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CapitalPress.com
Friday, December 6, 2019
Oregon Court of Appeals upholds wolf delisting
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
SALEM — The Oregon
Court of Appeals has dis-
missed a lawsuit filed by
three environmental groups
challenging the state’s deci-
sion to lift endangered spe-
cies protections for gray
wolves.
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife
removed wolves from the
state endangered species list
in November 2015. Law-
makers passed House Bill
4040 during the 2016 leg-
islative session, which rat-
ified the agency’s findings.
Cascadia
Wildlands,
Oregon Wild and the Cen-
ter for Biological Diversity
sued to reverse the delist-
ing, arguing it was prema-
ture and not based on sound
science. Though the case
ODFW
The Oregon Court of Ap-
peals has tossed out an
environmentalist lawsuit
challenging the state’s de-
cision to take the gray wolf
off the list of protected
species.
was initially dismissed, it
was later reinstated by the
appeals court.
On Nov. 27, judges again
tossed out the complaint,
ruling that HB 4040 ren-
dered the environmental-
ists’ petition moot.
“In this case, the legisla-
ture has ratified the delist-
ing, thereby providing the
delisting with the statutory
effect of removing it from
a rule challenge,” the court
wrote in its dismissal. “Con-
sequently, a decision on our
part regarding the petition-
ers’ challenge would have
no practical effect, and the
petition is therefore moot.”
Wolves are still federally
protected as an endangered
species west of highways
395, 78 and 95 in Oregon.
The Oregon Cattlemen’s
Association and Oregon
Farm Bureau intervened in
the lawsuit to support del-
isting the wolves. Ranchers
have long argued they need
to be able to kill wolves that
make a habit of preying on
livestock, despite using
non-lethal deterrents such
as electric fences and range
riders.
Killing wolves is allowed
under certain strict require-
ments in ODFW’s Wolf
Conservation and Manage-
ment Plan, which was last
updated earlier this year.
Jerome Rosa, executive
director of the Oregon Cat-
tlemen’s Association, said
the court’s ruling was a long
time coming.
“We were glad to see that
the appeal was dismissed,”
Rosa said. “Justice was
had.”
In a statement, the Ore-
gon Farm Bureau said the
ruling “is a huge win for
ranch families and the live-
stock industry, which have
long advocated for respon-
sible wolf management in
Oregon.”
Nick Cady, legal direc-
tor of Cascadia Wildlands
based in Eugene, Ore., said
the appeals court did not
evaluate whether delist-
ing wolves was scientifi-
cally defensible, but simply
based its decision on HB
4040, which was signed by
Gov. Kate Brown.
“That was the main
grounds of the case,” Cady
said. “We’re really dis-
appointed that Oregon’s
Democratic
supermajor-
ity is what threw Oregon’s
wolves under the bus.”
The number of wolves
in Oregon has grown every
year since population sur-
veys began in 2009. As of
the most recent count in
2018, Oregon had at least
137 wolves statewide — a
10% increase over the pre-
vious year.
Idaho grant aids cost-effective genetic testing of sheep
A project to provide genetic test-
ing for sheep to help producers min-
imize diseases and improve valu-
able traits will receive a grant from
the Idaho Global Entrepreneurial
Mission Council.
The $209,595 grant to Univer-
sity of Idaho animal science pro-
fessor Brenda Murdoch and Merid-
ian-based Rile Ag will help sheep
producers employ an inexpensive
test to reduce economic losses to
diseases and enhance their flocks’
productivity, UI said in a news
release.
Idaho’s sheep industry ranks
sixth nationally with 1,200 produc-
ers and 255,000 head of breeding
sheep and lambs. Rile is a subsidi-
ary of Superior Farms, which works
with sheep producers responsible
for a third of the nation’s flocks.
The Idaho producers are part of the
Superior supply chain and are criti-
cal to the American sheep industry.
Murdoch said the grant will help
producers capitalize on a low-cost
USDA ARS
genetic tool to make genetic and A recently awarded grant will help commercialize a genetic test for
economic gains in their production sheep.
systems.
She is fine-tuning the Flock54 tor of Rile, said in the press release. their DNA samples and receive
genomic test, which provides a “The opportunity to improve the their genetic report via this new
broad picture of a sheep’s “cat- U.S. sheep flock with genetic online tool.”
alog” of genes. Gene variants or improvement and Flock54 testing is
Murdoch told Capital Press that
mutations can improve an animal’s tremendous, and I am excited to be Flock54 looks at several traits, in
weight gain and carcass quality, or part of this groundbreaking technol- contrast to single-gene tests. It is
make it vulnerable to diseases such ogy for the sheep industry.”
a 1,000-marker panel that “looks
“This grant money will be a tre- at about 1,000 different spots in
as Ovine Progressive Pneumonia —
an example of a disease the test can mendous asset for further research the genome associated with dis-
and development of Flock54,” ease traits we want to cull against,
detect.
“I am excited for Rile Ag and Murdoch said. “Specifically, it will or economically important traits
Superior Farms to continue our allow her research team to increase we want to select for” like meat
partnership with Dr. Murdoch at the number of genetic traits report- quality or wool production. “The
the U of I to enhance and improve able and create indexes for pro- grant will help us validate more
genetics within the American lamb duction traits that are so crucial to traits to deliver back to our Idaho
industry,” Lesa Eidman, director of producers. The team will also cre- producers.”
producer resources and sustainabil- ate a new online reporting tool so
UI said at less than $20 per ani-
ity for Superior Farms, and direc- that producers can submit data with mal, the test can identify parent-
age, a broad range of genetic traits
and susceptibility to major dis-
eases like OPP. The disease can
create major costs for sheep pro-
ducers by reducing the number of
lambs weaned by 8% and leav-
ing survivors weighing 24% less.
For a producer who markets 1,000
lambs a year at $1.50 a pound, the
financial hit can total more than
$37,000 a year — twice the cost of
the testing.
Murdoch, an assistant profes-
sor of animal genomics at UI’s
Moscow campus, helped develop
the first genomic tests for cattle.
She will monitor results from the
sheep testing and use the informa-
tion to identify other genetic traits
of interest for producers.
Idaho producers using Flock54
genetic testing to date have been
able to enhance breeding flocks,
and cull low-producing and dis-
ease-susceptible animals, UI said.
More than 10,000 samples have
been submitted for testing within
the first six months of the test
becoming available, UI said.
The collaborators anticipate
producers will submit 150,000 test
samples within the first three years,
generating $2.25 million to $3 mil-
lion in sales, UI said. Within five
years, the business projects 500,000
samples will generate $10 million a
year, leading Rile to expand its lab
and hire additional employees.
Idaho Commerce Director Tom
Kealey said the IGEM funding will
help advance the use of Flock54
genomic selection tool by Ida-
ho’s sheep producers and others
nationwide.
“The genome research is for
much better yield for sheep ranch-
ers and processors, but at a lower
cost,” Kealey said.
Ex-ag secretary Vilsack on USMCA: ‘Get it done’
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
A trade
agreement
between the U.S., Mexico
and Canada is likely to pass
Congress with little prob-
lem if political leaders pur-
sue it, agricultural leaders
say.
“Very, very few” unre-
solved
issues
remain
between members of Con-
gress and the administra-
tion in finalizing the United
States-Mexico-Canada
Agreement, said Tom Vil-
sack, former U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture Sec-
retary and now president
and CEO of the U.S. Dairy
Council.
USMCA is the renegoti-
ation of the North American
Free Trade Agreement.
Vilsack
said
suffi-
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S155237-1
cient work
appears to
have been
done
in
USMCA to
strengthen,
improve
Tom Vilsack and mod-
e r n i z e
NAFTA, leaving no reason
for it not to pass.
“This is something that
can be done, needs to be
done,” Vilsack said. Sen.
Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is
working to create the sense
of a deadline and push the
agreement forward, Vilsack
said.
“Congress works often-
times when it is confronted
with a deadline,” Vilsack
said. “If it’s one or two
issues, then get it done. No
reason not to get it done
today, no reason to wait for
tomorrow, no reason to wait
for 2020. Let’s get it done
now.”
Vilsack spoke during a
Dec. 3 phone call hosted by
the nonprofit organization
Farmers for Free Trade.
More than 2,200 farm-
ers signed a letter ask-
ing Speaker of the House
Nancy
Pelosi,
House
Minority Leader Kevin
McCarthy, Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell
and Senate Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer to quickly
pass USMCA, according to
the organization.
“Farmers are hurting,”
said Brian Kuehl, co-execu-
tive director of Farmers for
Free Trade. “The trade war,
the trade disruption, the
uncertainty of the last few
years have really decimated
the farm economy. Farm-
ers are down and they’re
down hard. Farmers are los-
ing their farms, there are
bankruptcies that are hap-
pening, farm suicides have
been increasing. Farmers
are pushed to the brink.”
Those who aren’t los-
ing their farms aren’t able
to buy new tractors or com-
bines, Kuehl said.
“That ripples through
rural America,” he said.
“The ag equipment dealer
that can’t sell a combine,
the Main Street business
that isn’t selling equipment
from their hardware store,
the local schools that don’t
have the sales tax revenue
to support a bond initiative.
Rural America is hurting
because of the trade war and
trade disruptions. ... Farm-
ers need this win and they
need this win now.”
Passing the agreement
in 2019 to provide trade
certainty with Mexico and
Canada is one of the “single
biggest things” that would
reverse the trend, Kuehl
said.
“Since it’s going to get
done, why not get it done
now?” Vilsack asked. “Why
not just finish the work and
get it done so the farmers
and workers, the people out
in the countryside whose
livelihoods depend on this,
have the confidence and
reassurance that next year is
going to be better than this
year?”
Farmers for Free Trade is
a bipartisan nonprofit organi-
zation formed in 2017 to tell
people about the importance
of free trade and helping
farmers and ranchers sup-
port free trade agreements.
WDFW
sticks with
meetings
outside law
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Washington Fish and
Wildlife commissioners plan
to discuss wolves, cougars
and other topics next month
in committees that the depart-
ment says aren’t subject to
the state’s open-meetings law,
even when a majority of the
commission attends.
The Habitat, Fish, Wolf
and Wildlife committees
will meet Dec. 12 in Bell-
ingham, the day before the
commission convenes for its
on-the-record meeting. The
commission has invited the
public to attend committee
meetings, but it reserves the
right to withdraw the invita-
tion and close meetings.
Unlike regular meetings,
committee meetings are not
recorded and posted online
for people unable to attend in
person. The department does
not keep written minutes.
“Though the public is
invited to attend the com-
mission’s committee meet-
ings, these meetings are not
subject to the public meeting
rules that would require the
department to keep and main-
tain public meeting notes or
recordings,” a Fish and Wild-
life spokeswoman said in an
email.
Over the past two
years, commissioners have
increasingly used committee
meetings to talk about major
issues. The talks precede
regular meetings, which
the public has a guaranteed
right to attend. The com-
mission closed a meeting of
the Executive Committee in
June.
The department, cit-
ing counsel from the attor-
ney general’s office, said the
Public Meetings Act doesn’t
apply because each commit-
tee has only four of the com-
mission’s nine members.
A majority of commission-
ers, however, attended some
committee meetings in Octo-
ber, according to reports by
the commissioners who led
the meetings.
“What they did was ille-
gal,” said Rowland Thomp-
son, executive director of
Allied Daily Newspapers of
Washington. “They should
have told somebody to leave.”
The department did not
keep a record of which com-
missioners attended the meet-
ings. Committee chairmen
verbally report to the full
commission about what was
discussed, but there are no
written records.
“It wouldn’t hurt us to
spiff up the reporting of those
meetings,” said Commis-
sioner Barbara Baker, who
chairs the Big Tent Commit-
tee, a group whose topics
include “strategic planning.”
Baker said that she recalled
at least a fifth commissioner
at the committee’s meeting in
October.
She said she would “abso-
lutely” continue to preside
over committee meetings
with a majority of commis-
sioners in attendance. She
said that she was shut out of
a committee meeting three
years ago.
“I tried to attend the meet-
ing and was told I couldn’t
go,” she said. “My own per-
sonal opinion is that the way
we operate now is a definite
improvement over where we
used to be.”
Washington plans to spray 1,300 acres for gypsy moths
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
About 1,300 acres in northwest
Washington likely will be sprayed
with an insecticide next spring to
stop an outbreak of gypsy moths,
including a type native to Asia
never before detected in the U.S.
The Washington State Depart-
ment of Agriculture said it ten-
tatively plans to release Bacillus
thuringiensis var. kurstaki over
Woodway, a small city on Puget
Sound, and Boulevard Bluffs, an
Everett neighborhood. Both places
are in Snohomish County.
An Hokkaido gypsy moth was
trapped in Woodway this summer. It
was the first Hokkaido moth caught
in the U.S. It feeds predominantly
on larch trees in its native habitat,
according to the department.
Three hybrid Asian gypsy moths
were caught in Boulevard Bluffs.
Gypsy moths native to Asia are
more mobile than European vari-
eties and are considered more of a
danger to spread.
Statewide,
the
department
trapped 14 gypsy moths, a rela-
tively low number. The department
caught 11 European gypsy moths.
Before finalizing plans to spray,
the department will conduct envi-
ronmental reviews and consult
with other agencies, including the
USDA. The department said it will
explain its plan to residents at open
houses.
European gypsy moths defoliate
a wide variety of trees and shrubs.
They are established throughout
the East and Great Lakes. Western
states have been successful in erad-
icating incipient populations.
Washington has sprayed for
gypsy moths most years since
1979. To cover large areas, the
agriculture department contracts
with an aviation company to spray
from the air.
Gypsy moths spread by laying
eggs on personal belongings or
ships. Eradication campaigns take
place in the spring to kill emerging
caterpillars.
WSDA
European gypsy moth larvae
feed on trees and shrubs. Wash-
ington’s Department of Agri-
culture will spray 1,300 acres to
stop an outbreak.