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Friday, February 12, 2021
Volume 94, Number 7
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Lawmakers question removal
of spotted owl critical habitat
Eight Democrats ask for investigation into decision
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
Eight Western lawmakers are calling for a
federal review of the Trump administration’s
decision to reduce critical habitat protections
for the northern spotted owl in Oregon, Wash-
ington and Northern California.
In a Feb. 2 letter to Mark Lee Greenblatt, the
Department of the Interior inspector general,
the lawmakers said reducing the owl’s critical
habitat designation by 3.4 million acres was “as
bewildering as it is damaging.”
The group also suggested former Interior
Secretary David Bernhardt acted unilaterally
to overrule officials at the U.S. Fish and Wild-
life Service, which had previously proposed a
much smaller reduction.
“In less than two brief years under Secre-
tary Bernhardt’s leadership, the department has
been mired in one ethical scandal after another,”
the lawmakers wrote. “Bernhardt and his loyal-
ists have demonstrated a willingness to insert
themselves into the scientific process in order
to achieve preferred policy outcomes, withhold
See Habitat, Page 14
Associated Press File
The critical habitat of the
northern spotted owl, a fed-
erally protected species, was
reduced by nearly 3.5 million
acres.
SOIL HEALTH PAYS OFF
Farm reinvigorates its fields, bottom line
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
C
Maria McIntyre
Winter soil check at McIntyre
Pastures. Earthworms and a
“chocolate cake” look are indi-
cators of healthy soil.
ALDWELL, Idaho — A walk around McIntyre Family
Farms reveals a different kind of operation than it was
12 years ago.
Back then, the farm produced 3,500 acres of alfalfa
forage and corn, wheat and beans.
Then in 2009, the McIntyres started down a different path, one
following regenerative, nature-mim-
icking practices and focusing on soil
health.
In 2013, they added cat-
tle and free-range lay-
ing hens, followed by
pigs, turkeys, meat
chickens and ducks.
Brad
McIntyre,
38, says the previ-
ous iteration of his
family’s farm,
which also does
business
as
McIntyre Pas-
tures,
focused
too much on yield,
and the soil suffered
because of it.
“We had been going
for yield the whole time,
and that’s what got us in
trouble,” he said.
Brad McIntyre co-owns the farm
with his brother, Ben, 41, and their
father, Loren, 63. Ben’s wife, Maria, pro-
vides marketing and management support.
The farm got smaller as the leases on 2,500 acres
were not renewed.
The current 1,000-acre farm grows alfalfa, grass and
corn for feed; winter wheat and barley; and seed crops
triticale, hairy vetch, turnips and teff. It follows organic
practices on the pasture.
And there are some 15 cover crops, including multi-
ple vetches, warm-season grasses and brassicas.
“We plant a diverse blend wherever we can behind the
cash crops,” McIntyre said.
The cover crops keep roots in the soil while feeding the animals
and poultry, which are moved daily. The poultry follows the ani-
mals, helping to spread manure as they consume insects and plant
material.
“We use animals as one of the tools to convert biomass into
available protein sources,” McIntyre said.
The diversity also provides a variety of work for the McIntyres.
Brad and his wife, Jill, have six children, and Ben and Maria have
four.
“The purpose of the change was to put more life in the
soil” through no-till practices, Brad McIntyre said. “As we
learned more, we realized we needed the livestock to reach
the next level of soil health. We also had a desire to slow
down the work,” which “gave the children something to do on
the farm.”
Over time, the soil
rebounded. McIntyre said
seeing earthworms return
is “a good indication
you’re moving in the right
direction.”
He said healthy soil
often is “crumbly when
you pull it up — and really
airy, not compacted and
tight.” He likens the color
and texture to those of
chocolate cake.
More profitable
During the transition,
the farm became more
profitable and sustainable
without sacrificing yields,
Brad McIntyre said.
“We’ve added a lot of
diversity into our business
while improving the health
of our soil,” he said.
“We started diving into
everything,” McIntyre said
of the changes. “But you
can make changes without
disrupting your whole farm
Brad Carlson/Capital Press
plan.”
Experts say better soil Brad McIntyre employs chickens on
health will in the future his farm to help build soil health.
drive increases in crop yields
as much as advances like new
seed hybrids and fertilizers. And making sure soil stays healthy
bodes well for a farm’s continued productivity.
“My yields have never dropped,” McIntyre said. “They only have
stayed consistent or have gone up.”
The farm now uses 50% less fertilizer and 25% less water than it
did previously.
See Soil, Page 14
Simpson’s dam breaching plan a ‘nonstarter,’ ag reps say
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
SIMPSON’S NORTHWEST IN TRANSITION CONCEPT
https://simpson.house.gov/salmon/
U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson says
his plan to end all salmon litigation
and remove four Snake River dams
would offer agriculture unprece-
dented legal protection, but industry
stakeholders say it’s a nonstarter.
Simpson, R-Idaho, has not pro-
posed legislation, but on Feb. 7
released a $33.5 billion concept for
salmon recovery, which includes
removing the Lower Granite, Lit-
tle Goose, Lower Monumental and
Ice Harbor dams on the lower Snake
River in 2030 and 2031.
“It’s such a different approach,”
Associated Press File
Ice Harbor dam near Burbank,
Wash., is one of four dams on the
lower Snake River that would be
taken out under a proposal by
Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho.
said a Simpson representative,
speaking on on background. “We’re
not saying, ‘Take the dams out and
save salmon.’ We’re saying, ‘Save
agriculture, replace everything and
then save salmon.’”
If the dams are removed, each
interest group would need sufficient
resources to replace the benefits they
currently receive, the representative
said.
Replacement power generation
would have to be built and online by
2030, prior to breaching the dams.
The concept includes an auto-
matic 35-year extension of licensing
for all remaining public and private
dams generating more than 5 mega-
watts in the Columbia River Basin.
This would “lock in” the dams and
eliminate the “slippery slope” argu-
ment of, “If you allow them to
remove these four dams they will go
after the other main-stem Columbia
River dams and others,” the repre-
sentative said.
Under the concept, if the dams
See Plan, Page 14
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