January 12, 2018
CapitalPress.com
11
Wash. AgForestry Leadership
Program chooses its 40th class
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
The long-running Wash-
ington AgForestry leadership
program has announced the
members of its 40th class.
Sponsored by the Washing-
ton Agriculture and Forestry
Education Foundation, the
leadership program helps par-
ticipants develop the knowl-
edge and skills needed to ad-
dress agricultural and forestry
issues.
“We have the most diverse
group of class participants that
I think we have ever had,” said
Sheryl McGrath, the founda-
tion president. “That is diversi-
ty in commodity sector, differ-
ent types of natural resources,
but also we have a wonderful
gender mix as well as cultural
mix, this year.”
The program recently ad-
opted a diversity inclusion
equity statement, seeking to
represent the entire industry,
McGrath said.
“We need to embrace every-
one and everything, from age,
gender, culture, background,
ethnicity and religion, because
natural resources really do in-
clude everyone,” she said.
Lynn Ketchum/OSU
A bumble bee and a honeybee pollinate canola flowers. Three
January workshops will focus on growing canola.
Workshops will
showcase canola as
‘opportunity crop’
Eastern
Washington
farmers will get the latest
information about adding
canola to their crop rotations
during upcoming workshops
sponsored by Washington
State University and the
Washington Oilseed Crop-
ping System.
The workshops will be
Jan. 22 in Hartline, Jan. 24
in Richland and Jan. 25 in
Colfax. All begin at 7:30
a.m.
Each workshop will be
tuned into local growing
conditions, said Karen Sow-
ers, extension and outreach
specialist for oilseed crops.
“Whether you’ve never
grown a canola or an oilseed
crop before or you’ve got 10
or 20 years under your belt,
there should be information
for everybody,” she said.
Washington, Idaho, Ore-
gon and Montana had record
canola acreage in 2017, to-
taling 221,000 acres. Sow-
ers expects further growth
in 2018.
The economics of grow-
ing canola are a focus of the
workshops, including plant-
ing rates, pest and disease
management and loss off
the combine during harvest,
Sowers said.
The workshop includes
an expanded hands-on
demonstration of live canola
plants with residual and drift
herbicide injury symptoms,
nutrition deficiencies and
stand establishment factors,
including seed size, plant-
ing depth and the effects of
planting older canola seed.
“Canola and other oil-
seeds are an opportunity
crop,” Sowers said.
Speakers will include
university faculty, growers
and others. Kansas State
University winter cano-
la breeder Mike Stamm
will speak in Hartline and
Richland and Dan Orchard,
canola agronomist from the
Canola Council of Canada,
will speak at all three loca-
tions.
Forest Service signs off on E. Oregon fire protection project
Area encompasses
37,800 acres in
Wallowa-Whitman,
Umatilla forests
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
Forest officials plan to
log nearly 8,000 acres in the
Umatilla and Wallowa-Whit-
man national forests of north-
east Oregon to help protect
local resources from wildfire
within the Granite Creek wa-
tershed.
The Ten Cent Communi-
ty Wildfire Protection Plan
includes the tiny towns of
Granite and Greenhorn, as
well as the popular Olive
Lake Campground, historic
Fremont Powerhouse and ad-
jacent recreational cabins.
Both forests signed a re-
cord of decision for the proj-
ect Jan. 3, authorizing 7,859
acres of commercial timber
harvest, 1,227 acres of small
tree thinning, 3,557 acres of
hand-thinning in riparian ar-
eas and roadside hazard tree
removal.
Andrew Stinchfield, proj-
ect manager and acting dis-
trict ranger for the North
Fork John Day Ranger Dis-
trict on the Umatilla National
Forest, said fire safety was
the primary driver for the
treatments.
“There is a lot of fuel out
there, a lot of dead and down
(wood) on the ground, a lot
of ingrowth of trees,” Stinch-
field said. “What we’re try-
ing to do is basically create
a series of these strategically
placed fuel breaks, ultimately
along roads and then in se-
lected stands around private
property.”
Two join Washington
Grain Commission board
Carstensen
represents wheat,
Klein represents
barley
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
SPOKANE — Mike
Carstensen and Kevin
Klein are the newest board
members
representing
wheat and barley farmers
on the Washington Grain
Commission.
Carstensen farms 10
miles north of Almira. He
takes the position left vacant
by Mike Eagle of Almira
and represents wheat farm-
ers in Spokane, Lincoln,
Ferry, Stevens and Pend
Oreille counties.
He’s been farming since
1985, raising dryland wheat,
primarily soft white and
some club wheat.
Carstensen said he joined
the 11-member commission
to support farmers.
“I think that markets are
very important, I think our
research is very important,”
he said.
Klein, of Edwall, rep-
resents barley farmers in
Lincoln, Spokane, Fer-
ry, Stevens, Pend Oreille,
Adams, Grant, Douglas,
Okanogan, Chelan and
Kittitas counties. He re-
places Eddie Johnson of
Wilbur.
He’s been farming on his
own since 1997, and was
part of the family farm grow-
ing up. He raises soft white
wheat and some barley. He
previously went through
the leadership levels for the
Washington Association of
Wheat Growers, serving as
president in 2016.
Klein said he joined the
board because he saw a need
for barley representation.
The commission held its
board meeting Jan. 4 in Spo-
kane.
Participating in the 40th
class are Jason Alves of the
Washington State Depart-
ment of Veteran Affairs;
Evan Bauder of the Mason
Conservation District; Tyler
Broetje of Broetje Orchards
in Prescott; Jaki Brophy of
the Washington Hops Com-
mission; Randy Burke of the
Washington State Department
of Natural Resources; Annie
Byerley of 5B Farms Inc. in
Walla Walla; Kevin Corliss
of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates
Mike Carstensen
Kevin Klein
Photos by EO Media Group
The Ten Cent Community Wildfire Protection Plan includes the tiny town of Granite, Ore. BELOW: Ol-
ive Lake is within the just-approved Ten Cent Community Wildfire Protection Plan in Eastern Oregon.
The project also includes
9,382 acres of controlled
burning, though Stinchfield
said they will not burn in the
North Fork John Day Wil-
derness Area after objections
were raised by Oregon Wild,
Wilderness Watch, Blue
Mountains Biodiversity Proj-
ect and the American Forest
Resource Council.
The decision does not in-
clude 6,743 acres of non-wil-
derness burning on the Uma-
tilla National Forest, which
Stinchfield said will be deter-
mined separately.
Stinchfield said the proj-
ect was planned over three
years in consultation with
the Grant County Commu-
nity Wildfire Protection
Plan, which ranked the
Granite Zone a high-risk,
high-priority area.
The last large fire to burn
in the area was the Vinegar
fire in 2013, which torched
1,351 acres about six miles
southwest of Granite on rug-
ged Vinegar Hill.
“We’re excited to get the
project started,” he said.
Commercial logging is
expected to start this summer,
and will be done through sev-
eral timber sales, Stinchfield
said. The overall project
should take between seven
and 10 years to complete.
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More acres
expected after
record in 2017
Washington AgForestry Leadership Program
The Ag Forestry Leadership Program in Washington state has
announced its 40th class. Participants will learn about agriculture,
forestry and natural resource issues.
Orchards Inc. in Mesa; Jacob
Ruland of Northwest Farm
Credit Services; Brady Sto-
ver of Integrity Ag Inc.; Gareth
Waugh of Port Blakely U.S.
Forestry; Deborah Wieseler of
Flying W Farms Inc. in Mesa;
Ryan Williams of the Snohom-
ish Conservation District; and
Lindsey Williams with the Ag-
riculture Center of Excellence
in Walla Walla.
The program is recruiting
for its 41st class, McGrath said.
Class members are select-
ed through an application and
interviews. Over 18 months,
they attend 11 seminars around
the state on leadership topics, a
one-week seminar in Washing-
ton, D.C., and two weeks in a
foreign country. Members com-
mit 58 days to the seminars.
Each candidate pays a fee
of $6,000. Payment plans are
available. According to the
foundation, the program is
valued at more than $26,000
per participant, with more
than $20,000 funded by sup-
porters of the foundation. The
foundation is primarily sup-
ported by private donors. For
every dollar contributed, more
than 90 cents goes directly to
program services.