10 CapitalPress.com
September 29, 2017
Idaho
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Forest Service, Idaho work to boost logging on federal land
By KEITH RIDLER
Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — The U.S.
Forest Service and Idaho have
forged 10 agreements for log-
ging and restoration projects
on federal land in what offi-
cials say could become a tem-
plate for other Western states
to create jobs and reduce the
severity of wildfires.
Under the deals, Idaho for-
esters will administer timber
sales on about 10,000 acres the
federal agency has on its to-do
list but can’t complete because
the money for the work is in-
stead going to fight wildfires.
So far this year, the cost
of that fight has surpassed $2
billion — more than half the
federal agency’s annual budget
— during one of the worst fire
seasons on record in the West.
The state work involves
managing timber sales to a
lumber company after deter-
mining how much is available
and sometimes even marking
what can and can’t be cut.
Money generated from the
sales goes into accounts in
the national forest where the
timber was harvested, less ex-
penses incurred by the Idaho
Department of Lands for ad-
ministering the sales.
The federal money is held
in accounts to be used for addi-
tional work, which can include
thinning projects to reduce
wildfire threats and projects
to improve habitat for fish and
wildlife.
The federal-state partner-
ship is possible under the Good
Neighbor Authority passed by
Congress more than a decade
ago that initially involved
Colorado and Utah. The 2014
Farm Bill expanded the mea-
sure to include other states.
Michigan, Wyoming, Ore-
gon, Nevada and in particular
Wisconsin have moved ahead
with the partnership. But of-
ficials say Idaho — where 38
percent of the land is managed
by the U.S. Forest Service —
has made rapid progress.
“Idaho has really stepped
up to fully embrace that abil-
ity for us to work with our
state partners to get more work
done,” said Intermountain Re-
gion Forester Nora Rasure,
whose area includes 53,000
square miles of forest lands in
Utah, Nevada and portions of
Wyoming, Idaho and Califor-
nia.
Government, industry and
environmentalists have devel-
Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review, via AP
In this 2016 photo, a plane drops a load of fire retardant near Spo-
kane, Wash. The U.S. Forest Service and the state of Idaho have
forged agreements leading to more logging on federal land in what
officials say could become a template for other Western states and
reduce the severity of wildfires.
oped a collaborative approach
in Idaho following years of
stalemated litigation over for-
ests that were sometimes con-
sumed by flames as decisions
were delayed.
“They’re building agree-
ments on being able to man-
age the forest in such a way
that you can get timber off of
them but you don’t compro-
mise environmental values,”
said John Freemuth, a Boise
State University environmen-
tal policy professor and public
lands expert. “It’s not a pana-
cea, but it’s better than forest
wars. That exhausted a lot of
people.”
Watchdog groups say
they’re concerned the policy
might have more to do with
avoiding environmental reg-
ulations than enhancing forest
health.
But for now, they are cau-
tiously supportive.
The Idaho Department of
Lands manages 2.4 million
acres of state endowment land
it received at statehood to pri-
marily benefit public schools.
About a million of those acres
are forested.
Tom Schultz, director
of the Idaho Department of
Lands, said the work with the
Forest Service helps Idaho by
reducing the threat of giant
wildfires spilling onto state
and private forest land, and
removing stands weakened
by insects or disease to help
prevent the spread of those
problems to state and private
lands.
Another major benefit is
jobs. Shultz said an analysis
suggests 12 to 15 direct and
indirect jobs will be created
for every million board feet of
lumber harvested.
The watchdog groups won-
der how well Idaho can mesh
its forestry program, which is
geared to maximize revenue
over the long term, with the
Forest Service’s multiple-use
mandate that includes timber
sales, recreation and wildlife
habitat.
“We’d like to see them rec-
ognize that you can still have
a profitable timber sale while
protecting some of those sensi-
tive resources,” said Jonathan
Oppenheimer of the Idaho
Conservation League.
The Idaho Department of
Lands has received a three-
year grant for $900,000 from
the Forest Service for the
program and Idaho lawmak-
ers have authorized $250,000
from the state general fund.
State officials say the goal
is to have the program paying
for itself with profitable timber
sales in three to five years.
“We want to significantly
increase the number of acres
being treated,” Idaho State
Forester David Groeschl told
Gov. Butch Otter and other
elected officials during a Tues-
day meeting of the Idaho Land
Board, which previously ap-
proved entering into the agree-
ments with the Forest Service.
The 10 projects in Idaho
are in various stages, with two
currently being logged and
a lot of curiosity about how
state-managed timber sales on
federal land will turn out.
“There’s probably a natu-
ral tension between agencies,
but I think that we’re making
real progress in getting beyond
some of that,” said Jane Dar-
nell, a deputy regional forester
with the Forest Service whose
area includes northern Idaho.
“We’ll get there.”
UI plans ag technology ‘boot camp’ in Pocatello Idaho bean, seed groups to
seek legislation to protect
crops from soybean diseases
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
POCATELLO, Idaho —
Nephi Harvey’s company has
developed technology that
enables feedlot operators to
diagnose sick cattle about two
days before clear symptoms
surface by tracking how often
they drink from the watering
trough.
Harvey, with Fort Supply
in Kaysville, Utah, will be
among the presenters featur-
ing the latest innovations in
crop and livestock production
at an Ag Tech Boot Camp,
scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Jan. 4 at Idaho State Universi-
ty’s Roy F. Christensen Build-
ing.
University of Idaho Ex-
tension officials, private in-
dustry representatives and
state commodity group lead-
ers have formed an informal
committee to plan the inau-
gural event, which is support-
ed by the USDA Risk Man-
agement Agency. Admission
will be $30, and organizers
expect a crowd of about 100
people. Jon Hogge, UI’s Ex-
tension cereals educator for
Eastern Idaho who is heading
the planning committee, said
the event will likely rotate
among different regions of
the state in the future.
Organizers are also mull-
ing a possible trade show and
a second day of activities, fo-
cused on technology demon-
strations.
“These types of education-
al conferences are important
because a lot of producers
don’t know what’s out there
that may help them with just
a little bit of change in what
they’re doing,” Harvey said.
“We have to be making more
money per animal, not just
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
Courtesy of Nephi Harvey
Electronic cattle tags are read as part of a system developed by Fort Supply Technologies of Kays-
ville, Utah, to compile data on cattle operations and predict when cattle may become sick based on
how often a cow associated with a specific ear tag needs to drink from its trough. The technology will
be featured in an ag technology event scheduled for Jan. 4 in Pocatello.
have more animals making
less money.”
Harvey’s
animal
health-monitoring
system
uses electronic ear tags that
can be read from as far away
as 25 feet, reducing labor and
animal handling. An antenna
by the watering trough re-
cords when a given ear tag
approaches. The company’s
algorithm analyzes devia-
tions from normal drinking,
factoring in temperature and
humidity data from a weather
station.
Harvey said he’s ap-
proached researchers, includ-
ing from University of Idaho,
about conducting third-party
studies on his products. His
company has found the pro-
ducers quickly recoup their
investments — $3,500 per
pen, plus a monthly charge of
25 cents per head — by reduc-
ing livestock mortality and
weight loss, as they can take
proactive steps to boost cattle
immune systems.
The event’s keynote speak-
er will be Brent Hillman, with
Progressive Crop Systems in
Shelley. Hogge said Hillman’s
staff helps producers integrate
yield monitoring equipment
into their harvests, and to use
the data effectively in making
decisions.
Hogge said other event
topics may include drones,
variable-rate fertilizer, irri-
gation innovations, running
pivots using a cell phone and
other topics commodity group
leaders may suggest. He’s
planning a panel discussion
featuring farmers who have
effectively implemented tech-
nology into their businesses.
Les Nunn, an event orga-
nizer with Bear Lake County
Extension, anticipates ranch-
ers will be especially inter-
ested in advancements in ge-
nomics and genetic testing of
livestock.
Laura Johnson, with the
state Department of Agricul-
ture, said last winter, during
an annual agricultural out-
look seminar, UI Extension
hosted a two-hour discussion
on agricultural technology.
Surveys of attendees showed
the session was extremely
popular and prompted UI to
“look at something bigger,”
she said.
BOISE — The Idaho Bean
Commission and Idaho-East-
ern Oregon Seed Association
will turn to the legislature to
try to ensure soybean seed
doesn’t bring in diseases that
could harm the state’s $70
million dry bean industry.
Idaho is the nation’s leader
in dry bean seed production
because of strict testing guide-
lines that require bean seed to
undergo serology testing and
be certified as disease-free.
Idaho dry bean industry
representatives say soybeans
have the potential to bring in
diseases that could signifi-
cantly harm their industry, a
claim supported by a Univer-
sity of Idaho plant pathologist
and the Idaho State Depart-
ment of Agriculture.
The bean and seed groups
earlier this year asked the
ISDA to initiate a rule that
would prohibit soybeans from
being grown in southcen-
tral and southwestern Idaho,
where the state’s dry bean in-
dustry is located.
That idea was nixed by
the office of Gov. Butch Ot-
ter, whose spokesman, Jon
Hanian, told Capital Press the
governor needed a lot more
information about the ratio-
nale for the proposed ban.
During their quarterly
meeting in June, IBC mem-
bers also discussed the idea
of taking soybeans under the
commission’s umbrella to en-
sure they have to follow the
same strict testing rules and
regulations that dry beans do.
IBC and IEOSA members
discussed those ideas during
an August conference call.
IEOSA Executive Director
Roger Batt told Capital Press
the groups will pursue legis-
lation to accomplish both of
those ideas during the 2018
Idaho Legislature.
“We’re pretty hopeful we
can get both those things done
during the 2018 legislative
session,” Batt said.
Soybean acres in Idaho
have fluctuated between a few
dozen and a couple hundred
over the last decade, mostly
on a trial basis, but some bean
industry leaders believe it’s
only a matter of time before
they are grown on a larger
scale in Idaho.
“Dry beans are a 100-year-
old industry in the state of
Idaho; it doesn’t make any
sense to jeopardize it with a
few acres of soybeans,” said
IBC board member Don Tol-
mie, an agronomist and pro-
duction manager for Treasure
Valley Seed Co.
“On the surface, it sounds
like we are trying to restrict an
ag business,” he said. “That’s
not it at all. We’re trying to
protect an ag business that is
already established.”
If a moratorium is passed,
soybeans could still be grown
in North and East Idaho.
But the moratorium idea
is not supported by some IBC
members, including farm-
ers Doug Huettig and Mike
Goodson, who both spoke
against it during the IBC’s
June meeting.
Goodson said it makes
more sense to pursue other
means of protecting the in-
dustry, such as placing soy-
beans under the IBC’s au-
thority.
Friends’ hobby preserves farm history
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
SAGE Fact #145
Did you know that the Port of Morrow
Warehousing ships approximately 6,000
export containers, 7,200 domestic truck
loads and 1,200 rail cars annually.
39-1/101
BLACKFOOT, Idaho —
Ken Tuck spends his free time
much as he did in high school
— tinkering in his shop with his
best friend, Tony Rushin.
Only back when they were
younger, they built hot rods.
Nowadays, the friends from
Idaho Falls, who are both re-
tired from long careers at the
Idaho National Laboratory, re-
store antique tractors for area
farmers.
Their projects were on dis-
play in the antique tractor ex-
hibit at the Eastern Idaho State
Fair on Sept. 1-9.
“The fair started and oper-
ates in the fall as an agricultural
event, when the crops are in,
but you look at a lot of it over
here and it’s commercialized,”
Tuck said. “To see old farm
equipment or any kind of farm-
ing stuff boosts up the farmers.”
Tuck said he relishes time
spent in the shop behind his
house with Rushin and his
Labrador, listening to classi-
cal music and giving new life
to long-neglected farm relics.
Though he admits he’d prefer
to work on hot rods, Tuck ex-
plained his hobby now serves
a higher purpose, as several
“farm buddies” have old trac-
tors in line awaiting his and
Rushin’s attention.
With each machine they re-
store, Tuck said, they also pre-
serve a piece of family history.
Nostalgic family members tell
them stories about childhood
memories and great-grandfa-
thers — pioneers in East Idaho
agriculture — who once used
the tractors.
“Farmers have a tie to it be-
cause it’s part of their heritage,”
Tuck said.
One of their earliest and
favorite tractor projects was
restoring a small 1936 John
Deere for a group of siblings,
who wanted to surprise their fa-
John O’Connell/Capital Press
Tony Rushin, left, and Ken
Tuck with a John Deere tractor
they restored. They displayed
some of their projects at the
antique tractor exhibit during
the Eastern Idaho State Fair in
Blackfoot.
ther. The old tractor had been in
a cellar for years, buried under
burlap potato sacks.
Rushin is always struck by
the simplicity and longevity of
the old farm implements.
“You get a computer (prob-
lem) that shuts down a big trac-
tor for weeks,” Rushin said.
“But the 1936 here, we fixed
it up and put gas in it, and it
started right up after sitting that
long.”
The rarest tractor they’ve
restored is an International Far-
mall MD, which starts on gaso-
line and switches over to diesel
fuel.
As much as they value fam-
ily history, they most enjoy the
new memories they help shape.
In lieu of a limousine, the Far-
mall tractor they rehabilitated
pulled the bride and groom on
a wagon when a daughter in
the family got married. Though
most farmers have modern
tractors for working fields,
Tuck said some of them still
enjoy driving the antiques “like
go-carts.”
Rushin said their tractors are
also routinely entered in local
Fourth of July and homecom-
ing parades.
Retired cattle rancher Duane
Jensen, of Rockford, restored
four of the antique tractors dis-
played at the fair.