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4 CapitalPress.com Friday, September 13, 2019 ‘Cowgirl Camps’ expanding to keep up with demand By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press By DON JENKINS Capital Press A Central Washington sheriff has sworn in hound handlers to pursue cougars and black bears, saying he expects his office to be quicker and more aggres- sive in responding to dan- gerous animals than the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer said he’s heard increasing concerns from ranchers and others about predators. Since the sheriff took charge of chasing preda- tors last last month, a cou- gar seen in a field with cattle was chased and euth- anized, a livestock-protec- tion measure Songer said he doubts Fish and Wild- life would have taken. “We don’t have to wait for a killing,” he said. “I feel very strongly that prevention is better than waiting for something to happen.” Fish and Wildlife’s chief law enforcement offi- cer, Steve Bear, said he understands the sheriff has a duty to protect the pub- lic. He cautioned, however, against using hounds too freely. In the Pacific North- west, people expect toler- ance toward wildlife, he said. “Generally, if a cou- gar has not killed live- stock, we do not euthanize the animal,” Bear said. “If we ran dogs every time we got a report about a cougar around livestock, the pub- lic would take us to task, rightfully so.” Using dogs to hunt cou- gars is banned in Washing- ton, but wildlife managers can summon hound han- dlers to track and dispatch problem cougars. Previ- ously, the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office relied on Fish and Wildlife to do that. State law, however, also gives sheriffs authority to use dogs to remove cou- gars, black bears, bobcats or lynx to protect livestock, pets, property or people. A rancher recently brought that to his attention, Songer said. “Otherwise, I would have launched this proj- ect much sooner,” he said. “My intent is to maintain a good working relationship with the wildlife depart- ment. However, the sher- iff’s office, under this pro- gram, will be in charge. “I feel very strongly that LEGAL PUBLIC LIEN SALE U-STORE SELF STORAGE SAT, September 21, 2019 1st location 10 AM 1668 Industrial Way SW Albany, Oregon Heidi Henderson, J031; Darrel R Loughmiller, H061; Curtis S Ostlund, J008; Darrell Eugene Sandvig, H037; Drew K Matthews, J015; Brandi Wiebe, H004 2nd Location 11 AM 1501 Hawthorne Ave NE Salem, Oregon Andy Bill Jr, 2F05; Express Medical Supply, RD11, RJ16; Michelle Gomez, 1F47; Marcella Gonsalez, 2A19; Leah D Grey, 1B12; Randall Jordan, 2A77; Ayla Martin, 1C32, 1G03; Heather A McPherson, 2D72; Ignatius T Mera, 1C27; Kimberly Munz, Y217; Joaquin Alejandro Resendiz Pena, 2A69; Amy Rachelle Russell, 1B16; Brian Siegmund, 2A73; Jordan C Thatcher, 1C04; Mary Lou Vasques, 1D28; Kristina Wason, 2B23; Kimberly Wollin, 2B23, 2B25 36-2-4/999 this program will benefit public safety, and certainly be a big help to farmers and ranchers, and people who have domestic pets.” Klickitat County rancher Keith Kreps said bears and cougars are a growing threat to livestock and people. The problem needs a stronger response than Fish and Wildlife pro- vides, he said. “This is going to be good,” he said. “We’re going to get on it.” Songer said his office now has a posse of four or five hound handlers. “We will have the abil- ity to respond 24/7,” Songer said. “We can probably make a quicker response due to the fact we have more deputies than they have wildlife people.” Fish and Wildlife assigns two law enforce- ment officers to the county. They could be patrolling on the Columbia River and hours away from a preda- tor incident, Bear said. “They aren’t always available for public-safety calls,” he said. The sher- iff’s office will “be able to provide a better service for public safety.” Fish and Wildlife won’t always pursue a predator that’s killed another ani- mal, Bear said. For exam- ple, the department may not seek to euthanize a cougar that killed a goat tied up in the woods all night, he said. “We’ll say, ‘Well, you really shouldn’t have tied up the animal there,’” Bear said. “We talk to people about their animal hus- bandry at bad times. “I think what’s unusual about the sheriff’s policy is that he’s using dogs,” Bear said. “If the sheriff is care- ful about when he applies that, he’ll be fine.” About 100 cougars were killed statewide last year after being chased by dogs called out by Fish and Wildlife. One cougar that was euthanized had killed a cyclist in King County. Some 244 cougars were harvested by hunters. Fish and Wildlife esti- mates Washington has 3,350 cougars, a number based on a formula rather than an actual count. The department says it’s not practical to tally cougars and can’t say whether the population is increasing. Because of complaints about cougars by rural residents, particularly in Eastern Washington, the department is study- ing whether to increase recreational hunting in 2020. Matthew Weaver/Capital Press File Cheney, Wash., rancher Beth Robinette, left, talks about managed grazing during a “Cowgirl Camp” session. family operation to a retired airline pilot looking for a sec- ond career. “We get people from all across the spectrum, which is really cool,” Robinette said. Some participants might not ever want to own their own ranch, but are interested in land management issues. Robinette said she wel- comes the opportunity to familiarize urban residents with the realities of ranch life, and for ranchers to be more sensitive to their cus- tomers’ needs. If these camps are “Ranching 101,” Robi- nette and Matheson are con- sidering what a 200-level course might look like. Next summer they’ll add more in-depth, focused and shorter classes. “It’s an intense five days and we cover a lot of ground, but you can only get so deep into topics when you’re try- ing to cover so much stuff,” Robinette said. Robinette and Mathe- son also offer a new rancher camp, essentially the same program, but open to men and women. “We’re just trying to cre- ate more space for peo- ple interested in land man- agement to learn what they should know before they jump into the deep end,” Robinette said. They’re also looking for other collaborators to increase their offerings. Robinette will speak about grazing management and animal husbandry in October during a butchery course for women in Rice, Wash. She says the camps are living up to their hopes. “Sandy and I are both women in ranching, we’ve both experienced the iso- lating nature that that role can bring, and we’ve both experienced a benefit from being around other women doing that work and creat- ing a space that feels safe for new people to come in and try stuff, maybe ask silly questions,” she said. “It’s a very support- ive, encouraging environ- ment ... and I think peo- ple are really responding to that.” Robinette expects to announce the schedule for next year’s camps soon. The cost to attend the camp is $995. Judge halts 50% pay hike for blueberry pickers OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A federal judge has blocked the government from imposing a 50% wage hike for blueberry pickers. The Olympian reports U.S. District Court Judge Salvador Mendoza Jr. tem- porarily stopped the Depart- ment of Labor from imple- menting a July order raising wages for pickers. Zirkle Fruit southeast of Seattle sued to prevent the government from starting the new wage structure. The government notified Zirkle of the new pay rate on July 24, a day after the increase actually took effect. Zirkle said it was blind- sided by the mid-harvest pay hike. The blueberry harvest began in June and continues through September. The injunction will remain in effect until it is lifted or the case is resolved at trial. In the interim, Zirkle is required to deposit the dif- ference between the old and new wages, as well as taxes, into a trust account. Aliya Hall/Capital Press A federal judge has blocked the government from imposing a 50% wage hike for blueberry pickers. Dispute over NORPAC payments to farmers resolved By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press PORTLAND — Con- cerns that an agricultural lender was pushing ahead of farmers to be repaid for loans to the bankrupt NORPAC cooperative were resolved during a Sept. 10 court hearing. In late August, the farm- er-owned vegetable proces- sor announced it was selling most of its assets to entrepre- neur Frank Tiegs for $155.5 million as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allows companies to operate while restructuring debt. While the cooperative said suppliers would be “paid in the ordinary course of business,” two farms raised objections to a financing agreement intended to keep NORPAC solvent until the asset sale is completed by the end of October. CoBank, part of the Farm Credit System of agricultural lenders, is owed about $125 million by NORPAC and is prepared to extend another $15 million, without which the cooperative and its sub- sidiaries said they “will not be able to continue the opera- tion of their business.” Capital Press File A worker checks mixed vegetables flowing toward bagging machines at a NORPAC plant. A conflict was recently resolved among farmers and an agricultural bank who’d disagreed over priority for repayment when the bankrupt cooperative’s assets are sold. The problem, according to the farms that raised objec- tions, is that CoBank had structured the agreement so that it would be repaid from sale proceeds ahead of grow- ers who sold crops to NOR- PAC and whose liens on the cooperative’s assets have pri- ority for repayment. J&M Farming of Echo, Ore., said it’s still owed more than $800,000 for sugar snap peas delivered to the proces- sor in June and July and fully supports the cooperative’s continued operations. However, the company said it’s concerned that CoBank would immediately be repaid from sale proceeds while growers would be paid by Tiegs afterwards, even though he’d acquired NOR- PAC’s assets “free and clear of the growers’ liens.” Castle Rock Farming of Boardman, Ore., like- wise said it had supplied an unspecified amount of sweet corn to NORPAC and com- plained CoBank wanted to have its “liens attach to the sale proceeds ahead of pro- ducer liens.” “It’s something I don’t think is reasonable,” said Oren Haker, attorney for Castle Rock, during the Sept. 10 bankruptcy court hearing. The financing agreement must be amended so that CoBank isn’t paid before growers who have priority liens, he said. “There needs to be a mechanism to ensure that’s what’s going to be what happens here.” CoBank’s attorney, Teresa Pearson, said the dispute resulted from a “misunder- standing” of the financing agreement, which preserves the seniority of farmers’ liens over the lender’s liens. The bank simply wants assurances that if it extends another $15 million to keep NORPAC operational, it will be repaid at the time of the sale instead of the repayment being postponed while con- flicts among other lien hold- ers are resolved. “Our concern is just tim- ing,” Pearson said. At one point during the hearing, Bankruptcy Judge Peter McKittrick said he would not sign an order approving the financ- ing agreement if CoBank is repaid ahead of priority lien holders and later gave the parties time to modify the agreement. CoBank, the farms and other creditors who had filed objections ultimately reported to the judge that they’d agreed to changes and would submit the financing agreement for an approval order. Under the provisions related to crop payments, farmers would be paid directly out of the sale pro- ceeds or their liens would be assumed by Tiegs, who’d deduct those amounts from the purchase price for NOR- PAC’s assets. LEGAL 37-3/106 PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87 Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be sold, for cash to the highest bidder, on 9/27/2019. The sale will be held at 10:00am by COPART OF WASHINGTON INC 2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR 2013 CHRYSLER 200 4DR VIN=1C3CCBCG9DN556474 Amount due on lien $1,485.00 Reputed owner(s) TANYA L SPEAR WELLS FARGO AUTO 37-2-3/999 Washington sheriff takes lead in pursuing cougars 36-4-1/103 Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife A Washington state sheriff will use hunters with hounds to track down cougars that cause problems in his county. Another successful season of “New Cowgirl Camps” recently concluded, and more sessions are being planned. “It turns out there are a whole bunch of women out there who are curious about ranching,” said Beth Rob- inette, the Cheney, Wash., rancher who, with retired veterinarian Sandy Mathe- son, puts on the event. The camp provides an introduction to ranching for women. Topics include holis- tic management, low-stress livestock handling, animal husbandry, fencing and facil- ities, and business and finan- cial planning. Robinette and Mathe- son held two workshops this year, in June and August. They typically draw 11 to 15 people for each session. This was the camp’s third year. This year, they added a demonstration on sheepdog herding and cattle roping. Their inclusion in a New York Times article about the growing number of female ranchers also increased atten- tion. Robinette and Matheson offered the second camp to accommodate the increased interest. Participants this year ranged from a fifth-genera- tion rancher taking over her
