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8 CapitalPress.com February 2, 2018 WSDA drawing up fines for hemp violations Penalties could be moot By DON JENKINS Capital Press U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The gray wolf is on the Washington state endangered species list. Washington resident Terry Leroy Fowler, 55, was fined and put on home-electronic monitoring for killing two wolves. Washington man fined for killing wolves Third count dropped in plea deal By DON JENKINS Capital Press A Spokane Coun- ty, Wash., man has been fined $8,293 and put on home-electronic monitor- ing for 30 days after plead- ing guilty to killing two wolves in northeast Wash- ington. Terry Leroy Fowler, 55, of Liberty Lake was sentenced Jan. 25 in Pend Oreille County District Court after pleading guilty to two counts of unlawful- ly taking wildlife. A third count against Fowler was dismissed as part of a plea agreement with the county prosecutor’s office. Fowler also received a one-year sus- pended jail sentence. The plea bargain leaves two other wolf poaching investigations being con- ducted by the state Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife in northeast Washington. Most of the state’s wolves are concentrated in four north- east counties, including Pend Oreille. Wolves are not federal- ly protected in the eastern one-third of Washington, but they are on the state’s endangered species list. The probe leading to Fowler’s conviction began in February 2016 with the investigation of a dead wolf near LeClerc Road in Pend Oreille County, according to WDFW. Evidence at the scene led investigators to search Fowler’s cabin in Pend Oreille County and his res- idence in Spokane County. Investigators reported find- ing evidence of wolf trap- ping, and wolf hair, tissue, scat and two skulls. DNA analysis found the remains were from three wolves, ac- cording to WDFW. The wolves were from within the range of the Goodman Meadows pack along the Idaho border, ac- cording to WDFW. The unlawful killing of wildlife is a gross mis- demeanor and punishable by up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine. In Fowler’s case, he will pay WDFW $8,000 in restitution and $293 in court costs. WDFW is also inves- tigating the death of a ra- dio-collared female wolf found Dec. 15 about 15 miles southwest of Republic in Stevens County. The wolf was once part of the Profan- ity Peak pack, according to WDFW. Also, the department is probing the death of a fe- male wolf found by hunters Nov. 12 within the Dirty Shirt pack territory about 10 miles southeast of Colville in Stevens County. WDFW is asking for anyone with tips about ei- ther investigation to call (877) 933-9847 or (360) 902-2936. The Washington State Department of Agriculture is informally circulating a pro- posal to fine unlicensed hemp farmers, seed sellers and pro- cessors up to $15,000. The maximum penalty, double the maximum that WSDA can levy for expos- ing bystanders to pesticides, would be just enough to cov- er the department’s costs to prosecute a case, said Jason Ferrante, assistant director of the commodity inspection di- vision. “We felt $15,000 is in the ballpark of what we need to pursue an offender,” he said Tuesday. WSDA started issuing hemp licenses last spring, but has not adopted a schedule of fines for dealing in hemp without a license or for violat- ing terms of license. WSDA hopes to have penalties on the books by the end of June. By then, however, the matter may be moot. The department may end the hemp program unless legislators appropriate funds Richard A. Howard/USDA NRCS The Washington State Department of Agriculture is drawing up fines for violating the state’s hemp program. The penalties may be moot if legislators don’t appropriate money to continue the program. to keep it go- ing. The other option would be to impose about a 15- fold increase in license, in- Jason spection and Ferrante testing fees, Ferrante said. License holders already pay fees that total hundreds or thousands of dollars. Without a state program, growing hemp, a federally controlled substance, would be illegal in Washington, accord- ing to WSDA. The department, however, has only $10,500 on hand now to stop illicit hemp. That’s only enough for a website and to pass on complaints to local au- thorities about unlicensed busi- nesses, Ferrante said. WSDA last fall submitted a request for $287,000 to con- tinue the hemp program. The Governor’s Office did not in- clude the money in the budget proposal it sent the Legislature. Bonny Jo Peterson, who founded the Industrial Hemp Association of Washington last year, said Monday that she was confident lawmakers will fund the program. “I’m working with Dem- ocrats and Republicans,” she said. “There is strong sup- port.” As part of the governor’s administration, WSDA is not lobbying for the money. It’s only watching and waiting, Ferrante said. “You never know until the bill is signed by the governor,” he said. In the meantime, here are some penalties the department is considering. It may make a formal proposal in mid- March. • Up to $15,000 for grow- ing hemp without a license. • Up to $15,000 for grow- ing hemp with a THC concen- tration of more than 1 percent. Hemp plants that test under 1 percent but higher than the le- gal limit of .3 percent would be destroyed. THC is the psy- choactive drug in marijuana. • Up to $15,000 for manu- facturing hemp oil for human consumption. Hemp oil, or cannabidiol, is sold as a nutri- tional supplement. • Up to $15,000 for bring- ing viable hemp seeds or plants into the state without WSDA approval. • Up to $1,000 for planting hemp within 4 miles of a mar- ijuana farm. • Hemp processed in homes would be destroyed, but no fine. • Up to $500 for not send- ing records to WSDA. • Up to $500 for not post- ing department-provided signs on every side of every field. Zebra chip control costs NW growers nearly $11M each year By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press KENNEWICK, Wash. — Zebra chip control costs Northwest growers nearly $11 million a year in treat- ment products and applica- tion expenses, a researcher says. Gina Greenway, a busi- ness and accounting assis- tant professor at the College of Idaho, is also working to quantify zebra chip’s effects on potato quality and devel- oping a cost-benefit analysis of different insecticide spray regimes. “Incremental reductions in spray applications can have a significant impact,” she said. Capital Press File Potatoes infected with zebra chip bacteria fry darker than healthy potatoes. Researchers are looking for ways to reduce the cost of stopping the potato psyllids that spread the disease. Depending on environ- mental conditions, the vari- ety of tools provided by the research will give growers the ability to make informed decisions when and if an ap- WHO SHOULD ATTEND? plication is necessary, she said. That has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of controlling the psyl- lids that spread zebra chip, Greenway said. Upcoming Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training Fruit and vegetable growers and others interested in learning about produce safety, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), and co-management of natural resources and food safety. The PSA Grower Training Course is one way to satisfy the FSMA Produce Safety Rule training requirement. Ontario, Oregon • February 23, 2018 Cost to attend: $25 To register, visit: producesafetyalliance.cornell.edu or contact Sue Davis at sdavis@oda.state.or.us 503-807-5864 Funding for these trainings was made possible by Grant Number 1U18FD005889-01 from the FDA. Presented in partnership with Oregon State University Extension Services and the National Young Farmers Coalition 5-1/100 “It’s just such an ex- pensive problem,” she said during the Washington-Or- egon Potato Conference in Kennewick, Wash. Zebra chip is a bacteria vectored by potato psyllids. It causes a striped discoloration in potatoes that becomes more pronounced when they are cooked. Psyllid numbers in fields are usually low early in the spring and gradually in- crease, peaking late in the season most years, said Erik Wenninger, associate ento- mology professor at the Uni- versity of Idaho in Kimberly. “A lot of individual fields might see virtually no psyl- lids for the whole season, and then shortly before harvest, we start seeing psyllids show up in the fields,” Winninger said. “The question is, ‘Do I need to worry about zebra chip in this field?’ Can you get away without spraying right at the end of the sea- son?” After conducting green- house testing, Wenninger said the risk of zebra chip is “quite high” at the time of harvest or after time in stor- age if infection occurs four or more weeks before vinekill. Zebra chip is highly likely to develop in storage if the infection occurs three weeks before vinekill. The disease has a low to moderate chance of developing in storage if the infection occurs two weeks before vinekill, and the risk is low for both harvest and stor- age one week before vinekill, Wenninger said. There is a low to moderate risk if infec- tion occurs at harvest. Wenninger will next con- duct similar greenhouse tests for different potato varieties, and study how quickly zebra chip develops during storage. 5-2/110 5-1/101