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8 CapitalPress.com November 17, 2017 Washington WDFW: Rancher lawfully shoots wolf Wolf caught attacking cattle By DON JENKINS Capital Press A rancher was justified in shooting a wolf that was attacking cattle in northern Ferry County, the Washington Department of Fish and Wild- life says. The rancher shot the fe- male wolf Oct. 27 on private grazing lands and reported it to WDFW. The wolf was out- side any pack’s territory, ac- cording to WDFW. State law allows the shoot- ing of a wolf that’s caught in the act of attacking livestock in the eastern one-third of Washington, where wolves are not a federally protected species. Wolves are federal- ly protected in the rest of the state. The shooting was the sec- ond time this year a wolf has been shot in Washington while attacking livestock. WDFW concluded a ranch employ- ee was justified in shooting one of two wolves from the Smackout pack attacking live- stock June 30 on U.S. Forest Service land. WDFW later killed two wolves in the pack to stop chronic depredations. WDFW did not state in a written report whether in- vestigators linked the wolf shot Oct. 27 to a particular pack. Efforts to obtain more information were not suc- cessful. WDFW also reported Thursday that a calf was in- jured by wolves, also in Ferry County, fewer than 3 miles from where the wolf was shot. The depredation was reported to WDFW to Nov. 2. WDFW did not report whether it connected any pack with the depredation. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife A member of the Teanaway wolfpack. A rancher has been cleared in the shooting of a Ferry County wolf that was attacking livestock. Raw milk dairy surrenders license By DON JENKINS Capital Press A Toppenish, Wash., raw milk dairy has surrendered its processors license, though it could regain the license by satisfying the state Depart- ment of Agriculture that it has found and cleaned up the source of salmonella. Pride & Joy Dairy’s own- ers, Allen and Cheryl Voort- man, signed the agreement, which was finalized Nov. 6, describing what they must do to have their license reinstat- ed. The organic dairy can still sell milk to other processors for pasteurization, a state department of agriculture spokesman said. WSDA suspended the dairy’s license on Oct. 6 after state health officials linked raw milk from Pride & Joy to two people hospitalized in January with salmonella poi- soning. If Pride & Joy had not sur- rendered its license, the dairy faced having the license re- voked by WSDA. Pride & Joy did not respond to a request for comment. The dairy agreed that it must submit a plan for WSDA’s approval for in- vestigating the cause of pathogens in its bottled milk and for correcting problems. The two people who were sickened reported in January that they drank Pride & Joy milk, but follow-up tests did not detect salmonella in the dairy’s milk. The connection was made when milk samples collected in October tested positive for the same strain that sickened the two people. The state Department of Health made the preliminary determination. The Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention conducted further tests and confirmed the find- ing. Even before October, the dairy had drawn the attention of WSDA. The department report- ed finding salmonella in raw milk samples collected from the dairy in September. WSDA issued a rare public health alert after the dairy declined to voluntarily recall its milk. Don Jenkins/Capital Press Washington Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, listens during a legislative hearing in January in Olympia. Warnick said Nov. 8 that she hopes lawmakers can agree before the end of the year on legislation to ease restrictions on drilling residential wells in rural areas. GOP yields Wine grape acreage growth rate slows control of Senate By DAN WHEAT Capital Press CASHMERE, Wash. — The rate of growth of Wash- ington wine grape vineyards has slowed in the last six years while still maintaining a good clip. There were 55,445 acres of wine grapes in 2017, up 26.4 percent from 43,849 acres in 2011. Between 2006 and 2011, acreage was up 41.4 percent from 31,000 acres, according to the state 2017 vineyard acreage report is- sued Nov. 8 by USDA’s Na- tional Agricultural Statistics Service. The biggest jump was 24,000 acres in 1999, up 116.2 percent from 11,100 acres in 1993. It’s not just acreage. Growth in the number of wine grape vines follows a similar pattern at 53.4 million vines in 2017, up 35.5 percent from 39.4 million in 2011, which was up 52 percent from 2006. The density of plantings per acre is a bigger deal in the neighboring tree fruit indus- try. Older plantings of fewer trees per acre are being re- placed with higher densities. But most of the state’s vine- yards have been planted since the 1980s at desirable den- sities so there’s not the same movement toward greater Dan Wheat/Capital Press Gaston Rocha picks Pinot noir wine grapes at the Clos CheValle Vineyard at Lake Chelan, Wash., on Oct. 16. A new report shows growth slowing in the state’s wine grape acreage and in the num- ber of vines. densities as in tree fruit. “Unlike most other fruit crops, wine grape supply and demand is tied extremely closely to wine market de- mand and trends,” said Vicky Scharlau, executive director of the Washington Winegrow- er Association in Cashmere. Changes in acreage mir- ror demand, and clearly red varieties remain the trend with their “reputation for ex- ceptionalism in Washington,” Scharlau said. Kevin Corliss, vice presi- dent of viticulture at Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates in Woodinville, the state’s largest winery, said new-acre- age planting is tapering as the industry nears balance. Vineyards approximately 40 years old are being replanted with second-generation vines with more care to put the right varieties in the right areas according to temperature, he said. Multiple clones of each variety give vintners subtle flavor differences with which to work, he said. The 2017 acreage breaks down at 35,852 acres of red wine grapes. Cabernet Sauvi- gnon dominates with 18,608 acres. Merlot follows at 9,071 and Syrah at 4,572. There are 19,593 acres of white wine grapes, with Chardonnay leading at 7,782, closely trailed by white Ries- ling at 6,695. Cabernet Sauvignon acre- age has grown the most of any red or white variety in the past six years, up 80.7 percent from 10,293 acres. “That’s been an area of the market that’s very strong. We grow great Cabernet in Wash- ington,” Corliss said. It needs a long, warm season free of frost and has propelled much of the large growth in the Horse Heaven Hills American Viticultural Area, he said. Horse Heaven Hills acreage has grown by 40.8 percent since 2011. Chenin Blanc acreage has fallen from 600 acres in 1993 to the current 67. Semillon has fallen from 700 acres to 235 during the same period. Those are “pioneering variet- ies” whose “time is past” but still make some great wines, Corliss said. By AVA, Yakima Valley leads at 15,963 acres fol- lowed by Horse Heaven Hills at 14,909, Wahluke Slope at 8,045, Columbia Valley at 8,010, Red Mountain at 1,885, Rattlesnake Hills at 1,807, Walla Walla Valley at 1,645, Snipes Mountain at 749, Columbia Gorge at 355, Lake Chelan at 264, Puget Sound at 102 and Naches Heights at 45. The 2017 report shows an average density of 963 vines per acre compared to 898 in 2011. Democrats win swing seat By DON JENKINS Capital Press Democrats have won con- trol of the Washington Sen- ate, shifting power in Olym- pia but not immediately altering talks over reopening rural areas to new residential wells. Republicans still retain enough Senate seats to block borrowing to fund capital projects, the bargaining chip they’ve used to prod Demo- crats to negotiate a response to the state Supreme Court’s Hirst decision, which holds that new wells threaten streams and fish popula- tions. “We still have some leverage,” said Senate Ag- riculture Committee Chair- woman Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake. The Senate passed War- nick-sponsored legislation this year to overrule the court and allow new wells, but the Democratic-con- trolled House did not. Some Democrats say they want more protection for stream flows before easing the court’s restrictions on wells. Democrats will control both chambers and the gov- ernorship in January. Democrat Manka Dh- ingra held a commanding election night lead over Republican Jinyoung Lee Englund to fill a vacant seat in a Seattle suburban Senate district. The seat had been held by a Republican. Senate Democrats will have a 25-24 edge and con- trol which bills receive hear- ings and votes. Passing a bond bill to fund new capital projects, however, requires a super-majority, or 30 votes. That means Senate Repub- licans are needed to pass it. Warnick said Wednesday that she received pre-elec- tion commitments from Democrats that talks about Hirst will continue. She said she was hopeful lawmakers will come to an agreement by the end of the year. “I did have assuranc- es we’re going to work on Hirst,” she said. “I want to get the capital budget passed, too, but I really need a Hirst fix for my constituents.” The Washington Farm Bureau has been among the Hirst decision’s most vocal critics, saying it will prevent farmers from building new family homes and farm- worker housing, and dam- age rural communities. Reps. David Taylor and Brian Blake, who co-spon- sored a compromise Hirst bill that didn’t pass, agreed that Dhingra’s election won’t affect ongoing talks. 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