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July 13, 2018 CapitalPress.com 3 I-90 reopens as firefighters contain wildfire By DAN WHEAT Capital Press VANTAGE, Wash. — In- terstate 90 reopened at noon Tuesday after being closed for about 12 hours due to a wildfire that crossed the free- way and threatened the town of Vantage, causing its evac- uation. A 22-mile portion of I-90, the main route between Seat- tle and Spokane, was closed between Ellensburg and Van- tage due to the fire that burned 1,612 acres of mostly sage- brush. Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office Randy Shepard, inter- agency fire spokesman, said Interstate 90 between Vantage and Ellensburg, Wash., was closed for about 12 hours as firefighters he’s not aware of any of the worked to contain it. ground being used for grazing and believed no crops were by I-90 motorists who spotted fire was kept within fire lines al days and then released. The it north of the freeway about despite significant winds on cause is not known and is un- damaged. As of Wednesday morn- three miles west of Vantage. July 6 and July 10, said Rick der investigation, Acosta said. ing, the Ryegrass Coulee Fire On Wednesday, firefight- Wind rapidly spread the Acosta, spokesman for an was 80 percent contained with fire to Vantage where about interagency effort led by the ers were reinforcing fire lines, crews mopping up and watch- 200 people were evacuated state Department of Natural mopping up hot spots and ing unburned areas within the about midnight by Kittitas Resources, Chelan County watching for rolling burning southeastern portion, Shepard County sheriff’s deputies go- Fire District 6 and the U.S. logs. Full containment is esti- mated for July 20. ing door-to-door. said. Forest Service. Demobilization was un- An outbuilding in an or- “For the time being we Crews worked to save have the upper hand,” he said. chard south of town was de- Weyerhaeuser timber and a derway with total personnel It is not known if the cause is stroyed and a barn damaged, rare plant, the Oregon Check- at 364, down from a peak of er Mallow, he said. 442. Aircraft were reduced natural or unnatural and it is Shepard said. The fire was reported from eight to three. Fire en- More than 400 guardrail under investigation, he said. The fire burned to the edge posts along the freeway were about noon July 5 and was gines from 23 to two and of the Columbia River and burned, the sheriff’s office attacked initially primarily bulldozers from four to two. by aircraft. Steep, rugged Water tenders were up from 2-inch embers were blown said. Meanwhile, the 317-acre terrain made ground efforts eight to 11. across the river by winds A 2-acre lightning-strike of up to 60 mph but did not Little Camas Fire, about eight difficult. Camas Meadows Bible fire near Beaver Creek about ignite the eastern shore, fire- miles west of Wenatchee and fighters said. six miles south of Cashmere, Camp and three homes within 12 miles northeast of Leav- The fire was reported was 74 percent contained as two miles of the fire were on enworth was extinguished by shortly before 11 p.m. July 9 of Wednesday morning. The evacuation standby for sever- firefighters Tuesday. WDFW to limit GPS data revealing whereabouts of wolves Less data given to counties, range riders By DON JENKINS Capital Press Washington wildlife man- agers will be less precise about the whereabouts of wolves, holding back infor- mation previously shared with ranchers, range riders and local authorities, accord- ing to a policy outlined by the Department of Fish and Wildlife this week. Fish and Wildlife says exact locations, drawn from wolves wearing radio collars, have been misused to disturb wolves. The more restrictive data-sharing policy comes as sheriffs in Stevens and Ferry counties have jointly deployed a deputy to watch wolves in northeast Washing- ton. “I think they resent that we have a wildlife specialist of our own,” Stevens County Sheriff Kendle Allen said on Don Jenkins/Capital Press A Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist holds a radio collar that wildlife managers use to track wolves. The department has adopted a more restrictive policy on pro- viding collar data to ranchers. Thursday. “We’re not out there to manage their animals. We’re just tying to give our citizens the best informa- tion we can and try to help them prevent depredations,” he said. “We’re not advo- cating anybody go out and shoot wolves, which I think is what they’re concerned about.” Fish and Wildlife collars wolves to track the growth and spread of packs, and prevent and investigate at- tacks on livestock. Some environmentalists call the collared animals “Judas wolves” because they give away packs that wildlife man- agers intend to cull. The department does not make the collar data available to the public, but has shared it with registered users. The department’s Eastern Washington director, Steve Pozzanghera, briefed Stevens County commissioners on the new policy July 2. Some people receiving collar data “have been visiting den and rendezvous sites,” according to a document Pozzanghera presented. The department will con- tinue to share the data with University of Washington re- searchers, but others will see maps of where wolves “have been, not where they are cur- rently,” according to the doc- ument. The maps are expected to be less specific than GPS co- ordinates. Allen said he saw an example described as a “big blue blob.” Allen said he asked Fish and Wildlife for evidence that collar data was being mis- used. “They will not give me a single incidence,” he said. Efforts to obtain comment from Fish and Wildlife on Thursday were unsuccessful. Stevens County Com- missioner Don Dashiell said that the county has a right to collar data collected by Fish and Wildlife. “If they try to withhold it, we’ll sue them,” he said. The department routine- ly does not share collar data with private parties in the spring while pups are in dens. The black-out period this year was extended from June 1 to July 15. Stevens County rancher Arron Scotten said he hasn’t been getting the collar data, even though he has a range rider contract with Fish and Wildlife. Hermiston watermelon harvest ready to roll By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press HERMISTON, Ore. — One of Eastern Oregon’s most popular crops is back in sea- son. Hermiston watermelons are nearing harvest as summer temperatures rise into the 90s and triple-digit degrees. High heat should help to ripen the fruit quickly, and growers an- ticipate they will begin picking in earnest between July 10 and 15. “I think we’re pretty much on schedule,” said Patrick Walchli, with Walchli Farms. “Quality-wise, it’s by all indi- cations looking pretty good, as far as the fruit set.” Hermiston watermelons may be a niche crop in terms of overall acres, with about 750 total, but figure promi- nently in the city’s identity and civic pride. Driving north into town on Highway 395, the Hermiston logo emblazoned on the water tower features a watermelon backdrop along with the slogan, “Where Life is Sweet.” It isn’t just the locals who have a sweet tooth for Herm- iston melons. Shoppers can find the specially branded fruit in Portland, Seattle and across the West Coast. Some ship- ments have even gone as far as Texas and Georgia. The secret lies in the re- gion’s sandy soil and desert climate, which provides a perfect combination of hot, dry days and cool nights. Wa- termelons absorb heat during the day, which the plants me- tabolize into sugar for ener- gy. Once they cool at night, the respiration process slows and that sugar is stored in the fruit, hence their exceptionally sweet flavor. Walchli said this year has been a mostly typical growing season, compared to last year when planting got off to a slow start. “Last season, we had a colder start and this year we Grass Expertise. LET’S TALK! Over 40 Years Experience DON’T PURCHASE SEED BLENDS CONTAINING SLENDER WHEATGRASS. IT IS VERY SHORT LIVED AND IS BASICALLY A “FILLER” FOR THE BLEND. Caldwell, Idaho • Alan Greenway, Seedsman Cell: 298-259-9159 • MSG: 298-454-8342 Alan Greenway, Seedsman growing well. “This has been a good sea- son so far,” Lukas said. “I’ve heard the plants are looking good, and they are growing as they should.” Hired by HAREC in 2016, Lukas has spent the last couple of years studying treatments for soil-borne fusarium and verticillium wilt diseases in watermelons. He plans to ex- pand his program next year to include more irrigation trials using remote sensors to mon- itor soil moisture and help farmers conserve water. Court upholds farmer’s conviction for ‘baiting’ ducks Prosecutors and defense attorney misunderstood key legal provision By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Despite a legal error during trial, an Idaho farm- er was properly convicted of illegally baiting ducks by leaving unharvested corn in a field, according to a feder- al appeals court. In 2016, a jury found Gregory Obendorf guilty of two counts of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act through such actions as leaving certain rows of corn standing and calibrating a combine harvester to spill the crop on a field near Par- ma, Idaho. Obendorf was sentenced to 15 days in jail, 200 hours of community service, three years of probation and a $40,000 fine, though the jail time and community ser- vice were postponed while he challenged the verdict before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The 9th Circuit has now ruled that both federal pros- ecutors and Oberdorf’s defense attorney “misap- prehended” the law but the “error was harmless” and didn’t affect the jury’s de- cision. The confusion in Oben- dorf’s trial concerned an “agricultural practice ex- ception” to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a statute that aims to protect ducks and other bird species from excessive killing. The judge overseeing the trial did not allow Oben- dorf’s attorney to cross-ex- amine three University of Idaho Extension agents who had testified that he didn’t follow normal agri- cultural practices. Planting, harvesting, post-harvest manipulation and soil stabilization prac- tices are exempted from the MBTA’s prohibition against taking birds from baited ar- eas, as long as the practices are officially recommend- ed by the state’s Extension Service. However, that exemp- tion only applies to the un- lawful hunting, or “taking,” of migratory birds in a bait- ed area, not to the statute’s prohibition against baiting itself, the 9th Circuit said. The agricultural practice exception “permits hunt- ing over certain lands that would otherwise be off-lim- its” because they contain crops while still banning farmed fields from being baited, according to the rul- ing. Although the exemption was “not relevant to the baiting charges Obendorf faces,” the error was harm- less in regard to the jury instructions because the government was “tasked with disproving an excep- tion that did not apply in the first place,” the appeals court said. The 9th Circuit also re- jected the argument Oben- dorf was prejudiced by the mistake because his legal theory centered on a “reg- ulatory safe harbor” that didn’t actually exist. Regardless of the ex- emption, the evidence was still “extremely strong” that Obendorf baited a field to facilitate hunting, the ruling said. For example, employees of the farm testified Oben- dorf told them to configure combine settings to leave a maximum amount of corn behind for ducks in a cer- tain field, while elsewhere they were expected to har- vest as much as possible. While the judge didn’t allow three Extension specialists who served as prosecution witnesses to be cross-examined by Obe- dorf’s attorney, they could still have been called as direct defense witnesses re- garding farm practices, the 9th Circuit said. “In the end, we cannot see what Obendorf would have done differently if the parties had not misappre- hended the MBTA regula- tions,” the ruling said. Under federal sentenc- ing guidelines, Obendorf faced substantially more time behind bars than the 30 days sought by prosecutors, according to a court brief filed by the government. Due to his legal history — two convictions for driv- ing while intoxicated and one conviction for invol- untary manslaughter while driving intoxicated — the federal guidelines recom- mended two years in prison, the government brief said. Weekly fieldwork report Item/description (Source: USDA, NASS; NOAA) • Days suitable for fieldwork (As of July 8) • Topsoil moisture, surplus • Topsoil moisture, percent short • Subsoil moisture, surplus • Subsoil moisture, percent short • Precipitation probability (6-10 day outlook as of July 10) 28-1/108 GREENWAY SEEDS had a more favorable May and end of April,” he said. “It’s hard to predict. Melons are very reactive to the weather, more so than some of the other crops.” Scott Lukas, assistant pro- fessor of horticulture for Ore- gon State University, recently started a new research program at OSU’s Hermiston Agricul- tural Research and Extension Center with a partial focus on watermelons. He said growers have reported few issues with disease pressure, and for the most part the vines have been EO Media Group File An appeals court has upheld the conviction of an Idaho farmer for baiting ducks. Ore. Wash. Idaho Calif. 6.7 0 75% 0 71% 6.8 1% 28% 1% 19% 6.8 10% 48% 8% 48% 7 0 80% 0 75% 33-50% below 50% below 33-50% below/ Normal 33% Below/ Normal
