CapitalPress.com
Friday, March 5, 2021
Cattlemen raise questions
about River Democracy Act
Bill would designate
4,700 miles of Wild
and Scenic Rivers
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
Eastern Oregon ranchers
say they are wary of federal
legislation that would add
nearly 4,700 miles of wild
and scenic rivers statewide,
despite assurances the pro-
posal will not affect existing
private property or water
rights.
U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden
and Jeff Merkley, both
Democrats from Ore-
gon, introduced the River
Democracy Act on Feb. 3,
which calls for dramatically
expanding wild and scenic
river designations in all cor-
ners of the state to protect
water quality, enhance out-
door recreation and mitigate
wildfire risks.
Oregon has 2,173 miles
of wild and scenic rivers.
The act would roughly tri-
ple that number.
The bill also expands
wild and scenic river cor-
ridors from a quarter-mile
to a half-mile on both sides
of the river. For 4,700 river
miles, that amounts to
slightly more than 3 mil-
lion acres of protected land
— an area about the size of
Connecticut.
“It’s a huge, vast amount
of land,” said Todd Nash, a
Wallowa County commis-
sioner and rancher. “That
alone is of huge concern.”
The National Wild and
Scenic Rivers System was
created by Congress in 1968
to shield certain waterways
from development. In 2019,
Wyden invited members of
the public to nominate new
streams and rivers for pro-
tection, which led to the
River Democracy Act.
Tom Sharp, president
of the Oregon Cattlemen’s
Association, said the bill
caught him off guard.
Washington senator: Righting
agriculture’s history won’t be ‘cheap’
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Tom
Sharp
Todd
Nash
Sharp, who ranches near
Burns in southeast Ore-
gon, said many producers
in the region depend on fed-
eral grazing permits with
agencies such as the For-
est Service and Bureau of
Land Management. More
wild and scenic rivers could
prompt greater restrictions,
he said.
While the vast majority
of streams and rivers iden-
tified in the River Democ-
racy Act are on Forest Ser-
vice or BLM land, some
stretches do flow through
private property.
Matt McElligott, a North
Powder rancher and board
member of the Public Lands
Council, said the map of
proposed wild and scenic
rivers creates a “checker-
board pattern” of protected
and non-protected areas that
could make it more difficult
for agencies to manage.
The bill’s authors have
said they were careful to
include plain language that
explicitly preserves existing
property rights.
If the bill is passed,
agencies will have up to six
years to write a comprehen-
sive plan for the newly des-
ignated wild and scenic cor-
ridors. Specifically, the bill
requires them to assess wild-
fire risks, and implement a
plan to protect homes, busi-
nesses and clean up water-
sheds post-fire.
McElligott said ranch-
ers appreciate the acknowl-
edgment of wildfire risks,
though the Public Lands
Commission criticized the
bill for not recognizing
grazing as a potential man-
agement tool for reducing
fuel loads.
OLYMPIA — Exempting Wash-
ington farmers from paying overtime
wages has a racist history and undoing
its legacy won’t be “easy or cheap,”
a Seattle senator said in an email to
other senators Feb. 24.
The racism may not have been
intentional, but the roots “cannot be
denied,” wrote Sen. Rebecca Sal-
dana, a Democrat on the Senate labor
committee.
“Undoing historical structural rac-
ism in our politics and law is not easy
or cheap, but it can be done,” she
wrote.
Saldana’s assertion that deny-
ing farmworkers overtime pay was
grounded in racism comes as law-
makers consider whether to intervene
and shield agricultural employers
from backpay lawsuits, suits that farm
groups warn pose existential threats to
some producers.
The lawsuits, more than 30, were
filed after the state Supreme Court
ruled 5-4 in November
that not paying dairy
workers time-and-a-
half for hours over 40
worked in a week was
unconstitutional.
The ruling nul-
Washington lified a 61-year-old
State Sen. state law modeled
Rebecca
after the 1938 federal
Saldana
Fair Labor Standards
Act. No other state has
so abruptly discarded
agriculture’s overtime exemption and
exposed farmers to back-pay lawsuits.
The decision settled that going for-
ward dairies, and likely other farms,
will pay overtime. The court did not
address whether the decision allowed
workers to claim they had been under-
paid for up to the previous three years.
The Washington State Dairy Feder-
ation estimates that the industry faces
$90 million to $120 million in retroac-
tive claims, unless lawmakers pass a
bill this session barring the lawsuits.
As legislation stands now, it would
be a victory for labor groups. The
court’s ruling would apply to all farms
and employees would be due back pay
for up to three years at 12% interest per
year.
Saldana, a former farmworker union
organizer, said in an email to the Cap-
ital Press that she supports the bill,
which has been endorsed by the Senate
Labor, Commerce and Tribal Affairs
Committee.
“I do support retroactivity,” she
said. “The bill would modernize our
law to orient our economy towards
moral standards rather than the mini-
mal standards that are the legacy from
the past,” she said.
“At the same time, I am engag-
ing with my colleagues and the inter-
ested parties to explore possible com-
promises,” she said. “I’ve invited my
colleagues to share their perspectives,
thoughts, or questions to help facili-
tate finding solutions to this complex
issue.”
Yakima Sen. Curtis King, a Repub-
lican who has taken the lead in negoti-
ating a bill to shield farms from back-
pay lawsuits, declined an interview.
California farm groups disappointed in
COVID-19 emergency standards ruling
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
IRVINE, Calif. — A coalition of
California agricultural groups and
business employers say they are disap-
pointed in the Superior Court’s decision
not to grant them a preliminary injunc-
tion in a case centered on COVID-19
emergency standards.
In the case, filed in December, farm
groups are challenging the state’s coro-
navirus protocols. The groups claim the
emergency temporary standards, or ETS,
imposed by the California Occupational
Safety and Health Standards Board last
year are “unnecessary” and “harmful.”
In the lawsuit, the coalition had
requested a preliminary injunction that
would have prevented state officials from
enforcing the emergency standards until
the court had made a final judgment.
In a decision last week, the Superior
Court denied the motion, meaning farms
must comply with the protocols while the
case continues.
“The court’s decision only com-
George Plaven/Capital Press File
Farm groups are challenging Califor-
nia’s emergency temporary standards,
or ETS, which they say would, among
other things, make it harder to house
and transport H-2A guestworkers.
These farm groups say they are disap-
pointed in the Superior Court’s deci-
sion not to grant them a preliminary
injunction as the case continues.
plicates the ongoing work by family
farms and other essential businesses to
maintain safe, plentiful food supplies
in the wake of COVID-19,” the coali-
tion said in a statement.
Plaintiffs include the California
Association of Winegrape Growers,
Western Growers Association, Cali-
fornia Farm Bureau Federation, Cal-
ifornia Business Roundtable, Grow-
er-Shipper Association of Central
California and Ventura County Agri-
cultural Association.
These groups say that the emer-
gency standards, issued Nov. 30, create
additional challenges for housing farm-
workers, shift the burden of virus testing
onto employers, complicate transporta-
tion logistics and impose other impracti-
cal requirements.
Industry experts say the standards
also take away regulatory flexibility from
Cal/OSHA, the state’s health and safety
agency.
Because the court denied the prelim-
inary injunction, farmers continue to
work under the emergency standards,
which require employers to provide
expanded virus testing and additional
time off, more spacing between beds,
additional vehicles to transport employ-
ees and more.
WDFW: Check-in with
governor before killing
wolves just courtesy
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Washington Fish and
Wildlife informs the gov-
ernor’s office before kill-
ing wolves, a check-in the
department calls a cour-
tesy, but described in a
court document as neces-
sary before proceeding with
lethal removal.
Fish and Wildlife’s deci-
sion-making process culmi-
nates in seeking the gover-
nor’s approval, according
to wildlife sheriff’s dep-
CREATE A PLANTER
RUNWAY!
OREGON TECHNICAL ADVISORY
COMMITTEE MEETING (OTAC)
When: March 18, 2021 -9:00 am
The meeting will be held
virtually and details on how to
join will be available
https://tinyurl.com/y55m4hns
S230966-1
For more information, or to
arrange special accommodations
for meeting attendees, please
contact Julie MacSwain at
503-414-3250 or email to:
Julie.macswain@usda.gov
ROLLING HARROW
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SOIL CONDITIONERS
S223230-1
LEGAL
Request for Proposals
Fiscal Year
July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022
The Oregon Beef Council is
Soliciting proposals for projects
In the following areas:
• Positive Producer Image
• Studying Legislation
• Education related to beef
• Generic promotion of beef
Any individual or organization
may propose projects in any of
the categories listed above.
Projects must meet the Beef
Council’s mission of enhancing
the beef industry’s image of
profitability of Oregon’s beef
industry.
Approved projects
must comply with the
Beef Promotion and Research Act
and O.R.S. 577.
To present a proposal you
must complete and submit an
Authorization Request Form by
March 26, 2021 at 4:00 pm.
Download an Authorization
Request Form from orbeef.org or
by contacting the Oregon Beef
Council office
503-274-2333 or via email at
Julie@orbeef.org.
S233957-1
uty Jeff Flood, who works
closely with the department
and ranchers in Ferry and
Stevens counties, monitor-
ing wolves and investigat-
ing depredations.
Flood’s
declaration,
rebutting claims that Fish
and Wildlife shoots wolves
too readily, was filed Feb.
26 in a lawsuit pending in
the U.S. District Court for
Eastern Washington.
The suit, brought by
environmental
groups,
alleges the U.S. Forest Ser-
vice and the Diamond M
Ranch have failed to adapt
to wolves in the Colville
National Forest, leading the
state to cull packs to save
cattle.
Flood described the
decision to remove wolves
going up the chain of com-
mand and ending in the
governor’s office.
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
03/15/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2018 KIA FORTE 4DR VIN = 3KPFK4A-
75JE220993
Amount due on lien $1975.00
Reputed owner(s)
SARA ABUKHATER
NAVY FED CU
S233191-1
4
PUBLIC LIEN SALE
U-STORE SELF STORAGE
Auction Starts March 2
storageauctions.com
Ends Friday, March 12, 2021
1st location ends at 10am
2nd location ends at 11am
1st - 1668 Industrial Way SW
Albany, Oregon
Stephen F. Donohue, Y006; Cesar
Gutierrez, H107; Allysa Inman, Y001;
Marty Johnston, G015; Michelle
Kimble, H094; Ryan Long, H080; Grace
Moller, G002 Kristie Alice Seits, H024;
Jordan Young, J001
2nd - 1501 Hawthorne Ave NE
Salem, Oregon
Kristen Blyeth, 2C03; Randall Jordan,
2A77; Joseph Mcafee, RJ02; Kimberly
Munz, Y217; Sharon Peiffer, Y213;
Artemio Prado, 1C41; F-Son Ruben,
2D45; Surang A Salazar, 1B11; Phyllis
Woodard, RD03
S231527-1
