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Capital A Pre
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Weekly
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The West’s
June 1, 2018
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INSIDE»
BEAR NECESSITIES? HAVING WOLVES IS BAD ENOUGH,
ADDING GRIZZLY ONLY MAKES IT WORSE. Editorial | Page 6
Capital Press
A g
The West’s
FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 2018
Weekly
VOLUME 91, NUMBER 22
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
Basin on the brink
Tensions run high as
Klamath Project irrigators,
tribes try to balance
limited water supply
Approximate area
of Klamath Project
97
Upper
Klamath
Lake
140
Area in
detail
140
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
Malin
Riv
th
ma
Calif.
Lower
Klamath
Lake
97
N
Tule
Lake
Clear Lake
Reservoir
LAVA BEDS
NAT’L MON.
Ore.
Calif.
Tulelake
Dorris
S IS K IY OU
t
K L A MAT H
er
Ore.
Meiss
Lake
Gerber
Reservoir
River
ost
Riv
39
L
Kl a
er
Keno
Changes to the foreign
guestworker process
will take two years
Capital Press
Bonanza
s
66
Trump
admin vows
to revamp
H-2A rules
By DAN WHEAT
Klamath
Falls
Lo
D
riving along mostly empty county
roads near the small town of Ma-
lin, Ore., Paul Crawford stops to
survey his stunted wheat and alfal-
fa fields, which are soaking in the relief of a
rare and much-needed spring thunderstorm.
Crawford grabs a shovel and digs into
the soil, finding moisture reaching an inch
or so deep. It may not be much, but it is
more than he expected from the previous
night’s rain, and enough to turn some of the
wilted plants a healthier shade of green.
“That makes me feel good,” said Craw-
ford, who along with roughly 2,000 other
irrigators within the Klamath Project has
had little to feel good about on the farm this
year.
As of late May, farmers and ranchers
still do not have a water allocation, and the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which man-
ages the project, is pleading for patience as
regulators juggle limited supplies of surface
water to protect endangered fish.
The Klamath Tribes also filed a lawsuit
May 24 against the bureau, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and National Marine Fish-
eries Service, seeking an injunction forcing
the agencies to provide more water in Up-
per Klamath Lake to ensure the survival of
shortnose and Lost River suckers. The two
species, which are protected under the En-
dangered Species Act, were once a main-
stay of the tribes’ diet.
$2.00
139
MO D O C
10 miles
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Two tribal women harvesting
sucker fish in 1905. Klamath
Tribes filed a lawsuit May
24 against the bureau, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service
and National Marine
Fisheries Service, seeking
an injunction forcing the
agencies to provide more
water in Upper Klamath
Lake to ensure the survival
of shortnose and Lost River
suckers
Courtesy of the Klamath Tribes
Turn to KLAMATH, Page 12
Paul Crawford, a farmer near Malin, Ore.,
surveys a 40-acre wheat field stunted by the
lack of irrigation water in the Klamath Project.
Geroge Plaven/Capital Press
Proposals to improve the H-2A
visa agricultural guestworker pro-
gram will soon be forthcoming, four
U.S. cabinet departments have an-
nounced.
The plan is to “substantially re-
duce” the program’s complexity
while giving farmers incentives to
use the E-verify system — elec-
tronic verification of employment
eligibility — to ensure workers are
authorized to work in the U.S., the
departments of Labor, Agriculture,
State and Homeland Security said in
a joint news release on May 24.
“The Trump Administration
is committed to modernizing the
H-2A-visa program rules in a way
that is responsive to stakeholder
concerns and that deepens our con-
fidence in the program as a source
of legal and verified labor for agri-
culture — while also reinforcing the
program’s strong employment and
wage protections for the American
workforce,” the release states.
Changes were not specified.
“It’s good news. We appreciate
the fact the administration has tak-
en a look at the program and thinks
there needs to be changes,” said Mi-
chael Marsh, president and CEO of
the National Council of Agricultural
Employers.
The rule-making process takes
time with supporting evidence to
be collected and periods for public
comment. But the administration
intends to move so that implemen-
tation maybe as early as the 2020
growing season, Marsh said.
Changes such as making the pro-
gram non-seasonal to include year-
round dairy workers requires legis-
lation, but USDA will likely look at
wages, he said.
Growers often view H-2A wages
as too high. They also must pay to
recruit, transport and house H-2A
workers.
Marsh said he’s working to trans-
late total costs it into an hourly rate.
U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse,
R-Wash., who represents a district
with many tree fruit growers using
H-2A workers, said the announce-
ment shows “the Trump adminis-
tration has farmers’ backs.” Labor
is scarce and means lost revenue for
growers, he said.
Tom Nassif, president and CEO
of Western Growers, Irvine, Calif.,
said any effort to simplify H-2A is
welcomed and hopes it makes the
program more usable by fresh pro-
duce growers.
Turn to H-2A, Page 10
Wolves breed problems for Washington ranchers
Stressed cows fail to
reproduce, ranchers say
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Fewer cows have been breeding
on the range since wolves migrated
to northeast Washington, an economic
loss little known outside the cattle in-
dustry, according to the owners of the
region’s largest ranch.
The Diamond M ranch estimates
that the rate of “open cows” — females
that didn’t become pregnant — has in-
creased to about 20 percent from the
historic rate of 5 percent.
“If wolves were attacking people
night and day, I don’t think you’d have
too many people pregnant,” said Len
McIrvin, the patriarch of the fami-
ly-owned and -operated ranch.
The Diamond M has been impact-
ed by wolf recovery for a decade. The
Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife has culled wolfpacks that at-
tacked the ranch’s cattle. Thrust into
the spotlight, the Diamond M has been
vilified by some environmental groups.
McIrvin said he’s accepted the pub-
lic role and resulting attacks because it’s
necessary to put a face on the problems
caused by wolves. “If you’re in a war,
you can’t run away. You have to have
troops on the front lines. You can’t hide
in the shadows forever,” he said.
Turn to WOLVES, Page 10
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Len McIrvin of the Diamond M ranch
stands on the ranch’s winter range
May 21 in southeast Washington.