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CapitalPress.com
Friday, June 17, 2022
Judge dismisses suit targeting sheep grazing in Washington
review is done, the environ-
mental groups have noth-
ing to challenge. He said he
didn’t have the authority to
order the Forest Service to
speed up the study.
The ruling was the sec-
ond recent court decision on
grazing on federal lands in
Washington that went against
WildEarth Guardians.
U.S.
District
Judge
Rosanna Malouf Peterson
last September dismissed
a suit claiming the Colville
National in northeast Wash-
ington failed to study how
cattle grazing by the Diamond
M Ranch aff ects wolves.
WildEarth
Guardians
and two other environmen-
tal groups are appealing that
decision to the 9th U.S. Cir-
cuit Court of Appeals.
Eff orts to obtain com-
ment from WildEarth on
Wednesday about Rice’s rul-
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
A federal judge has
ruled that sheep grazing
can continue in the Okano-
gan-Wenatchee National For-
est in north-central Wash-
ington while the U.S. Forest
Service studies the impact on
bighorn sheep.
U.S.
District
Judge
Thomas O. Rice in Spokane
dismissed a lawsuit by Wild-
Earth Guardians and Western
Watersheds Project claim-
ing virus-carrying domestic
sheep menace bighorn sheep.
The lawsuit sought to halt
grazing on four allotments by
S. Martinez Livestock until
the Forest Service did an
environmental review. The
Forest Service plans fi nishing
the review by May 2025.
In a written ruling Tues-
day, Rice said that until the
Nick Myatt/ODFW
A federal judge in Spokane on June 7 dismissed a lawsuit
claiming domestic sheep in the Okanogan-Wenatchee
National Forest pose a risk to bighorn sheep.
ing were unsuccessful.
Both suits claimed the
Forest Service violated the
National Forest Management
Act and National Environ-
mental Policy Act. Both suits
targeted ranches that have
grazed on federal allotments
for decades.
WildEarth failed to get
a preliminary injunction to
bar Martinez Livestock from
turning out sheep in 2021, but
continued to pursue a perma-
nent injunction.
Martinez
Livestock
has been grazing in the
Wenatchee National Forest
since the 1930s. The fam-
ily ranch couldn’t survive
if driven off federal lands,
according to Mark Martinez,
whose grandfather started the
operation.
The ranch argued that
there has never been a doc-
umented case of domes-
tic sheep on the allotments
infecting bighorn sheep.
Driving sheep from the
federal allotments would
move them onto state and
private lands that are closer
to bighorn sheep herds, the
ranch claimed.
According to the Forest
Service, experienced sheep-
herders help keep fl ocks and
bighorn herds apart.
The Okanagon-Wenatchee
National Forest plans to
update its plan for balancing
grazing and bighorn sheep
survival.
Forest Supervisor Kristin
Bail said in a court declara-
tion that the update has been
delayed by staff turnover.
Employees also were tied up
by the aftermath of destruc-
tive wildfi res, she said.
The environmental groups
complained the delay could
drag on, imperiling the Clean
Mountain and Umtanum
herds.
Rice ruled that federal law
lets the Forest Service sched-
ule environmental reviews on
its own time.
Rice inherited the case in
May from Judge Salvador
Mendoza Jr., who has been
nominated to the 9th Circuit.
A hearing had been set for
September, but Rice said he
could rule based on the writ-
ten arguments.
Environmental Protection Agency takes input on WOTUS rule
Waters Protection Rule.
The comment period on
that proposed rule closed
Feb. 7.
The Navigable Waters
Protection Rule reined in
the Obama administration’s
2015 WOTUS rule, which
greatly expanded federal
jurisdiction over bodies of
water — such as intermit-
tent streams.
One of 10 EPA roundta-
bles across the country, the
virtual event this week was
hosted by the Kansas Live-
stock Association.
The association sup-
ported the Navigable Waters
Protection Rule, particu-
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Cattle producers and con-
servationists shared their
perspectives on the imple-
mentation of a proposed rule
on “waters of the U.S.,” or
WOTUS, under the Clean
Water Act during an EPA
roundtable in Kansas last
week.
In the latest round of
WOTUS ping-pong vol-
leys, the Biden adminis-
tration published a pro-
posed rule to reinstate
the pre-2015 defi nition of
WOTUS, rescinding Pres-
ident Trump’s Navigable
Proud Sponsor of FFA
larly because it gave bright
lines for producers to decide
whether they need to talk to
EPA or a state agency, said.
Aaron Popelka, vice pres-
ident of the Kansas Live-
stock Association.
“And I think we have
some concern about how
broad things can grow…,”
he said.
Shawn Tiff any, presi-
dent-elect of the associa-
tion, said there is a miscon-
ception that confi ned animal
feeding operations don’t
care about the environment.
“But that couldn’t be fur-
ther from the truth. The fact
that my operation is large
only means that my stew-
ardship mindset impacts
more acres,” he said.
While he has a great rela-
tionship with EPA, staff at
the Kansas Department of
Health and Environment are
uniquely qualifi ed to moni-
tor environmental concerns
at the local level, he said.
“Environment through-
out the U.S. varies so widely
there is no practical way that
a federal agency can ade-
quately regulate the myriad
of environmental concerns
at a local level,” he said.
“Ultimately in my own
operation, more regulation
does not change our envi-
ronmental practices, but it
does add to the amount of
the administrative work we
have to submit in order to
report that we are staying in
compliance,” he said.
Dan Meyerhoff , exec-
utive director of Kansas
Association of Conserva-
tion Districts, said work-
ing in a voluntary fashion
with farmers and ranchers
is the most eff ective way
to address natural resource
concerns on private lands.
“If we increase regula-
tions and make things more
stringent, it’s going to hin-
der the voluntary conserva-
tion eff orts that I think are
very successful in here,” he
said.
Gary Mason, former
deputy secretary for envi-
ronment
with
Kansas
Department of Health and
Environment, said Kansas
does not regulate ephem-
eral streams but does have
the authority to regulate
discharges into ephemeral
streams.
Several years ago, the
agency assessed regulating
those streams and found it
would add 40,000 streams
to its inventory and increase
risk to the streams it does
regulate by fi ve-fold by
diverting resources, he said.
Paso Robles Chapter Serves Up Smoking Hot Service Project
By Jessica Mozo
National FFA Organization
Members of the Paso Robles FFA Chapter in Paso Robles, Calif., do barbecue big.
Paso Robles FFA members have been welding grills and barbecue pits since 2016, when a team of members
competed at a Las Vegas welding competition called Welding Thunder.
(541) 342-5464
5450 W. 11 th , Eugene, OR
S238153-1
“My student team built a double grill barbecue in 15 hours and won the high school division that year,” says
Justin Pickard, welding teacher and FFA advisor at Paso Robles High School. “To prepare for the competition, we
established Bearcat BBQ Company.”
Since 2016, Paso Robles FFA members have built a variety of barbecue pit styles ranging from small portable versions
to trailers valued at more than $10,000.
Due to their hybrid learning schedule during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, students did not have enough time to
plan and weld individual projects. As a solution, they worked as a team to collectively design, fabricate and produce
barbecue pits they could sell and then donate proceeds back to their community.
S225967-1
“The biggest challenge was the time constraint. We only had welding class for three hours a week and often used
our personal time to come in and work,” says Samantha Buie, a Paso Robles FFA member who co-led the project.
“We even had to continue the project through summer to meet our goals.”
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Supporter
of
CELEBRATING 31 YEARS
IN THE AGRICULTURAL
MACHINERY BUSINESS.
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In total, 28 students in four welding classes worked on the barbecue pits in a production manufacturing process.
Nyssa Tractor
“We made 16 barbecue pits: 15 were built by students, and one was my guide for them to follow along with,”
Pickard says. “The guide pit was donated to the local chapter of the American Cancer Society for their fundraiser
dinner in the fall of 2021.”
& Implement Co.
The other 15 barbecue pits were auctioned at the Industrial Education Auction. Paso Robles FFA raised more than
$32,000 to donate to the James W. Brabeck Youth Legacy Fund, which supports youth in agriculture. The proceeds
purchased animals for youth to exhibit and then sell at the local Junior Livestock Auction. Those animals were later
processed and donated as protein to the San Luis Obispo County Food Bank.
“The auction far exceeded our expectations,” Pickard says. “As the price for each barbecue kept going higher and
higher, there was such amazing energy in the arena. We were grateful to be able to make such a positive impact on
our community.”
Paso Robles FFA member Clayton Melendy, who co-led the project, says even if a goal seems unattainable at first,
hard work and persistence can make a difference in your community.
“At the beginning of this project, we estimated an outcome of about $5,000 to donate to the James W. Brabeck
Youth Legacy Fund,” Melendy says. “We were astounded by the support from our community. Our biggest lesson
from this project was that even though we have the ability to make projects to sell that profit ourselves, we found
much more value in using our skills to support our community.”
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Falls Hwy SE
Aumsville,
OR 97325
(503) 769-2205
S269586-1
(833) 372-4020
www.nyssatractor.com
sales@nyssatractor.com
Nyssa, OR
Spec
S261436-1
THE TRACTOR STORE
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Commercial • Health
615 Holly St., Junction City
541-998-2383
155 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg
541-995-6397
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503-873-6498
877-FOR-IOKA
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Silverton, Oregon
Paso Robles FFA Chapter members with some of the
barbecues they made.
Paso Robles FFA members welded barbecue pits to be
auctioned. All proceeds were donated to the James W.
Brabeck Youth Legacy Fund, which supports youth in
agriculture.
Proud
Supporter
of FFA
S280595-1