FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2017
BIG
VOLUME 90, NUMBER 39
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
EQUIPMENT,
Tim Hearden/Capital Press
Rob Piatt of Marysville,
Calif., works on an en-
gine during a basic en-
gines theory lab course
at San Joaquin Delta
College in Stockton,
Calif. The class is part of
the Think Big program,
which the college offers
in conjunction with
Caterpillar dealers and
includes apprenticeships
at the businesses.
Trade schools offer an attractive alternative to expensive
college educations for students interested in agriculture
S
Student Diane Morgan oper-
ates an excavator simulator
in the heavy equipment
program at Shasta College in
Redding, Calif. Career-tech-
nical training programs are
gaining in popularity as a
way for some students to
enter forestry and other
agriculture-related fi elds.
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
TOCKTON, Calif. — Rob Piatt plans to even-
tually take over his family’s ranch, but the re-
cent high school graduate from Marysville, Ca-
lif., isn’t preparing by studying agriculture at a
four-year university.
Instead, he’s a fi rst-year trainee in a program called
ThinkBIG, an apprenticeship in servicing heavy-duty ag-
ricultural equipment that combines classes at Stockton’s
San Joaquin Delta College with work in the service de-
partment at a Caterpillar dealership.
Piatt found he had a “knack for turning wrenches”
while working with his dad to restore old tractors.
Tim Hearden/Capital Press
Turn to TRADE, Page 12
Conservation groups file lawsuit
challenging WDFW wolf kill order
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Two conservation groups
are accusing the Washington
Department of Fish and Wild-
life of violating state law by
improperly authorizing the
killing of wolves in the Sher-
man pack and ignoring new
research that doesn’t support
killing problem wolves.
According to a lawsuit
fi led by the Center for Biolog-
ical Diversity and Cascadia
Wildlands, the department has
ignored restrictions on killing
wolves under the 2011 Wolf
Conservation and Manage-
ment Plan for more than fi ve
years.
The lawsuit named the
department, Director Jim Un-
sworth and coordinator Lisa
Wood, who is responsible for
the department’s following
the State Environmental Pol-
icy Act, or SEPA, in the law-
suit.
“Documents containing
the complaint were deliv-
ered to the director’s offi ce
just before closing time on
Monday,” department public
affairs manager Bruce Botka
1426 Front St.
Fort Benton, MT 59442
406-622-3803
www.fbrealty.com
said. “We haven’t had an op-
portunity to review them with
our attorneys and don’t have
an immediate response.”
The lawsuit seeks to pre-
vent the department from
authorizing any future kill or-
ders without complying with
SEPA or the state Administra-
tive Procedure Act.
The lawsuit claims that
“WDFW has authorized the
extermination of three endan-
gered wolfpacks at the demand
of a single livestock own-
er,” without trying non-lethal
methods of deterrence confl ict,
without evidence that depreda-
tions would have been likely
to continue without non-lethal
practices and with “evidence
of ‘intentional feeding or un-
natural attraction of wolves by
the livestock owner.’”
Turn to WOLF, Page 12
Oregon Court of Appeals affi rms
ruling overturning GMO ban
County ordinance
is pre-empted
by state law
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
The Oregon Court of Ap-
peals has affi rmed that a pro-
hibition against genetically
engineered crops in Jose-
phine County is pre-empted
by state law.
Voters in Josephine Coun-
ty approved the ban in 2014,
nearly a year after state law-
makers passed a bill barring
local governments from reg-
ulating genetically modifi ed
organisms, or GMOs.
Farmers Robert and Shel-
ley Ann White, who wanted
to plant biotech sugar beets,
IRRIGATED HAY FARM:
208 acres located 5 miles E of
Harlem, MT. 153 acres of flood
irrigated hay, very nice
5-bedroom home, 30’x60’
heated shop, storage shed/tack
room, corrals, and some farm
equipment. Good Pheasant
hunting area.
$571,000
Call Shane Ophus for details
at 406-788-6662.
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press File
The Josephine County, Ore., courthouse. The Oregon Court of
Appeals has affi rmed the opinion of Josephine County Circuit
Judge Pat Wolke that a county ordinance banning biotech crops
is unlawful.
convinced Josephine County
Circuit Judge Pat Wolke that
the local GMO ban was un-
lawful in 2016.
Oregonians for Safe
Farms and Families, a non-
profi t, and Siskiyou Seeds,
an organic farm, intervened
in that case as defendants,
allowing them to challenge
Wolke’s decision before the
Oregon Court of Appeals.
Turn to GMO, Page 12
MONTANA FARM 9,200 ACRES:
Located in central MT, N of Lewistown.
Includes 7,150 acres of dry cropland, two
homes & two sets of farm buildings with
feedlot set-up.
Local cropping practices
include Winter & Spring Wheat, Barley and
Pulse Crops. Irrigation rights & development
are possible. There’s Elk, Deer, Antelope &
bird Hunting & fishing in this area.
Farm is priced at $1,825 per acre.
Call Mark Pyrak, Broker 406-788-9280 or go
to www.fbrealty.com
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