Friday, September 24, 2021
CapitalPress.com 3
Grange wins trademark fi ght
with Oregon hemp company
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
An Oregon hemp company must
stop using the “Grange” trademark and
destroy advertisements and business
cards using that name under a default
judgment issued by a federal judge.
Last year, the National Grange organi-
zation fi led a lawsuit alleging trademark
infringement against the Hemp Grange, a
manufacturer and retailer of hemp prod-
ucts in Grants Pass, Ore.
The organization claimed that during
a phone call over the dispute, the hemp
company claimed its name did not vio-
late trademark protections and “invited
plaintiff to bring a lawsuit to enjoin the
use of the name.”
The Grange — formally called the
National Grange of the Order of Patrons
of Husbandry — was started in 1867 to
promote farming interests.
The group has more than 2,000 local
chapters that provide agricultural goods
and services, including two operating
in the same city as the Hemp Grange
company.
The Grange argued that “despite
being put on notice” of the organiza-
tion’s rights, the hemp company’s con-
tinued use of the name has “unfairly
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press File
An Oregon hemp company was or-
dered to stop using the “Grange”
trademark in a federal default
judgment.
benefi ted from the Grange’s reputation
and goodwill.”
The Grange’s offi cial policy on hemp
“opposes the production, processing and
marketing” of the crop until the psychoac-
tive THC compound can be fully removed
from it, “reducing the potential misuse of
industrial hemp for illegal activities.”
A search of the federal court docket
determined that the Hemp Grange com-
pany’s owner was legally served with
the complaint last year but has not fi led a
response.
The magistrate judge said that “no
evidence exists” that the Hemp Grange
failed to respond to the complaint “due
to excusable neglect” and the Grange “is
not seeking monetary damages” from the
company.
The national organization’s complaint
sought an injunction prohibiting the hemp
company from using the “Grange” trade-
mark and ordering it to destroy materials
that infringed on the trademark.
“Without an appearance by the defen-
dants and their side of the facts or any
other countervailing evidence, the factors
weigh in plaintiff ’s favor, and the court
cannot fi nd a reason to deny the motion
for default judgment,” Clarke said.
After reviewing the case, U.S. District
Judge Ann Aiken has now found “no clear
error” with the magistrate judge’s deci-
sion and has ordered an injunction against
the hemp company’s use of the “Grange”
trademark.
The owner of the Hemp Grange did not
respond to requests for comment. The com-
pany’s website is no longer functioning.
Farm groups appeal for chance to speak about wolves
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Farm groups still hope
to have their say Nov. 12 as
U.S. District Judge Jeff rey
White in Oakland, Calif.,
hears environmental organi-
zations argue to restore fed-
eral protection to wolves
across the West.
An agricultural coali-
tion headed by the Ameri-
can Farm Bureau this week
asked the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals to overrule
White, who denied the farm
groups a chance to partici-
pate in the hearing.
White ruled that two
hunting groups, the National
Rifl e Association and Safari
Club International, will ade-
quately represent the inter-
ests of farmers and ranchers.
In a brief fi led Sept. 13,
the Farm Bureau, National
Cattlemen’s Beef Associa-
ODFW
A federal judge in Oakland, Calif., is hearing three law-
suits that could lead to all gray wolves being returned
to the federal list of endangered species. Agricultural
groups want to take part in the cases.
tion, American Sheep Indus-
try Association and the Pub-
lic Lands Council said they
want to protect livestock,
not hunt wolves.
“It is the only group rep-
resenting businesses and
landowners whose interests
may be aff ected by these
suits,” the groups stated.
The agricultural coalition
requested the appeals court
to rule by Oct. 10.
The U.S. Fish and Wild-
life Service took wolves
throughout the Lower 48 off
the federally protected list in
the fi nal month of the Trump
administration. Wolves were
already delisted in some
places, including Idaho and
the eastern one-third of Ore-
gon and Washington.
Environmental
groups
fi led three separate lawsuits
in the U.S. District Court for
Northern California, claim-
ing USFWS prematurely del-
isted the wolves everywhere.
The Biden administra-
tion, disappointing wolf
advocates, has moved to
dismiss the lawsuits. Mean-
while,
environmental
groups have moved for sum-
mary judgment. White will
preside over the November
hearing on all three lawsuits.
Easterday sentencing postponed to January
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The sentencing of Wash-
ington cattleman Cody East-
erday for defrauding Tyson
Fresh Meats out of $233
million has been delayed
until early next year to give
him time to help liquidate
his family’s ranches and
farms in bankruptcy court.
U.S. District Judge Stan-
ley Bastain in Richland,
Wash., approved resetting
sentencing to Jan. 24. East-
erday, who pleaded guilty
in March to wire fraud, had
been scheduled to be sen-
tenced in early October.
He faces up to 20 years in
prison, according to the Jus-
tice Department.
Easterday, in debt to
Tyson and other creditors,
fi led for bankruptcy last
February. He works daily on
the Chap-
ter 11 bank-
ruptcy,
according
to a fi ling
by his attor-
ney,
Carl
Cody
Oreskovich.
Easterday
T h e
bankruptcy
involves separate compa-
nies, Easterday Ranches and
Easterday Farms, as well as
the property of family mem-
bers. The bankruptcy is
extraordinarily complex and
requires Cody Easterday’s
constant attention, accord-
ing to Oreskovich.
“Mr. Easterday’s contin-
ued participation is essential
to creating the best possible
outcome for creditors,” Ore-
skovich stated.
The Justice Department
did not object to postponing
sentencing for the second
time. Easterday was origi-
nally scheduled to be sen-
tenced in July, but sentenc-
ing was delayed because of
the bankruptcy.
Easterday billed Tyson
and another company to buy
and feed what the Justice
Department called “ghost
cattle.” The fraud, com-
mitted between 2016 and
2020, totaled $244 million,
according to prosecutors.
In a plea deal, Easterday
promised to pay restitution.
Easterday also was in debt
to major lenders and other
businesses.
The Easterday estate
continues to sell off prop-
erty. Attorneys on Sept.
15 notified the U.S. Bank-
ruptcy Court for East-
ern Washington that no
one topped a $14 million
bid by Agri Beef-affiliate
Blue Tag Farms for more
than 600 pieces of equip-
ment at Easterday farms
and ranches.
Farmland Reserve Inc.,
owned by the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, bought several
Easterday farms in Benton
County in July for $209
million.
Agri Beef bought East-
erday’s feedlot in Pasco
for $14 million, though
Tyson claims the price
was too low, defrauding it
and other creditors. Bank-
ruptcy Judge Whitman
Holt in Yakima will hear
arguments Sept. 22 on
whether Tyson has stand-
ing to contest the sale.
Washington court
asked to change
public land focus
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The
Washington
Supreme Court has been
invited to change how the
Department of Natural
Resources manages state
lands, deemphasizing log-
ging and elevating recre-
ation, wildlife and climate.
In a case to be heard Oct.
21, Conservation North-
west and other environmen-
tal groups contend DNR
acts “like a private timber
company,” ignoring a con-
stitutional duty to manage
land for “all the people.”
DNR and the timber
companies, rural counties
and rural schools that ben-
efi t from state timber sales
are asking the court to
reject Conservation North-
west’s reading of the state
constitution.
They say the suit seeks
to discard a 132-year-old
mandate to generate reve-
nue for schools and rural
services and replace it with
a vaguely defi ned “public
interest.”
Conservation Northwest
policy director Paula Swe-
deen said Friday the lawsuit
stems from decades of frus-
tration over how DNR man-
ages timberland.
Conservation Northwest
has goals, such as less log-
ging in wildlife habitat and
older forests, but doesn’t
believe that will mean elim-
inating logging or hurting
rural communities, she said.
“We’re not walking into
this lawsuit without think-
ing of the broader social and
economic impacts,” Swe-
deen said.
Critics of the lawsuit dis-
agree. In an amicus brief,
the Washington Council of
Machinists said that if Con-
servation Northwest wins,
jobs will be lost and forests
turned into “theme parks for
the affl uent.”
Meanwhile,
climate
activists have rallied to sup-
port Conservation North-
west’s lawsuit, with one
group suggesting that graz-
ing and agriculture on DNR
land contribute to climate
change.
DNR manages 2.9 mil-
lion acres of trust lands.
Congress granted land
when Washington became
a state in 1889. Also, during
the Depression, the state
received
tax-delinquent
timberland from counties.
The state constitution
says the land is held in trust
for “all the people.” DNR
argues there is nothing to
suggest the framers of the
state constitution saw any
confl ict with the congres-
sional act.
Timber sales account
for most of the money gen-
erated by the land, though
DNR leases 1.1 million
acres for grazing and farm-
ing, too. Some grazing
occurs on forestlands.
In amicus fi lings, cli-
mate activists suggest DNR
should manage land to
maximize carbon seques-
tration and reduce green-
house gases.
Swedeen said Conser-
vation Northwest doesn’t
see “the lawsuit as a cudgel
to drive farmers and ranch-
ers off their leases at all.”
Farmers and ranchers
could have their claims to
DNR leases strengthened,
she said. “There’s no room
now for a local commu-
nity to say, ‘This land is
important to our culture,
important to our ranching
industry.’”
The lawsuit has raised
the expectations of some
environmentalists.
An
environmental
coalition
told the court that “resource
extraction and dominion
over nature must yield.”
The Association of
Washington
Business,
Washington State Associa-
tion of Counties, Washing-
ton State School Directors
Association and Skagit
County have fi led amicus
briefs arguing against the
lawsuit.
The Washington For-
est Protection Associa-
tion said in its brief that
its members rely on a
steady supply of timber
from state lands, espe-
cially since the listing of
the spotted owl as a threat-
ened species caused much
of the federal timberland
in the state to be set aside
as habitat three decades
ago.
The Washington Envi-
ronmental Council and
Olympic Forest Coali-
tion joined Conserva-
tion Northwest in fi ling
the lawsuit. A Thurston
County judge dismissed
the suit, but the Supreme
Court agreed to take up
the constitutional issue.
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