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FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2018 VOLUME 91, NUMBER 29 WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM $2.00 Capital Press A g The West’s Weekly ON THE RIGHT Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press Kevin Mannix, director of the Oregon Shipping Group, supports the development of an intermodal facility to switch containers from trucks to rail in Brooks, Ore. The facility is intended to allow agricultural goods and other exports to bypass traf- fic congestion in Portland. TRACK? Competing plans for a state-funded intermodal facility would help ag shippers avoid Portland’s traffic jams BY MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Area in detail CAPITAL PRESS 5 22 ORE. T hough Oregon farmers try to avoid Portland’s legendary gridlock, the city’s traffic congestion still slows down the state’s agricultural economy. For the tens of thousands of trucks moving farm goods and other freight through the Portland area each day, it’s getting tougher to avoid delays as traffic jams become even more prevalent. “As the mid-day becomes more unreliable, freight is having more problems meeting delivery schedules, and the cost of shipping is increasing,” according to the Oregon Department of Transportation, which added up how long all the vehicles in Portland were stuck in traffic each day. ODOT found the total had increased by more than 22 percent, to 34,600 hours a day, between 2013 and 2015. Repair work on Interstate 5 through Portland this summer promises even more gridlock. Brooks Salem 22 223 Stayton Millersburg 226 Albany 34 34 Corvallis Lebanon 5 20 99E N 99W 228 Alan Kenaga/Capital Press Turn to PLANS, Page 11 Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press Roger Nyquist, chairman of the Linn County Board of Commis- sioners, supports the redevelopment of a defunct paper mill in Millersburg, Ore., into an intermodal facility to switch containers from trucks to rail. Ag groups split over latest House labor bill By DAN WHEAT Capital Press Tom Nassif While some members of Congress and agricultural groups have been working hard to pass an agricultural la- bor bill before the August recess, one ag- ricultural group is thanking its members for killing it. Tom Nassif, president and CEO of Western Growers, an association rep- resenting growers of more than half the produce in the U.S., sent an email to hun- dreds of his members July 13 thanking them for lobbying against the revised Ag and Legal Workforce Act of House Judi- ciary Chairman Robert Goodlatte, R-Va. “We have been informed that the U.S. House of Representatives will NOT vote on legislation next week that would im- pose mandatory E-Verify (electronic ver- ification of employment eligibility) with no fix for our existing workers,” Nassif wrote. “Furthermore, our allies believe this legislation will likely not be voted be- fore the August recess at all, due to our resolve. Those of you who took the time to call members of Congress made the difference. Let us never forget that when we act collectively, with a strong voice, we make real impact. “It is our hope that through our strong collective voice, we can persuade the next Congress to get serious about an ag immi- gration fix that works for all farmers and all regions.” House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., promised several members of Congress, including Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., to hold a vote on a stand-alone ag labor bill before the August recess, which starts July 27, in exchange for them not backing a maneuver last month that would have allowed votes on Democratic immigra- tion bills. Newhouse said the Ag and Legal Workforce Act, which he helped draft, will be introduced this week and that a vote will happen. Turn to LABOR, Page 11 WDFW resisted sending copter, sheriff to save woman treed by wolves DNR pushes back, makes swift rescue By DON JENKINS Capital Press Washington wildlife managers ini- tially opposed sending a helicopter or a search-and-rescue team to save a woman treed by wolves in the Okan- ogan-Wenatchee National Forest, ac- cording to recordings and summaries of emergency calls obtained Tuesday. The Department of Natural Re- sources pushed back and prepared to dispatch an air crew that eventually executed a swift rescue. Notes from a call between DNR dispatcher Jill Jones and a wildlife officer summa- rized WDFW’s position, and her po- sition, shortly before the helicopter launched. “No helicopter. Federally listed species. 3 WDFW personnel saying so,” according to DNR’s call log. “We are more concerned for her life than the listed animal,” Jones told the officer. “He indicated that she is safe up in the tree. ... I told him that we do not know how safe she is. I don’t know how stout the tree is, and if the limbs will continue to hold her or how long she can hold on.” Minutes later, WDFW and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials, at the request of DNR wildfire supervi- sor Chuck Turley, OK’d an air rescue. Within a half hour, the woman was safe in the DNR helicopter piloted by Devin Gooch. The wolves had scat- tered as Gooch flew overhead before landing in a meadow. The swift air rescue — reaching the woman by foot would have taken two to three hours, officials estimated — Turn to WOLVES, Page 11
