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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.
Blake, chairman of the
House Agriculture Com-
mittee, said rural wells are
“such a minor problem.
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