Friday, June 11, 2021
CapitalPress.com 7
Biden administration to roll back ESA reforms
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
The U.S. Fish and Wild-
life Service and the National
Marine Fisheries Service are
proposing several changes
to Endangered Species Act
regulations that would roll
back reforms made under
the Trump administration.
The proposals are the
result of an executive order
directing all federal agen-
cies to review and address
agency actions during the
last four years that conflict
with Biden-Harris adminis-
tration objec-
tives, such
as address-
ing climate
change.
The agen-
cies will initi-
Kaitlynn
ate rulemak-
Glover
ing to:
• Rescind
a regulatory definition of
“habitat” that limits criti-
cal habitat designations to
a location that “currently
or periodically contains
the resources and condi-
tions necessary to support
one or more life processes
of a species.”
• Rescind a regulation
that allows the Fish and
Wildlife Service to exclude
federal lands from critical
habitat designation based on
economic considerations and
other factors.
• Reinstate the “blanket
4(d) rule,” which extends
full endangered species pro-
tections to most species only
listed as “threatened.”
• Prohibit the agencies
from considering the eco-
nomic impacts and certain
other consequences of their
ESA listing decisions.
• Revise regulations gov-
erning interagency consulta-
tion under Section 7 of the
ESA.
While not unexpected,
the announcement demon-
strates a significant step
backward in implementation
of ESA and the improved
clarity achieved under the
last administration, accord-
ing to the Public Lands
Council and National Cat-
tlemen’s Beef Association.
“These regulatory revi-
sions will not improve out-
comes — they will just
make the ESA more bur-
densome on the people actu-
ally working to restore habi-
tat and protect biodiversity,”
said Kaitlynn Glover, NCBA
executive director of natural
resources and Public Lands
Council executive director.
“We are disappointed to
see the Biden administra-
tion take such a major step
backwards on measures
that facilitated significant
on-the-ground progress by
livestock producers, state
governments and advocates
in recent years,” she said.
“Frankly, the motivation
behind this rollback is out of
touch with how federal reg-
ulations impact rural com-
munities and seems to have
more to do with partisan-
ship than the protection and
recovery of wildlife,” she
said.
The
agencies
are
expected to move forward
with these rulemakings in
the coming months.
PLC and NCBA will con-
tinue to work to ensure that
ESA recognizes the contri-
butions of ranchers and vol-
untary conservation while
being a clear and predictable
regulatory mechanism.
Cosmic Crisp apple gains market
momentum, but still faces challenges
By SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
Capital Press
Owyhee Irrigation District
Part of Owyhee Reservoir near Adrian, Ore.
Owyhee Basin water
supplies stay tight
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
Both the amount of water
stored in the Owyhee Reser-
voir and the flow of the river
below it are about one-third
below long-term medians.
Southeastern
Oregon
farmer Bruce Corn, who
serves on the Owyhee Irriga-
tion District Board of Direc-
tors, said the Owyhee River
basin must get normal snow-
pack and runoff next year.
“Because of conservation
the last few years, people will
get through this year on the
Owyhee Project,” he said.
“But the reservoir will be
depleted or close to depleted.
We will need average runoff
to have an adequate supply
for next year.”
Corn said conservation
measures in recent years,
including moves to drip and
sprinkler irrigation, are help-
ing producers navigate dry
conditions and reduced water
supply.
“In March and April we
had virtually no rainfall, and
that is contributing to stream-
flows of midsummer or
late-summer levels happen-
ing right now,” he said. “So
we are pretty dependent on
what is in reservoir storage.”
The Owyhee River flows
into the Snake River south
of Nyssa, Ore. The USDA
Natural Resources Conser-
vation Service in a June 1
water-supply report said
total precipitation in southern
Snake basins for the water
year ranges from 65-75% of
normal.
NRCS pegged Owyhee
Reservoir storage at 66% of
normal. The U.S. Geologi-
cal Survey June 7 reported
streamflow below the dam at
32.9% lower than the long-
term median.
NRCS said despite short
periods of cool, wet weather,
May’s mostly warm, dry
conditions led to full snow-
melt earlier than normal in
most South Snake basins.
And as the basins tran-
sition to the dry season, it
looks highly unlikely total
water-year precipitation will
recover to normal conditions.
NRCS said the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration’s
most
recent 30-day outlook pre-
dicts above-normal tempera-
tures and lower-than-normal
precipitation throughout the
region.
Current conditions are “a
big concern because we are
going to be pulling hard on
what storage we do have,”
OID General Manager Jay
Chamberlin said.
Prolonged dry weather
kept river flows well below
normal and prompted grow-
ers to irrigate early, he said.
But for the season so far,
“crops are behind, so water
demand is behind,” Cham-
berlin said. Factors include
quick swings between hot
and cold temperatures, high
winds, and some late May
rain.
“We’re thinking water
demand will pick up in
another 10 days,” he said
June 7.
OID reduced the allot-
ment by 25% for custom-
ers serviced by the reservoir.
Ditches with supplemen-
tal pumping rights out of
the Snake remain at full
allotment.
Corn said the Owyhee
Basin’s situation is signifi-
cantly better than those of the
Big Wood and Little Wood in
Idaho, and the Klamath and
Deschutes in Oregon.
NRCS said water-year
precipitation in Wood and
Lost basins is 60-70% of nor-
mal after some improvement
in May. Reservoir storage
remains well below normal.
WENATCHEE, Wash.
— Cosmic Crisp apple
growers hope the third
time’s the charm.
Cosmic Crisp, Wash-
ington’s new state apple,
achieved celebrity status its
first year on the market, in
2019. Its sophomore year,
2020, was bumpy — and
for many growers, disap-
pointing. Now, as the indus-
try looks toward the third
year, optimism is on the
rise, but challenges remain.
From the start, Cosmic
Crisp was a big gamble:
22 years of breeding and
development by Washing-
ton State University, $500
million spent by growers
planting 13 million trees.
So, when FOB, or
freight-on-board,
prices
plunged from $71.86 per
40-pound box in Decem-
ber to $43.83 per box this
February, the 39% drop led
many growers to panic.
“I’ve been super disap-
pointed with where pricing
was this year,” said Andy
Handley, a grower in East
Wenatchee.
Industry leaders say the
2020-21 season was rough
for several reasons.
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Cosmic Crisp boxes at McDougall & Sons Inc.
Historically, the indus-
try’s No. 1 promotional tool
for new varieties has been
in-store sampling.
“With COVID, sampling
fell apart,” said Rebecca
Lyons, Washington Apple
Commission’s international
marketing director.
Growers say the presi-
dential election, racial ten-
sions, supply chain disrup-
tions, canceled trade shows
and overwhelmed retail-
ers trying to keep staples
in stock also hurt sales last
year.
But experts say Cosmic
Crisp appears to be turning
the corner this spring.
In March, the indus-
try was shipping about
40,000 boxes weekly. Now,
Tim Kovis, spokesman
for Washington State Tree
Fruit Association, estimates
the industry ships 48,000
boxes weekly. That’s good
progress, though still short
of the ideal 80,000-boxes-
per-week mark.
“Movement has been
steady for the past several
weeks,” said Jill Burbery,
project manager for Propri-
etary Variety Management,
a Yakima company on con-
tract with WSU to manage
commercialization.
Burbery said she expects
the remaining 174,000
boxes in storage will run
out by mid-June. March
1, there had been 892,000
boxes in storage.
Some growers have
already sold out.
“We had great interest,”
said West Mathison, pres-
ident and CEO of Stemilt
Growers. “We ran out. I
wish we had more.”
But prices have remained
about static.
FOB prices are about the
same as in February, said
Brian Focht, manager of the
Washington Apple Grow-
ers Marketing Association.
And the average national
retail price for Cosmic
Crisp, according to Nielsen
data, was $2.47 a pound in
April and $2.46 in May.
Growers are looking to
this coming season with
both boosted optimism and
concerned realism.
They’re
optimistic
because retailers are less
distracted, some stores
plan to resume taste tests,
the industry will expand
in Canada, and as trees
mature, fruit quality will
become consistent.
Expected
challenges
include continued COVID
protocols, choosing ideal
harvest and market release
dates and dealing with wax
problems in the warehouse
because the variety’s skin is
naturally waxy.
More lawmakers press DOJ on meatpacker probe
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Lawmakers are turning
up the heat on the Depart-
ment of Justice over its
investigation of the four
largest meatpackers.
The investigation, which
began in May 2020, is
focused on whether anti-
competitive practices have
led to the disparity between
the prices of live cattle and
wholesale beef.
“We understand that a
thorough investigation can
take many months, but it
concerns us that farmers,
ranchers and the packers
themselves have all been
left with little direction
since the CIDs (civil inves-
tigation demands) were
issued,” the lawmakers said
in a letter to Attorney Gen-
eral Merrick Garland.
Led by Reps. Michael
Guess, R-Miss., and Dar-
ren Soto, D-Fla., the bipar-
tisan letter signed by 50
other members of Congress
requested updates or a final
report on the investigation.
“As you may know, the
price for live cattle in the
United States has decreased
in the last several years,
forcing many small opera-
tors to make difficult deci-
sions as they strive to stay
in business and keep their
farms operational,” the law-
makers said.
“Yet, at the same time,
the price of boxed beef has
increased significantly, rais-
ing consumer prices and
widening the gap between
live cattle prices — which
is a concern for ranchers
and consumers alike,” they
said.
The disparity has been
widened by the pandemic
and the labor shortages in
processing facilities due to
enhanced government ben-
efits, resulting in continued
food supply-chain disrup-
tion, they said.
“These challenges rein-
force the need to ensure that
our nation’s farmers, ranch-
ers and producers operate in
transparent markets, which
in turn helps feed Ameri-
can families. We ask that
the DOJ continue its atten-
tiveness to this matter and
provide updates of findings
to ensure confidence in our
commodity markets,” they
said.
The letter is the latest
in a groundswell of law-
maker attention to the issue
of meatpacker control and
price disparity.
Last week, a bipartisan
group of 28 House and Sen-
ate lawmakers sent DOJ a
letter saying it’s time for
the government to deter-
mine whether the “strangle-
hold” the large meatpackers
have in the processing mar-
ket violates U.S. antitrust
laws.
In May, 16 representa-
tives and senators sent a
letter to DOJ urging it to
continue or conclude its
investigation into the meat-
packers’ actions during the
2019 fire at a Tyson plant
and during the pandemic.
National
Cattlemen’s
Beef Association thanked
Guess and Soto for adding
their leadership to the effort
pushing DOJ to complete
its investigation.
“The growing motiva-
tion in Congress to has-
ten the conclusion of the
DOJ investigation and take
action on the issues plagu-
ing our industry’s market-
place is the result of grass-
roots consensus among
cattle producers,” said
Ethan Lane, NCBA vice
president of government
affairs.
“Across the country, in
sale barns and state affiliate
meetings, we’re hearing the
same frustration from our
members — no matter how
the pendulum swings, the
leverage always seems to
be on the side of the pack-
ers,” he said.
We have a new crop of
materials for the Worker
Protection Standard.
Protect your workers from pesticide exposure
with the WPS. We have a bushelful of materials:
brochures, posters and more.
To learn everything that applies, go to
EPA.gov/pesticide-worker-safety
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