Capital Press
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Friday, October 15, 2021
Volume 94, Number 42
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TIDE GATE
TIME BOMB
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A tide gate at a dairy near Nehalem, Ore., was installed in 2017 at a cost
of $460,000, improving drainage and complying with fi sh passage rules.
Many tide gates are aging along Oregon’s coast but their replacements
must comply with fi sh passage rules.
SEE PAGE 9 FOR A GRAPHIC SHOWING HOW TIDE GATES WORK
Aging structures, regulatory mandates threaten coastal farmland
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
M
any of the
tide
gates
that protect
O r e g o n ’s
coastal farm-
lands from being inundated
with saltwater have become
relics of a bygone era.
As these old tide gates
deteriorate, the farmers who
rely on them worry that their
time may be running out as
well.
“As soon as a tide gate
goes out, you can’t graze,
you can’t raise hay. You’ve
lost your land, basically. It’s
not productive anymore,”
said Craig Herman, who
raises cattle and hay between
Coquille and Bandon in
southwestern Oregon.
The aging tide gates block
fi sh from swimming between
the ocean and river estuaries,
disrupting a crucial part of
their life cycle.
Though some tide gates
still function despite being
as much as a century old,
they’re considered outdated
under modern regulatory
standards.
New tide gates needed
“They’re at the end of
their lives, a lot of them, so
the need to replace them is
something we can anticipate
will be happening,” said Irma
Lagomarsino, senior pol-
icy adviser with the National
Marine Fisheries Service.
Innovative new tide gates
don’t obstruct fi sh but they’re
much more expensive, poten-
tially costing hundreds of
thousands or even millions
of dollars, depending on their
size and complexity.
“That’s a lot of money for
a small producer,” Herman
said.
See Gates, Page 9
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Steve Neahring, a dairy farmer near Nehalem, Ore., with cows in a pasture that’s protected by a tide
gate. In 2017, Neahring installed a new tide gate with the help of a grant to improve drainage and meet
fi sh passage requirements.
Environmentalists attack farming, grazing, pesticides in Klamath refuges
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Environmental groups want to con-
vince a federal appeals court that farm-
ers and ranchers are overly favored in
the management of Klamath Basin
national wildlife refuges.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals is considering arguments by
several environmental nonprofi ts that
claim the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice hasn’t suffi ciently scrutinized the
impacts of livestock grazing, crop cul-
tivation and pesticide spraying on the
Klamath Basin National Wildlife Ref-
uge Complex.
Last year, a federal judge dismissed
lawsuits fi led by the Audubon Society
of Portland, the Center for Biological
Diversity and the Western Watersheds
Project, ruling that the agency had com-
plied with several laws that govern the
200,000-acre refuge complex.
Those three environmental groups
have now challenged that decision
before the 9th Circuit, which heard oral
arguments in the case on Oct. 5.
The Audubon Society focused on
water management in the refuge sys-
tem, claiming the agency has unlaw-
fully prioritized agriculture over the
welfare of bird species.
Wetlands have gone dry and thou-
sands of birds have died of disease out-
breaks recently, said Maura Fahey, the
nonprofi t’s attorney. “Meanwhile, com-
mercial agricultural use has persisted.”
The agency’s plan for the ref-
uge complex is “arbitrary” because it
doesn’t address the water shortages that
are the most pressing problem for wild-
life habitat, she said.
“Here, where the rest of the refuge is
almost entirely failing to support water-
fowl because there’s no water for wet-
lands, it’s not justifi able for the agency
to continue 20,000 acres of commercial
agriculture,” Fahey said.
The Center for Biological Diversity
opposed the agency’s authorization of
pesticide usage on farmed land in the
refuge complex, arguing that alterna-
tive methods haven’t been adequately
considered.
See Klamath, Page 9
Holly Dillemuth/For the Capital Press
Standing grain is left for migrating birds in the Klamath
Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Environmental
groups have appealed a judge’s decision to dismiss their
lawsuits against farm practices in the refuge complex.
Biden administration stays course on wolf lawsuits
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
IDFG
The Biden Justice Department
continues to argue for the dismiss-
al of lawsuits that seek to restore
federal protection to wolves.
suits brought by environmental
groups.
The suits claim the U.S. Fish
TIME TO PLAN
for next year.
increase human-caused mortality.”
The wildlife service, respond-
ing to petitions by environmental
groups, announced the 12-month
review on Sept. 15. The administra-
tion agreed that expanded hunting
in Idaho and Montana could aff ect
the species’ status in the northern
Rockies.
In court, the administration
argues that based on information
available in 2020, delisting wolves
outside the northern Rockies was
the right decision.
See Wolves, Page 9
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The Biden administration con-
tinues to defend the Trump adminis-
tration’s decision to remove wolves
from the endangered species list,
even as it evaluates whether hunt-
ing in Idaho and Montana are
grounds for restoring and expand-
ing protection.
In the fi rst court fi ling since the
administration said it will review
the status of wolves, the Biden Jus-
tice Department on Oct. 8 asked a
judge in California to dismiss law-
and Wildlife Service prematurely
removed protection from wolves
outside the northern Rocky Moun-
tains in 2020, during the Trump
administration.
Wolf advocates accuse the
agency of “trying to get out of the
wolf-protection business,” accord-
ing to one court fi ling.
The claim, according to the Jus-
tice Department, is “not grounded
in fact.”
As evidence, the department
noted that the agency will evaluate
“recent actions by Idaho and Mon-
tana that threaten to signifi cantly