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April 13, 2018 CapitalPress.com 3 Profit outlook mixed for Northwest agriculture By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press Port of St. Helens The Port of St. Helens in Oregon’s Columbia County. Environmental groups have appealed a decision by the county to rezone 837 acres of high-value farmland to expand the port’s industrial park. County land use decision faces appeal Proposal would rezone 837 acres of farmland By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press For the second time, en- vironmental groups are chal- lenging a decision in Colum- bia County, Ore., to rezone 837 acres of high-value farmland for industrial use at Port Westward near Clats- kanie. The proposal would near- ly double the size of the in- dustrial park, owned by the Port of St. Helens along the Columbia River. Port West- ward is already home to three Portland General Elec- tric natural gas power plants and the Columbia Pacific Bio-Refinery. Columbia County com- missioners voted 2-1 to ap- prove the port’s rezone ap- plication in 2017, allowing businesses to process, store and ship natural gas, wood products and other bulk commodities at the property. Opponents, however, ar- gue the industrial zone will not only disrupt neighboring farms, but flies in the face of state land use laws in- tended to protect high-value farms. Columbia Riverkeep- er, along with 1000 Friends of Oregon, filed an appeal March 14 to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals, or LUBA, seeking to over- turn the county’s ruling. At the heart of the issue is whether such industrial development is compatible with local agriculture. Jas- mine Zimmer-Stucky, senior organizer with Columbia Riverkeeper, says the answer is “no.” “Industrial development is not a compatible use for farmers, especially farms that are growing sensitive crops,” Zimmer-Stucky said. Most soils in the rezoned area are Class II and III, which according to the Ore- gon Department of Agricul- ture are considered high-val- ue farmland under state law. Irrigation canals and ditch- es are also interconnected along the low-lying diked lands, Zimmer-Stucky said, meaning that an industrial spill or runoff could spread quickly to nearby mint, blue- berry, cattle and poplar tree farms. Jim Hoffman, owner of Hopville Farms, said wa- ter quality is a top priority for his blueberry farm, and the community at large. He said he remains disappointed with the county’s decision to open farmland to “industrial polluters.” Tracy Prescott-Mac- Gregor, who with her husband, Scott, farms on Erickson Dike Road near Port Westward, said she is also concerned about a po- tential spill and toxic by- products of industrial busi- ness — especially fossil fuels development. “My biggest concern is that almost all industry, es- pecially fossil fuel indus- try, creates byproducts,” Prescott-MacGregor said. “There’s also a potential for spillage of any of these caus- tic materials. It wouldn’t take very long before the soils would be contaminat- ed.” If that happens, Prescott-MacGregor said she and her husband would likely have to leave the area. They came in 1999 from Portland to grow their own food, including a large gar- den, goats, chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. “The soils out here are pretty fantastic,” she said. “We are lucky farmers.” The Port of St. Helens bought the land in 2010, and Paula Miranda, the port’s property and development manager, said they have been approached by a num- ber of companies in recent years interested in the deep water access on the Colum- bia River. County commissioners first approved the rezone in 2014, though it was ap- pealed to LUBA and ulti- mately remanded back to the county. While the port’s latest application does not mention any specific project, Miranda said they will con- tinue to work with farmers to mitigate impacts on their land. She added there are no plans to develop crude oil fa- cilities on the property. “I personally feel pretty confident that whatever we bring here, we’ll do it the proper way,” Miranda said. Margaret Magruder, a county commissioner, said expanding Port Westward would provide a boost to the local economy, and any in- dustrial business looking to site there would be subject to further conditions to protect the neighbors. “Just because it gets re- zoned doesn’t mean that any business that comes along is going to get to site,” Ma- gruder said. But Scott Hilgenberg, a land use fellow at the non- profit Crag Law Center in Portland, said the proposal does not justify rezoning ag- ricultural land under Oregon statewide planning goals. In particular, Statewide Planning Goal 3 aims to pre- serve and maintain high-val- ue farmland. Hilgenberg, who is representing Colum- bia Riverkeeper, said the port’s application does not reasonably describe why it needs a Goal 3 exception. “The concern is the more industrial development that occurs here, the more risk the agricultural community is going to face,” Hilgenberg said. “It’s a question about what the future vision of Co- lumbia County is going to be, and what products does it want to focus on.” LUBA has not yet sched- uled a hearing in the case. Judge: Oregon emergency horse roundup violated law Federal government approved removal of 150 horses after 2016 wildfire By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press A federal judge has ruled the U.S. Bureau of Land Man- agement violated environ- mental law by rounding up wild horses in Eastern Oregon after a 2016 fire. Friends of Animals, a non- profit group that filed a law- suit against BLM, has sought to overturn the agency’s ap- proval of the roundup, which could lead to some horses being returned to the Three Fingers Management Area in Malheur County. The BLM initially con- ducted an environmental as- sessment on gathering and removing wild horses from the 62,500-acre area in 2011, but then decided on a small- er-scale roundup in 2016. Shortly before the opera- tion was set to begin in Au- gust 2016, however, the Cher- ry Road wildfire ignited in the area, burning about 15,000 acres of pasture — roughly half the range used by wild horses in the management area. While the planned roundup was canceled due to the fire, BLM soon decided to conduct an “emergency gather” due to the lost forage and limited water sources for the animals. Under the emergency gather, the BLM approved BLM The emergency roundup of 150 wild horses in Oregon after a 2016 fire violated environmental law, a judge has ruled. removing 150 horses — up from about 50 before the fire occurred — leaving about 80 to 120 in the area. Friends of Animals alleged the emergency action “went far beyond what was neces- sary to control the immediate impacts” of the fire without a proper review under the Na- tional Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. Instead of permanently removing the horses, BLM could have examined “relo- cation, temporary removal, fencing and providing supple- mental water” to mitigate the fire’s immediate effects, the group argued. U.S. District Judge Mi- chael Simon has found that BLM’s emergency gather went further than necessary to counter the fire’s immediate impacts, requiring additional analysis under NEPA. “Its stated rationale for conducting the gather was not just to control the imme- diate effects of the fire, but to ensure survival of the horses over the next two seasons, and aid in the habitat’s recovery,” he said. The BLM claimed the emergency action met that requirement because it was based on reviews conducted for the previous roundup de- cisions and other plans for the region. However, the judge dis- agreed that BLM took the necessary “hard look” at the emergency gather’s environ- mental consequences, since the agency didn’t analyze the effects of the fire itself or why it was necessary to remove more horses. “The Emergency Gath- er Decision does not discuss whether there are any new circumstances, information, or effects not previously ana- lyzed since the earlier NEPA documents,” he said. While the approval was “arbitrary and capricious” contrary to the law, the judge said he will separately delib- erate on the appropriate rem- edy for this violation. Lucinda Bach, attorney for the government in this case, said she couldn’t comment on the ruling. Capital Press was unable to reach an attorney from Friends of Animals for comment. Most agricultural sectors in the Northwest will be slightly profitable in 2018, and some will be very prof- itable, but many will face challenges of one type or an- other, an analyst says. “There’s good and bad in the story. The economy is strong, but there are some concerns with trade risks,” Karen Witt, vice president of industry and portfolio insights at Northwest Farm Credit Services, said. Strong profits are expect- ed in the fisheries and forest- ry industries based on strong demand for fish and lumber. Profitable returns are also forecast for the wine/vine- yards industry, supported by the strong economy, she said. Dairy, however, fac- es significant challenges that will spill over some- what into the hay markets, she said. There are definitely some challenges in dairy, a long road of challenges not helped by bad weather last year and high inventories of cheese, butter and skim milk powder, she said. “There is significant in- ventory out there both na- tionally and globally that continues to put significant pressure on milk prices,” she said. “The dairy industry should expect milk prices to remain unprofitable through the second quarter as the world oversupply is sold at clearance prices,” she said. Capital Press File Dairy farmers will continue to face low prices this year, an analyst says. Hay should be slightly profitable, but alfalfa hay will face downward pressure from weak dairy demand, she said. Cattle producers should see slightly profitable re- turns, but drought in other areas of the country could push more cattle to slaughter and bring some downward pressure on prices. There are also concerns on the trade side regarding beef exports, she said. Wheat prices have seen some improvement, and U.S. production is projected to be lower, so the wheat in- dustry should see slight prof- itability this year, she said. Pulse crops face tar- iffs from India, which has caused difficult returns. But production seems to be good from what Farm Credit is hearing from producers in the area, she said. Demand for potatoes is good, and shrinking sup- plies should bolster prices on the open market. A mild winter for processors should bring good profits and good returns to producers, she said. Washington: If our culverts break treaties, what about federal dams? By DON JENKINS Capital Press In final written argu- ments before next week’s U.S. Supreme Court hear- ing, Washington focuses on a chief concern of farm groups: If fish-imped- ing culverts violate tribal fishing rights, what about dams? The brief, filed Monday by the state Attorney Gen- eral’s Office, strikes back at Justice Department ac- cusations that state culverts violate treaties by pointing to federally licensed dams. “Today, these dams pro- vide most of the electricity in Washington, Oregon and Idaho and irrigate thou- sands of farms in arid ar- eas,” according to the brief. The court will hear oral arguments April 18 on Washington’s appeal of an order by the 9th U.S. Cir- cuit Court of Appeals to replace more than 800 cul- verts to restore salmon hab- itat. The bigger question is whether the Stevens treaties of 1854 and 1855 guaran- tee 21 Washington tribes a moderate living by fishing. The case could result in another landmark decision interpreting tribal fishing rights in the Northwest. A previous phase of this liti- gation led to the 1974 Boldt decision that allocated up to half the salmon harvest to tribes. While tribes are entitled to half the fish, they weren’t promised a particular amount, the state maintains. The federal government and tribes say that tribes didn’t cede their land to dip nets into empty rivers. The state, along with farm groups, argues the circuit court order makes any activity that potentially harms fish a treaty violation. The fears are exaggerat- ed, according to the Justice Department and tribes. The case involves only culverts that substantially degrade fish runs, they say. Tribes would have under- stood the treaties to protect fish runs because territorial law prohibited blocking riv- ers, according to the Justice Department. The state Attorney Gen- eral’s Office counters that the Justice Department and tribes are ignoring 20th cen- tury dams. “Respondents now claim that the treaty parties under- stood that any obstruction that would substantially de- grade a fishery would violate the treaties. Yet for decades starting in the early 1900s, the federal government built or licensed dams across the Northwest that would have failed this test,” according to the state’s brief. Weekly fieldwork report Item/description (Source: USDA, NASS; NOAA) • Days suitable for fieldwork (As of April 8) • Topsoil moisture, surplus • Topsoil moisture, percent short • Subsoil moisture, surplus • Subsoil moisture, percent short • Precipitation probability (6-10 day outlook as of April. 10) Ore. Wash. Idaho Calif. 4 16% 16% 11% 33% 4.2 6% 12% 5% 16% 2.9 35% 1% 19% 10% 4.5 20% 5% 20% 10% 40-50% above 40% above 40-50% above 33-60% above
