestler
before they could fi nish.
There were 160 cow-calf
pairs in the pasture, which
were part of a synchronized
breeding program, Ander-
son said. His ranch, which
is based outside Pilot Rock,
is a “seedstock” operation,
meaning they breed and sell
bulls for other producers to
build their herds.
Based on the evidence,
Anderson said it was clear
to him that Haigh and Kes-
tler knew exactly what they
were doing.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get
over it,” Anderson said. “I
just can’t imagine someone
doing something like that.”
Haigh and Kestler, then
21 and 20 years old, were
arrested just four days later.
They each pleaded guilty to
fi rst-degree theft earlier this
year. Haigh was sentenced
to six months in prison,
while Kestler received 24
months probation and 100
hours of community service.
Both men were also ordered
to pay $3,000 in restitution.
The convictions might
not have come without the
help of a Hermiston man
who alerted authorities.
Grant Woods, 21, was
in the room when Haigh
and Kestler arrived to vis-
it a mutual friend the night
they killed the cow. The two
spoke freely about the crime
as they cleaned their gun,
according to Woods. The
motive was apparently to
sell the meat for beer money.
After talking on the
phone with his fi ancé,
Woods decided to call the
police.
“It was just completely
wrong,” Woods said. “This
was about doing the right
thing.”
Though Woods did not
know at the time, both An-
derson and the Oregon Cat-
tlemen’s Association were
offering reward money for
information leading to a
conviction in the case.
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