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About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2018)
2 CapitalPress.com March 16, 2018 People & Places Living with wildfire Kate Wilkin helps ranchers, foresters avert catastrophes from massive burns Capital Press Managers Joe Beach ..................Editor & Publisher Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor Jessica Boone ........ Production Manager Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager For the Capital Press Background Since the fires, Wilkin and other UC Cooperative Exten- sion advisers, including live- stock expert Tracy Schohr, have been offering workshops to help families and businesses recover and rebuild in a more fire-resilient way. But while Wilkin is keen- ly aware of the devastation the fires caused, she also sees them as an opportunity to Calendar Saturday, March 17 Ten Acres and a Dream small acreage workshop. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Centennial Distributing Co., 701 West Buckles Road, Hayden, Idaho. Topics include living on the land, raising crops and livestock, managing pastures and forestry fundamentals. Cost: $15. Website: http://bit.ly/2Gxia5S Sunday, March 18 Fruit Propagation Fair. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Clackamas Coun- ty Fairgrounds, 694 NE Fourth Ave., Canby, Ore. The fair offers attendees hundreds of varieties of free scions and cuttings. If you graft, this is paradise. Or you can choose custom grafting by experts for only $5. Free with admission are hundreds of varieties of apple, pear, cherry, plum and persimmon scions. There will also be cuttings of grapes, kiwis and figs to root. Arrive early for the best selection. Home Orchard Society experts will be available to answer fruit-grow- ing questions. Mason bee supplies are available for sale, as well as fruit-growing publications. Cost: $7 per person or $12 per family for non-members. Website: http:// homeorchardsociety.org Tuesday, March 20 Entire contents copyright © 2018 EO Media Group dba Capital Press An independent newspaper published every Friday. Capital Press (ISSN 0740-3704) is published weekly by EO Media Group, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem OR 97301. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Capital Press, P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048. To Reach Us Tim Hearden/For the Capital Press University of California Cooperative Extension forestry and fire adviser Kate Wilkin stands outside the extension office in Yuba City, Calif., where she is based. She is helping landowners recover from the October fires and researching ways to improve forest management. Western Innovator Kate Wilkin Age: 35 Hometown: Abingdon, Va. Education: Bachelor’s degree, Col- lege of William and Mary; master’s degree in biology, California Polytechnic University-San Luis Obispo; Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley Residence: Grass Valley, Calif. Family: Husband, Josiah Johnston Website: http://cesutter.ucanr.edu/LivingWithFire/ show policymakers the impact of not adequately clearing un- derbrush in forests. “My outreach program is to help people understand how to manage lands to be resistant to fire and extreme weather,” said Wilkin, who is based in Yuba City. “It might be with prescribed fires or it might be mechanical (thin- ning).” Having grown up in rural Virginia, Wilkin earned her bachelor’s degree at the Col- lege of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. She’d seen the impact of fires as a child in the rural Appalachia com- munity of Abingdon, Va., but it wasn’t until she was 21 that she gained an interest in fire behavior. She was participating in an internship with the Nature Sponsored by: To submit an event go to the Community Events calendar on the home page of our website at www.capitalpress.com and click on “Submit an Event.” Calendar items can also be mailed to Capital Press, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR 97301 or emailed to newsroom@ capitalpress.com. Write “Calendar” in the subject line. Agrarian Elders: Planning for Succession. 9 a.m.-noon. Ses- non House, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos, Calif. California FarmLink launched the “Agrarian Elders and the Next Generation Project” to catalyze solutions for retirement and preserving local and organic farms. Join California FarmLink Established 1928 Board of directors Mike Forrester Steve Forrester Kathryn Brown Susan Rana Mike Omeg Corporate Officer Heidi Wright Chief Operating Officer By TIM HEARDEN YUBA CITY, Calif. — Kate Wilkin had just recently been hired as the University of California’s fire and forest- ry adviser for the eastern Sac- ramento Valley and adjacent foothills when the crisis hit. High winds whipped up devastating wildfires through- out Northern California. While the world was focused on the wine country, where the Tubbs Fire became the most destruc- tive wildfire in the state’s his- tory, fires also swept through the rural countryside in Butte, Nevada, Yuba and other coun- ties. The half-dozen fires that made up the Wind Complex started Oct. 8. It burned over 17,000 acres, destroying or damaging 209 residences, 204 outbuildings and one commer- cial structure while killing four people and injuring one. Much of the charred ground was winter range, and the fires also caused hay loss, Butte County Farm Bureau manager Colleen Cecil has said. While the fires spared most cattle, they forced ranchers to sup- plement feed to their livestock while their pastures recover, which could take a couple of years. “For our local Wind Com- plex, it was just really striking how the fire was really dev- astating for the community,” said Wilkin, who began her job Sept. 18. “When you have a fire of this scale, it creates a lot of strain, but there was also a coming together. I was really amazed at how much people in rural communities really come together to help people.” Capital Press and partners for a workshop fea- turing presentations and a panel of perspectives on succession that will include: retirement planning, farm business transitions, taxes and transitioning to non-heir suc- cessors. Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. and the workshop will run from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Breakfast snacks will be provided and we invite par- ticipants to stay and network with partners and speakers over a light lunch. Cost: $20. Website: https:// succession-aptos.eventbrite.com Tuesday-Thursday March 20-22 International Mass Timber Con- ference. Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Portland, Ore. There will be 70-plus speakers from 20 nations and more than 60 exhibits, plus a tour of Or- egon’s mass timber buildings. Web- site: www.forestbusinessnetwork. com Wednesday, March 21 Logger Education to Advance Professionalism (LEAP) Update. 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Elks Lodge, 628 Main Ave., St. Maries, Idaho. This program is an annual opportunity for loggers to build on LEAP with in-depth training on forestry topics. Registration: UI Extension, Benewah County office, 701 College Ave., St. Maries, ID 83861 or online at: www. uidaho.edu/LEAPUpdate. Thursday, March 22 Part 3: Farm & Ranch Succes- sion Planning Workshop. 6-8:30 p.m. Clackamas Small Business Development Center, 7726 SE Har- mony Road, Milwaukie, Ore. This program can be accessed online and is offered and taught by the Clackamas Small Business Devel- opment Center, along with guest presenters such as attorneys and CPAs. In addition to informative topics and experienced ag profes- sionals, courses include confidential, one-on-one business counseling. A Conservancy in Kissimmee, Fla., where she observed fre- quent lightning strikes in the Disney Wilderness Preserve. “In my first week, they handed me a drip torch,” Wilkin said. “My job was to manage prescribed fires. It was interesting to see how the plant community not only was not harmed, but actually thrived.” Wilkin earned her mas- ter’s degree in biology from California Polytechnic Uni- versity-San Luis Obispo and worked for three years in Yo- semite National Park, where she was part of a team of scientists that studied the im- pacts of packhorse grazing in mountain meadows. She completed her doctor- ate at UC-Berkeley in 2016, having studied the relation- ship between fire, forest di- versity and water. She took part in the new Graduate Stu- dents in Extension program at Berkeley, which trains graduate students for careers in research and outreach. She was doing post-doc- toral work in the UC Agricul- ture and Natural Resources laboratory with Berkeley fire science professor Scott Ste- phens when she was hired to work out of the Sutter-Yuba extension office in Yuba City. Now she’s studying the af- termath of the Wind Complex fire. Nature of fire “It was ... really interesting to drive around after the fires were out,” she said. “They were obviously wind-driven fires. ... With the wind, most fires start as the result of spot fires from embers that can travel a mile or two miles and start another fire. “Also sometimes you’d see a home that burned and the vegetation around it didn’t, which was also be- cause of embers,” she said. “In most cases, the way homes burn is from the inside out, which is again because of embers.” As part of the recovery ef- fort, Wilkin and other advis- ers are helping ranchers with post-fire land management while also teaching people in residential areas how to make their properties more resistant to fire. She’s also been meeting with representatives from the California Licensed Profes- sional Foresters Association and getting to know local for- esters and timber operators, she said. A big part of the dis- cussions revolves around im- proving forest management. Ranchers in California used to use prescribed fires, but that changed in the 1960s with regulations aimed at pre- venting fire. “We would like to start us- ing fire again,” she said. Fire suppression has caused a proliferation of un- derbrush, and now forests are 10 times denser than they used to be, Wilkin said. She has received funding to do research within riparian cor- ridors, allowing limited har- vests of small trees and brush that will be sold to the timber market. “Our goal is to do this in a way that’s sensitive to the riparian zone and creates a more resilient forest,” she said. “I understand ... the need to be careful. It’s finding that balance.” GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE www.oxarc.com complimentary light dinner will start each evening at 6 p.m. To register, call 503-594-0738. Cost: Free. Web- site: http://bit.ly/2CX1jvl March 23-April 30 Wooden Shoe Tulip Fest. 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, 33814 S. Meridian Road, Wood- burn, Ore. The colorful annual fes- tival includes a wide variety of ac- tivities. Cost: $5 per person for 13 and older. Maximum per car charge of $20. Website: https://www.wood- enshoe.com/ Friday-Monday March 23-26 Oregon FFA Convention. De- schutes Fair & Expo Center, Red- mond, Ore. Website: http://www. oregonffa.com/EarnToLive/State- Convention Saturday, March 31 Welding and Basic Metal Work for Small Farms. 1-5 p.m. Dunbar Farms, Hillcrest Road, Medford, Ore. This popular class is small and hands-on. With space limited, regis- ter early. David Mostue, farmer and equipment guru, will teach the ba- sics of welding techniques on-site at his farm. Particular focus will be on those skills most useful to farm- ers, including the types of welders, tools and safety equipment needed. Participants will have a chance to try MIG welding, the most useful and common form of welding on farms. General metalwork like drill- ing, bending and welding prep will also be covered. Cost: $50 each person. Contact: paula.burkhalter@ oregonstate.edu or 541-776-7371. Website: http://bit.ly/JacksonSmall- Farms Wednesday-Saturday April 4-7 Idaho FFA State leadership Conference. College of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls, Idaho. Website: https://www.idahoffa.org/confer- 20 Northwest Locations ences-conventions/ Thursday, April 5 Part 4: Farm & Ranch Succes- sion Planning Workshop. 6-8:30 p.m. Clackamas Small Business Development Center, 7726 SE Harmony Road, Milwaukie, Ore. This program is offered and taught by the Clackamas Small Business Development Center, along with guest presenters such as attorneys and CPAs. A complimentary light dinner will start each evening at 6 p.m. To register, call 503-594-0738. Cost: Free. Website: http://bit.ly/ 2CX1jvl Tuesday, April 10 Southern Idaho Livestock Hall of Fame induction. 6:30-9 p.m. Turf Club, 734 Falls Ave., Twin Falls, Ida- ho. This year’s inductees are: cattle rancher Jim Baker of Filer; sheep and cattle ranchers Ed and Emily Baker (posthumously) of Filer; cattle ranchers Scott and Sarah Bedke of Oakley; dairy producers Harry and Flora Bokma of Buhl; long-time Bu- reau of Land Management super- visor Dean Brown of Jerome; and cattle ranchers Wade and Gwenna Prescott of Carey. Cost: $25 Thursday, April 19 In the Field: Salem Agriculture Seminar. 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Wil- lamette Heritage Center, 1313 Mill St. SE, Salem, Ore. A no-cost sem- inar for a discussion specifically de- signed to provide agribusiness own- ers and their managers with the tools they need to get organized. Topics include the new tax cuts, finances and financial statements, regulato- ry updates on water and wetlands, organizing an agri-business and es- tate planning for farms and ranches. RSVP at http://bit.ly/2FwaRPV. Cost: Free Shepherds’ Extravaganza. 2-10 p.m. Washington State Fair, 110 Ninth Ave. SW, Puyallup, Wash. Sheep and Fleece Show, 1-800-765-9055 vendors of supplies, used fiber-re- lated equipment, demonstrations, workshops. Cost: No cost after admission to the Spring Fair. Website: www.shepherds-extrav- aganza.com Thursday-Sunday April 19-22 Puyallup Spring Fair. Wash- ington State Fairgrounds, 110 Ninth Ave. SW, Puyallup, Wash. Website: http://www.thefair.com/ spring-fair Saturday, April 21 Oregon Women for Ag Auction and Dinner. 5:30 p.m. Linn County Fair and Expo Center, 3700 Knox Butte Road, Albany, Ore. This ex- citing event is a fundraiser for Or- egon Women for Agriculture, which advocates for all things involving agriculture in the state. Web: owa- online.org Tree School East. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Baker High School, 2500 E St., Bak- er City, Ore. This year the school will offer 29 classes on everything from multi-aged forest management, for- est insects and disease, controlling weeds, how to survive in the wild, ownership succession planning, to geology of Northeast Oregon, wild- flower identification and small scale harvesting for the “do it yourself” folks. The goal is to provide a wide variety of topics valuable for fami- ly forestland owners, professional foresters and forest contractors. Sponsored by OSU Extension, the Oregon Forest Resources Institute and the Oregon Small Woodlands Association. Cost: $50, $20 for 18 and younger with an adult family member. Website: http://extension. oregonstate.edu/baker/ Sunday-Wednesday April 22-25 California FFA State Conven- tion. Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, Calif. Website: http:// www.calaged.org/stateconvention Circulation ......................... 800-882-6789 Email ........ 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Capital Press ag media www.capitalpress.com www.FarmSeller.com marketplace.capitalpress.com www.facebook.com/capitalpress www.facebook.com/farmseller twitter.com/capitalpress www.youtube.com/capitalpressvideo Index Dairy .................................... 10 Livestock ............................. 10 Markets ............................... 13 Opinion .................................. 6 Clarification In a story on page 9 of last week’s Capital Press about a state auditor’s report on the use of federal grant money at Washington State University, the “principal investigator” refers to the researcher in charge of the grants. Also, it should be noted that the university disputed the auditor’s findings, and that administrators were concerned that “(g)eneral state funds were being improperly charged by the principal (investiga- tor) for work performed by research support personnel on federally sponsored projects,” according to the audit. They “instructed personnel to assign employees to appropriate sources of funding, meaning work performed on federally sponsored projects should be charged to sponsored funding.”
