Friday, April 15, 2022
CapitalPress.com 3
New leadership team wants to inspire Idaho FFA members
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
TWIN FALLS, Idaho
— After a two-year hiatus
caused by the COVID-19
pandemic, Idaho FFA mem-
bers were back on cam-
pus last week at the Col-
lege of Southern Idaho for
their annual State Leadership
Conference.
Blue-jacket enthusiasm
was palpable at the final cer-
emony to announce the new
state officers as foot stomp-
ing rumbled through the col-
lege gymnasium like a drum-
roll and the newest leaders
took their place on stage.
After droves of FFA mem-
bers boarded buses for home
on a four-day high of FFA
exuberance, Capital Press sat
down with the new officers to
get their reaction.
Halee Bohman, the new
state president, is a senior at
Troy High School and pres-
ident of the Troy FFA chap-
ter. She plans to attend the
University of Idaho to major
in agricultural business and
political science.
“I’m overwhelmed with
emotion for sure and hum-
bled to be given this opportu-
nity among some of my clos-
est friends,” she said.
The new officers formed a
close bond as candidates, she
said.
In the year ahead, her goal
is to “create an inclusive envi-
ronment for the FFA Associ-
ation and push members to
pursue their full potential,”
she said.
Liz Shaw, the new state
vice president, is a senior
at Parma High School, vice
president of the Parma FFA
chapter and president of the
Western Idaho FFA District.
She plans to attend the Uni-
versity of Idaho to major in
elementary education and
horticulture/urban agriculture.
“I’m still in shock. I just
can’t believe it actually came
true,” she said of her success-
ful run for office.
She didn’t always have the
confidence to put herself out
there, but her FFA adviser saw
leadership qualities she didn’t
and pushed her to be the best
version of herself, she said.
In her role as a state offi-
cer, she wants to “inspire and
motivate and inform Idaho
FFA of the importance of
Idaho FFA
Idaho’s new FFA state officers April 9 at the conclusion
of the 2022 state convention. Front row from left are
Halee Bohman, president, and KaLisi Griggs, secretary.
Back row from left are Korbey Lindsey, sentinel; Ember
Mendoza, reporter; Mackenzie Malson, treasurer; and
Liz Shaw, vice president.
agriculture,” she said.
State Secretary KaLisi
Griggs is a senior at Sugar-Sa-
lem High School and presi-
dent of the Sugar-Salem FFA
chapter. She plans to take a
year off from school to focus
on being a state officer and
then enter a physician’s assis-
tant program at Weber State
University.
“I’m excited. It kind of
seems surreal, really fun but
a roller coaster of emotion,”
she said.
She said she loved every-
one she met on the new offi-
cer team and is excited to
serve with them.
Her goal is to “reach out to
chapters that are not as suc-
cessful and struggling with
membership and just let them
know they can make a differ-
ence in FFA, even in agricul-
ture,” she said.
State Treasurer Macken-
zie Malson is a senior at Fruit-
land High School and vice
president of the Fruitland FFA
chapter. She plans to attend
the University of Idaho to
major in agricultural econom-
ics with the hope of pursuing
a law degree.
“This week has been the
most emotional week of my
life. It’s been so much fun,
and it hasn’t quite sunk in
yet,” she said.
Her goals include “helping
members reach out and con-
nect with our industry spon-
sors,” she said.
She also wants to spend as
much time as possible with
FFA members sharing their
stories, she said.
State Reporter Ember
Mendoza is a senior at Rigby
High School and is president
of the Rigby FFA chapter. She
plans to attend the College of
Eastern Idaho to become a
certified Emergency Medical
Technician.
“I’m excited and (in a state
of) emotional overload. It’s
going to be a great year,” she
said.
She had planned to run
for state office as a senior but
lost her drive in the pandemic
until a fellow FFA chapter
officer encouraged her to go
for it, she said.
“It’s been crazy and stress-
ful, but I was at peace with it
because I was OK with what-
ever happens,” she said.
State Sentinel Korby Lind-
sey is a senior and is a student
adviser for the Rigby FFA
chapter. He plans to take a
year off from school to focus
on being a state officer. After
that, he plans to attend Utah
State University to become an
agriculture teacher.
“I wasn’t expecting to
make the first cut,” he said of
the candidate process.
He had planned on running
for state office since freshmen
year, and “it’s good to know
all my hard work paid off,” he
said.
The candidate process was
an emotional roller coaster,
and he was eager to get home
and “take a nap,” he said.
His goal is “to be that
inspiration to kids like past
officers. My main goal is to
inspire the next generation
of agriculture,” he said.
Washington wolf population up 16%, tops 200 Another wolf killed in
NE Oregon; officials
seek public’s help
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Washington’s wolf population grew
in 2021 by 16% to at least 206 wolves,
most of them grouped in packs in the
northeast corner of the state, accord-
ing to the state Department of Fish and
Wildlife annual wolf report.
The population grew for the 13th
straight year, though at least 30 wolves
died. Tribal hunters harvested 22
wolves. Hunting outside tribal reserva-
tions is illegal.
The department was to present the
report Saturday to the Fish and Wildlife
Commission. The department has been
taking an annual census of wolves since
counting five wolves in 2008.
The department says its count, done
in coordination with the Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation in
northeast Washington, is a minimum
number and that there are likely more
wolves in Washington.
The Colville tribe reported harvest-
ing 14 wolves, while the Spokane tribe
harvested 8. The previous year, the
Colville tribe harvested 8 wolves, while
the Spokane tribe reported harvesting
no wolves.
Fish and Wildlife killed two wolves
in 2021 to stop chronic attacks on cattle.
Four wolves were hit and killed by vehi-
cles, while two other deaths are under
investigation, according to the report.
Fish and Wildlife carves the state into
three wolf recovery regions. Wolves
have long surpassed recovery goals in
Eastern Washington and are moving
toward recovery in the North Cascades.
They have not, however, made prog-
ress in colonizing the South Cascades.
Fish and Wildlife reported that a lone
collared wolf dispersed from a pack in
the North Cascades and crossed Inter-
state 90 into the South Cascades. The
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
ODFW
The wolf population in Washington state continues to grow.
department, however, has not confirmed
any pack in the region.
Under the state’s wolf plan, wolves
won’t be recovered until there are at
least four packs with pups for at least
three straight years in all three regions,
including the South Cascades.
The department counted 33 packs in
2021, four more than in 2020, with 22
of the packs in northeast Washington.
Some 19 of those packs had at least two
pups surviving to the end of the year, up
from 16 packs the year before.
Eastern Washington had 15 of the
successful breeding pairs, while the
North Cascades, for the second straight
year, had four.
Two of the four new packs were in
Ferry and Stevens counties, the north-
east counties with most of the wolves.
Previously, even before the new packs,
Fish and Wildlife described the counties
as “saturated” with packs.
The new Dominion pack in Stevens
County formed between the Smackout
and Dirty Shirt packs, according to the
report. The Keller Ridge pack formed in
Ferry County on Colville tribal land.
The other new packs were the
Columbia pack in Columbia County and
the Shady Pass pack in Chelan County.
The department confirmed 13 wolf
attacks on livestock, the fewest since
2017. The department classified six other
attacks as “probable” depredations.
Fish and Wildlife reported spending
$1.4 million on wolves in 2021. More
than $1 million of that was on manage-
ment and research.
The department reported spend-
ing $205,969 on range riders and
$111,649 to reimburse ranchers for
expenses related to preventing attacks
on livestock.
Fish and Wildlife paid $20,866 to
compensate producers for losses to
wolves and spent $19,957 to remove the
two wolves.
Pack territories averaged 193 square
miles, according to the report. Packs
ranged in size from two to 10 wolves.
Most packs had three to six wolves. The
department counted 10 wolves in the
Lookout pack in the North Cascades.
Lawmakers want strong action on dairy access to Canada
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Members of Congress
are urging the Biden admin-
istration to be tough on
Canada in its trade obli-
gations to expand market
access for U.S. dairy under
the
U.S.-Mexico-Canada
Agreement.
In January, the U.S. Trade
Representative’s
office
announced it had won its
first dispute settlement case
under USMCA by prevail-
ing against Canada that its
dairy tariff-rate quota (TRQ)
allocations violated the
agreement.
A TRQ applies a pref-
erential rate to a predeter-
mined quantity of imports.
Any imports above that
quantity are subject to sig-
nificantly higher tariffs.
U.S. dairy has argued that
Canada reserves the bulk of
TRQ access for Canadian
dairy processors, who have
little incentive to import
competing U.S. product.
Canada’s allocation scheme
leaves only a small amount
of TRQ access for distrib-
utors and gives no TRQ
access for retailers — two
segments with the strongest
incentive to purchase U.S.
dairy product.
In early March, the Cana-
dian government issued a
proposal outlining changes
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press File
Members of Congress have called on the U.S. Trade
Representative and USDA to hold Canada to its USMCA
commitments.
to its current allocation
scheme. But the U.S. dairy
industry rejected that pro-
posal, saying it does nothing
to improve market access
and preserves the same prob-
lems in the current system.
In their letter to U.S.
Trade Representative Kath-
erine Tai and USDA Secre-
tary Tom Vilsack, the con-
gressional members said
Canada’s proposal would
continue to fall short of what
USMCA requires.
“Accordingly, we urge
you to insist on much deeper
reforms to bring Canada’s
dairy TRQ allocation sys-
tem into compliance with
its USMCA commitments,”
they said.
Canada’s proposal con-
tinues to block Cana-
dian retailers and foodser-
vice companies from TRQ
access. It would continue to
deliver the bulk of TRQ vol-
umes to Canadian food man-
ufacturers, they said.
“In short, Canada’s pro-
posal amounts to little more
than window dressing as it
appears designed to effec-
tively preserve the status
quo … ,” they said.
They also said this first
USMCA dispute will set a
powerful precedent and the
U.S. government needs to
send a clear message to trad-
ing partners regarding the
degree of compliance that
will be required.
“A deal is a deal; it’s not
too much to ask that our
trading partners live up to
their end of the bargain,”
they said.
National Milk Producers
Federation and U.S. Dairy
Export Council on Tues-
day expressed their appre-
ciation for the congressional
support.
“The USMCA is not a
list of optional suggestions
and aspirational ambitions.
Yet Canada has treated its
obligations to American
dairy producers as a game,
seeing what they can get
away with,” said Jim Mul-
hern, president and CEO of
NMPF.
“Congress rightfully rec-
ognizes this must stop. If
we do not require our allies
meet their signed commit-
ments, then our trade agree-
ments are not worth the
paper they are printed on,”
he said.
Krysta Harden, presi-
dent and CEO of USDEC,
said USDEC appreciates
the strong bipartisan sup-
port focused on ensuring
U.S. dairy exporters receive
the benefits negotiated in
USMCA.
“We are committed to
continuing to work with
the U.S. government to
make sure that the dairy
market access negoti-
ated with Canada is pro-
vided in full to the bene-
fit of both American dairy
farmers and manufacturers
and Canadian consumers
alike,” she said.
The letter was signed by
Reps. Ron Kind, D-Wis.;
Tom Reed, R-N.Y.; Anto-
nio Delgado, D-N.Y; Glenn
Thompson, R-Pa.; Suzan
DelBene, D-Wash.; Dusty
Johnson, R-S.D.; Jim
Costa, D-Calif.; and David
Valadao, R-Calif.
RICHLAND, Ore. —
For the third time this year,
authorities are investigat-
ing a possible case of wolf
poaching in rural northeast
Oregon.
On March 25, state police
were notified that a collared
wolf — OR117 from the
Cornucopia pack — was
likely dead near Richland,
Ore., about 40 miles east of
Baker City.
Troopers estimate the
1-year-old male wolf died
sometime March 12 or 13.
An agency spokesper-
son did not release the cause
of death, citing the ongo-
ing investigation. The Ore-
gon Wildlife Coalition is
offering an $11,500 reward
for information to help
OSP catch whoever may be
responsible.
“For us, this is definitely
very appalling and frus-
trating to watch,” said Sri-
sti Kamal, senior Northwest
representative for Defenders
of Wildlife, one of the coa-
lition’s member groups. “It
has serious implications for
wolf recovery in our state.”
It is the latest in a string
of wolf poaching cases that
have made headlines in the
area.
On Feb. 15, OSP said a
collared female wolf was
shot and killed near Cove,
about 15 miles east of La
Grande.
Another collared female
wolf from the Chesnimnus
pack was also shot Jan. 8
about six miles miles south-
east of Wallowa.
Between February and
March 2021, eight wolves
were poisoned near Mount
Harris in Union County,
including all five members of
the Catherine pack. Groups
and individuals are offer-
ing nearly $50,000 in reward
money for tips leading to an
arrest in that case.
Four wolves were ille-
gally killed in 2020, accord-
ing to the state Department
of Fish and Wildlife’s most
recent annual wolf report.
One incident resulted in no
charges after investigators
determined the shooter mis-
took the wolf for a coyote.
Most of Oregon’s 173
known wolves are concen-
trated in the northeast corner
of the state. ODFW removed
gray wolves from the state
endangered species list east
of highways 395, 78 and 95,
though the species is once
again federally protected in
Western Oregon following a
court ruling in February.
Kamal said human-
caused wolf mortality is “a
pervasive problem that needs
addressing in our state.”
In 2020, there were eight
wolves poisoned and another
eight that were killed legally
for habitually preying on
livestock, about 10% of the
known population at the end
of 2019.
Ranchers have long
argued they need lethal con-
trol of wolves to protect
their livestock from chronic
attacks. Last year, ODFW
confirmed 87 animals were
killed or injured by wolves,
including 51 cattle, 28 sheep,
six goats and two guard dogs.
That was more than double
the number in 2020.
To help combat poach-
ing statewide, the Ore-
gon Department of Justice
recently hired a special pros-
ecutor, Jay D. Hall, who will
focus exclusively on fish
and wildlife crimes.
BOISE PROJECT BOARD
OF CONTROL
UPDATED Start of 2022 Irrigation Season for
the Boise Project Board of Control
The Boise Project Board of Control serves nearly
167,000 acres. Starting on April 15 th , 2022, the
Project will activate over 460 canals and laterals in
Ada and Canyon Counties. Irrigation delivery service
to our patrons will begin no earlier than
April 22 nd , 2022, after the canals have risen to
allowable elevations and the water is ready to be
delivered. Southern Idaho is experiencing drought
conditions for the second year in a row. As a result,
the snowpack in the Boise River basin is substantially
lower-than-normal and reservoir elevations are also
lower than normal. Based on the current water
availability projections, the Boise Project Board
of Control has set the water allotment at this time
at 1.20 acre-feet of water per acre. This allotment
amount is subject to change due to unknown
variables in the weather, future precipitation, and
snowmelt runoff.
For more detailed information, please visit our
website at: www.boiseproject.net
This press release is to further serve as notice
to parents and children alike of the approaching
hazards of water
in the irrigation canals.
If you have any questions, please contact Bob Carter,
Project Manager, at (208) 344-1141.