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4 CapitalPress.com Friday, November 29, 2019 Judge declares Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument expansion invalid Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument expansion Original monument boundary Newly expanded boundary Medford 238 By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press JACKSON 99 140 KLAMATH Aspen Lake 5 Range Ashland 66 Calif. Siskiy t ou M n s. ive Ore. r CASCADE- SISKIYOU NAT’L MON. 10 miles R th A federal judge in Wash- ington, D.C., has determined the 2017 expansion of Ore- gon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument was largely invalid, contradicting an earlier ruling by a federal judge in Oregon. U.S. District Judge Rich- ard Leon of the District of Columbia has ruled the Obama Administration vio- lated federal law by expand- ing the monument’s logging restrictions onto roughly 40,000 acres of so-called O&C Lands, which must be managed for sustained tim- ber production. “Put simply, there is no way to manage land for sus- tained timber production, while simultaneously deem- ing the land unsuited for tim- ber production and exempt Area in detail Ca s ca d e Ruling contradicts earlier decision about expansion’s lawfulness 5 Ore. Calif. Kl a m a Alan Kenaga/Capital Press from any calculation of the land’s sustained yield of tim- ber,” Leon said. The judge’s invalidation of the monument’s expan- sion was part of a broader opinion that determined there’s “no doubt” the U.S. Bureau of Land Manage- ment’s 2016 resource man- agement plans for O&C Lands have reduced logging to unlawful levels. “This Court must, there- fore, conclude that the 2016 RMPs violate the O&C Act by setting aside timberland in reserves where the land is not managed for permanent forest production and the timber is not sold, cut and removed in conformity with the principle of sustained yield,” Leon said. So-called O&C Lands are governed by a 1937 statute under which roughly 2 mil- lion acres of property were retaken from the Oregon and California Railroad by the federal government and ded- icated to timber production. In 2017, the Obama administration enlarged the 66,000-acre Cascade-Sis- kiyou National Monument by 48,000 acres, most of which were located on O&C Lands, prompting several lawsuits by timber industry organizations. Earlier this year, a fed- eral judge in Oregon held the expansion was lawful because President Obama had the authority under the Antiquities Act to add acre- age to the monument. The judge also held that logging within the monu- ment’s O&C Lands didn’t have to be maximized to comply with the require- ment of sustained timber production. The more recent Wash- ington, D.C., decision that invalidates the monu- ment’s 40,000-acre expan- sion and declares unlawful the resource management plans for O&C Lands will be appealed by the Klam- ath-Siskiyou Wildlands Cen- ter, Oregon Wild and Soda Mountain Wilderness Coun- cil, said Kristen Boyles, attorney for the environmen- tal groups, which intervened in the lawsuit. “They’re directly contra- dictory because they even address the same claims,” Boyles said of the two rulings. Boyles said the judge in Washington, D.C., has been the first to adopt a hard-line interpretation of the 1937 O&C Lands Act that has been pushed by the timber industry for about 30 years and which doesn’t take into account environmental pro- tections from the more recent Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act. “It’s an extreme view of the O&C Act, very broad,” she said. “Regardless of the monument, that’s going to be an important decision to clarify and appeal. It doesn’t exist alone in a vacuum of laws.” Coby Howell, an attorney for the BLM, said he could not comment on the ruling. If both the rulings from Oregon and Washington, D.C. are upheld on appeal, that could set up a fight before the U.S. Supreme Court, but that process would still be a lengthy one, according to attorneys involved in the case. Environmental groups will urge the BLM not to take any action that would endan- ger the monument while the timber industry considers the expansion’s invalidation to be effective until further notice. “It’s a big first step, but it’s going to to take a while,” said Lawson Fite, attorney for the American Forest Resource Council, a plaintiff in the litigation. The ruling out of Wash- ington, D.C. is a great devel- opment for the communities and environment of Oregon and the Northwest, Fite said. “The court has basically directed that the O&C Act means what it says, and we’re grateful for that,” he said. The timber industry plaintiffs will now ask the judge to order the BLM to revise its resource manage- ment plans for O&C Lands so they’re consistent with his ruling, Fite said. “Figuring out a timeline for a new plan is probably one of the big things that’s going to hap- pen there.” State, national groups defer to local leaders on Owyhee wilderness bill Environmentalists want stronger Oregon species protections By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Ore. Idaho BAKER 84 30 26 Bully Ore. C r eek Vale 95 Ontario 52 84 30 Nyssa 20 201 Sna ke R. 95 MALHEUR 78 78 Jordan Valley Idaho Ore. R ive Burns r Junction 20 miles 95 Ore. Idaho Nev. Alan Kenaga/Capital Press men’s Association mem- bers who presented the plan to state and national policy representatives during OCA’s annual con- vention Nov. 21-23 in Bend. Rosa said the national PLC, by not opposing the legislation and remain- ing neutral, left the mat- ter to the state association. OCA’s Public Lands Com- mittee “took the same neu- tral position on the bill.” OCA typically fol- lows PLC policy, which opposes wilderness desig- nations “because generally that designation removes cattle from being able to graze in these areas,” he said. The difference in the current legislation is it calls for adaptive man- agement, meaning graz- ing, roads and vehicles will be allowed in wil- derness-designated areas, Rosa said. SECRETARY OF STATE NOTICE OF PERMANENT RULEMAKING Oregon Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Program, Administrative Rules Chapter #603, Amy Bingham, Rules Coordinator, (503) 986- 4583. NOTICE: OAR 603-074-0010-0020. NOTICE OF INTENT TO AMEND PERMANENT RULE. RULE SUMMARY: The proposed rule increases application, transfer, and annual license fees for the Confined Animal Feeding Operations. Application fees and annual license fees are based on the size of the operation in numbers of animals and are also based on whether the operation is registered to a general or individual permit. The transfer fee is the same regardless of the size of operation and permit type. Additional definitions have been added. Full rule text available at https://secure.sos.state.or.us/oard. Last Day for comment December 20, 2019 at 5:00 pm. Public Hearing will be held December 12, 2019 beginning at 10:00 am in the 3 rd floor conference room at the Oregon Department of Agriculture located at 635 Capitol St NE, Salem, Or. 97301. Contact the Department of Agriculture at least 5 business days prior to the hearing if auxiliary aids and services (assistive listening devices, sign language interpreters, etc.) will be needed. S155592-1 Environmentalists have called on state lawmak- ers to strengthen Oregon’s wildlife protection statutes in the wake of revised fed- eral Endangered Species Act regulations. Farm and ranch organi- zations, meanwhile, believe the rule changes won’t fun- damentally alter the ESA and will actually increase opportunities for habit col- laboration with the federal government. Last month, the Trump administration enacted updated ESA regulations that environmentalists decried as weakening species protec- tions, prompting Oregon and numerous other state gov- ernments to sue to block the changes. Representatives of sev- eral environmental groups recently testified before the House Natural Resources Committee, urging height- ened state safeguards for species to make up for the “assault” on federal protections. “Our concern is deep- ened because Oregon is not well-positioned to compen- sate for these changes,” said Bob Sallinger, conservation director for the Audubon Society of Portland. Specifically, the Trump administration’s regulatory changes will prevent federal agencies from considering long-term challenges, such as climate change, when decid- ing whether to list species as Shelter defended the federal revisions as being aligned with the language of the Endangered Species Act and allowing for more flexibility to the benefit of landowners and species. By prioritizing the pro- tection of occupied habitat, the regulations prevent fed- eral agencies from establish- ing unnecessarily large “buf- fers” of unoccupied habitat that complicate management without helping species, said Kathy Hadley, a Willamette National Park Service Valley farmer. The streaked horned lark was once abundant in parts “It lends to the credibil- of the Northwest. Revisions to the Endangered Species ity of the rules and the trust Act have spurred debate about protections for this pro- the landowner has that the tected species and others. process will work, instead of overreach,” Hadley said. threatened or endangered, the For example, the environ- Instead of automatically mental representatives said implementing endangered environmental groups said. The revisions will also Oregon should expand Sen- species restrictions for threat- weaken protections for crit- ate Bill 2250, which requires ened species, the rules will ical habitat that’s not yet state agencies to monitor for allow federal official to tailor occupied by threatened and federal reductions to Clean management practices spe- endangered species, and Air Act and Clean Water Act cific to threatened species, remove the “blanket” pro- standards and recommend she said. tections for species that have state-level compensations. For example, the streaked been declared threatened, Oregon should “step into horned lark actually prefers among other problems, the the void” for wildlife by areas that are cultivated for groups claimed. adopting this approach for agriculture, so the stricter Oregon lawmakers scored the Endangered Species Act level of regulation would be several environmental “vic- as well, Sallinger said. counterproductive, Hadley tories” during the most recent “As it has in other con- said. “Our doing our daily legislative session, such as texts, the state of Oregon jobs is what helps that bird.” Out in the field, some cur- shielding data about spe- should push back against cies location and encourag- these rollbacks and look to rent requirements for unoc- ing habitat “connectivity,” strengthen its own laws to cupied critical fish habitat which could be broadened, conserve biological diver- have ranchers going to great said Sristi Kamal, senior rep- sity,” said Dan Rohlf, an expense without actually resentative of the Defenders environmental law profes- helping the species, said Todd sor at Lewis and Clark Law Nash, treasurer of the Oregon of Wildlife. Cattlemen’s Association. “We need to build more School. “We’re going to run these Representatives of the on these policies to act as a backstop to the current weak- Oregon Farm Bureau, Ore- guys out of business with ening at the federal level,” gon Cattlemen’s Association that much to maintain,” he Kamal said. and Oregonians for Food and said. Consolidation continues in the tree fruit industry By DAN WHEAT Capital Press SEATTLE — The sale of a tree fruit and berry processor in Grandview, Wash., to a Richmond, Va., tobacco company is the lat- est example of the continu- ing financial squeeze of the Washington tree fruit industry, a Seattle invest- ment banker says. Michael Butler, CEO of LEGAL CHERRY AVENUE STORAGE/ADELL LANE STORAGE 2680 Cherry Ave. NE Salem, OR 97301 (503) 399-7454 AUCTION SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7TH, 2019 AT 10 AM Unit AS-41 - Desiree Wells Unit AS-61 - Alena Virgilio Unit AS-93 - Dallas Wilson Unit 41 - Jean Maxwell Unit 96 - Christopher Phillips Unit 196 - Kenneth Kish Unit 222C - Ashley Bailey Unit 237P - Krista Woods Cherry Avenue Storage reserves the right to refuse any and all bids. S154489-1 Proposed for designation as wilderness Ow y h e e The Oregon Cattle- men’s Association Pub- lic Lands Committee and the national Public Lands Council are deferring to local ranchers and will not oppose federal legislation that places a more flexible type of wilderness desig- nation on several parts of Malheur County. The designation allows cattle grazing to continue. “We support what our local members feel is best for their local areas, so we did not oppose that,” OCA Executive Director Jerome Rosa said. “That is what our local cattlemen wanted. So even though we follow national PLC policy, we are not going to oppose it. National PLC is the same way.” U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both D-Ore., on Nov. 7 intro- duced the Malheur County Community Empower- ment for the Owyhee Act, which would desig- nate more than 1.1 million acres of the Owyhee River Canyonlands in Malheur County as wilderness. The senators said col- laboration among ranch- ers, conservation groups, researchers, business peo- ple and others was instru- mental in the proposal. The bill supports efficient ranching as a conservation tool, and an adaptive-man- agement approach that allows for adjustments based on results. The Owyhee Basin Stewardship Coalition, which includes ranchers and business owners, for more than three years has played a key role in dis- cussions that led to the legislation. The coalition includes Oregon Cattle- Area in detail Cascadia Capital in Seat- tle, represented the seller, FruitSmart Inc., in the transaction. He told Capi- tal Press that he’s working on two other deals involv- ing vertically integrated Washington tree fruit com- panies, one likely to be announced in January and another in the second quar- ter of 2020. A vertically integrated company is one that grows, stores, packs and sells its own fruit. “I expect a real robust year next year,” Butler said. “Commercial banks have been calling us that lend to these companies, saying they can’t lend any- more and that the compa- nies need help by a merger or investment capital.” Commercial banks are forcing these companies to raise equity capital or sell to pay loans to be able to continue as viable organi- zations, he said. The problem is exacer- bated by this season’s large apple crop and declining prices, he said. Universal Corp., of Richmond, Va., announced its purchase of FruitSmart on Nov. 20. FruitSmart pro- duces juices, purees, con- centrates and dried ingre- dients of fruits and berries and has a 128,000-square- foot facility in Grandview and a 335,000-square-foot outside storage facility in Prosser. FruitSmart has about 200 employees. Family members of the previous owners, Jim Gauley and Jim Early, will remain in management, said Scott Porter, a Cascadia Capital senior vice president. Universal Corp. is a $2 billion company looking to invest outside tobacco and has the capital to grow FruitSmart, Butler said. Two years ago at the Washington State Tree Fruit Association annual meeting in Kennewick, Butler spoke to more than 1,000 growers and said more industry consolida- tion was likely because companies were running new, expensive packing lines too far below capac- ity to pay debt. Individual companies needed more fruit for their packing lines but collec- tively the industry has too much fruit and too many packing facilities, he said. He said some attend- ees did not believe him but that several mid-sized companies had already approached him for investments. Mid-size companies of less than 1,500 acres of orchard, running at or under 30% packing capac- ity and not vertically inte- grated are most at risk, he said. Only companies con- trolling 10% of industry sales would be long-term competitors, he said. Chelan Fresh Marketing of Chelan, Stemilt Growers of Wenatchee, Zirkle-Rain- ier of Selah, Washington Fruit & Produce of Yakima and Domex Superfresh Growers of Yakima are all in that top tier. Two large companies raised signifi- cant outside capital by late 2018, Butler said.