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CapitalPress.com
Editorials are written by or
approved by members of the
Capital Press Editorial Board.
Friday, August 12, 2022
All other commentary pieces are
the opinions of the authors but
not necessarily this newspaper.
Opinion
Editor & Publisher
Managing Editor
Joe Beach
Carl Sampson
opinions@capitalpress.com | CapitalPress.com/opinion
Our View
Forget the map, start developing a better
plan for managing public forests
T
he folks at the Oregon De-
partment of Forestry have
retracted their new multi-mil-
lion-dollar map identifying 80,000
privately owned parcels of land that
are at high risk of burning up during
a wildfire. The map was dropped in
the laps of landowners with little or
no consultation about what it may
mean in the way of higher insurance
rates and other impacts.
The map apparently skipped over
the fact that the primary threat to pri-
vately owned forests and other land
in Oregon is poorly managed pub-
licly owned forests. Some 64% of
forestland in Oregon is owned by the
state and federal governments. It’s
on them to make sure those areas are
managed in a way that minimizes the
threat of wildfire.
Many wildfires start on public for-
ests and grasslands, which have been
allowed to build up fuel over the
decades. When lightning strikes, or
a campfire gets out of control, these
tinder boxes take off. If wind is pres-
ent — and it often is — the fires are
driven onto private forests and other
properties, even farmland.
Oregon Department of Transportation
Aftermath of the 2020 Riverside Fire
near Estacada, Ore.
Poorly designed and maintained
power lines are particularly suscep-
tible to wind. When those lines slap
together, even more fires can be
started.
Even the best-managed private
property can be burned if the state
and federal government and the
power companies aren’t doing an
adequate job of maintaining their
land and facilities.
Ask the folks who were burned
out of house and home in the San-
tiam Canyon or the many other areas
that have been torched by wildfires in
recent years.
Most private land is well-man-
aged. It has to be, because the owners
depend on it for their livelihoods and
lifestyles. They care.
It’s the publicly owned land that
has been the problem for decades. It
was unmanaged, or poorly managed,
on the theory that it was in some way
sacrosanct and that logging was bad
and doing nothing was good.
Only now — after some of the
worst wildfire disasters in state his-
tory — are managers getting the mes-
sage they they have to step up and do
a better job.
Though “treating” and prescriptive
burning of forests is a start, an over-
all game plan that would plot defen-
sive areas and strategies that help
firefighters stop or control wildfires is
also desperately needed.
The state and federal governments
need to come up with another map
and identify the public forest land
most in need of thinning, treatment,
prescriptive burning, fire breaks or
logging and get to work.
And yes, they need to protect
those precious birds and other critters
listed under the Endangered Species
Act. But they also have to recognize
that leaving vast swaths of habitat
unmanaged and vulnerable to mas-
sive wildfires leaves those species in
Farm Workforce
Modernization Act will
help rein in inflation
Our View
T
Foster Farms
An aerial view of Hiday Poultry Farms LLC in Brownsville, Ore. It raises chickens for Foster Farms.
If farms pass regulatory
muster, let them operate
T
hree new, large-scale chicken farms have
been proposed in Oregon’s Mid-Willa-
mette Valley, and face opposition from
neighbors and environmental groups.
Members of the industry say the farms are
needed to make up for lost production as more
growers have retired in recent years, and to keep
up with Americans’ appetite for chicken.
However, the proposals have neighbors wor-
ried about potential impacts, including air and
water pollution, odor and increased traffic on the
rural roads.
We are sympathetic to the neighbors’ concerns.
We would have questions, too. But, under the cur-
rent regulatory scheme and Oregon’s right-to-
farm law, these farms seem to pass muster.
Traditionally, we have supported farms of all
shapes and sizes that meet their legal obligations.
We find the term “factory” farm to be pejo-
rative, but there’s no arguing that these facil-
ities look different than many other farming
operations.
J-S Ranch, for example, plans to build 11 barns
near Scio, each measuring 39,120 square feet. In
all, that’s just short of 10 acres under roof. Once at
capacity, the farm will raise six flocks a year, each
with up to 580,000 chickens for processor Foster
Farms. That’s 3.48 million birds a year.
These aren’t Grandpa’s chicken coops, but
they represent how commercial flocks are raised,
and have been raised for years in the Willamette
Valley.
The Northwest Chicken Council says there are
26 growers with 151 barns in the Willamette Val-
ley. Collectively, they raise more than 25 million
danger of incineration.
Ironically, some environmental
groups are also to blame for block-
ing or delaying treatment and log-
ging projects by running to court.
They believe they are doing the pro-
tected species and the forests a favor
by backseat driving forest and wild-
life management.
A word about climate change.
The Capital Press has been report-
ing on climate change for nearly
two decades. This is not something
that just happened when politicians
discovered it among their talking
points. It is happening and scien-
tists continue to study it to gain a bet-
ter understanding of it. It should also
be noted that the climate has always
changed, only the pace of change is
different.
Politicians at the state and federal
level seem to get hung up on long-
term solutions that will slow climate
change over decades or longer. In the
meantime, they have to deal with the
here and now of climate change by
better managing public forests and
grasslands to make sure they do not
burn — and take private property,
forests and grasslands with them.
chickens each year.
Modern technology and state-of-the-art ventila-
tion systems minimize impacts such as odor from
commercial poultry farms, while providing the
perfect environment for chickens. All of this pro-
duction seems to be taking place without any seri-
ous issues.
At least so far.
Farmers Against Foster Farms is leading a spir-
ited offense against the proposed chicken farms.
Its arguments are all about what could happen if
the farms are allowed to be built. The farms could
smell, could pollute nearby rivers, could exploit
groundwater rules, could create burdensome traf-
fic, could impact other farming operations.
Many farms come with their own smells,
sounds, dust and activity that can be bothersome
to neighbors. Oregon’s right-to-farm law pro-
tects normal and lawful farming practices on land
zoned for farming.
Owners of neighboring farms have recourse
under the same law if the chicken farms damage
their operations.
It’s up to Oregon regulators to ensure the farms
meet environmental and animal welfare con-
cerns before they are issued the necessary con-
fined animal feeding operation permit. J-S Ranch
has received that permit, and state agencies have
denied a request from opponents to reconsider.
Opponents say the rules surrounding these
types of farms need to be strengthened, and there
are politicians studying the issue.
In the meantime, if these farms clear the exist-
ing regulatory hurdles, they should be allowed to
operate.
he cost of gas and
groceries has gone
through the roof, and
it’s hardworking Americans
who are — quite literally
— paying the price. For-
tunately, I have legislation
that would tamp down the
runaway costs of food: the
Farm Workforce Modern-
ization Act.
A recent study conducted
by Texas A&M found
that H-2A reforms and an
increase of a legal work-
force would significantly
lower costs of meat, poultry,
eggs, dairy and produce, not
to mention lower inflation,
lower unemployment, and
higher average wages.
The Farm Workforce
Modernization Act, which
has now passed the House
twice and awaits consid-
eration by the Senate —
addresses labor shortages
and ensures we have a legal
and reliable workforce for
all of agriculture by stream-
lining the existing H-2A
program and establishing a
new employment- and mer-
it-based program to ensure
that not only are agriculture
workers in the United States
legally, but that they remain
law-abiding and continue
to contribute to our farms,
ranches, local communities
and economies.
We already know that by
ensuring a legal and reli-
able agricultural work-
force, we can secure our
food supply, strengthen our
national security, and avert
disaster. Now, we have the
data to prove that we will
also reduce food costs for
all Americans and raise
wages and reduce unem-
ployment for American
workers by creating val-
ue-added, upstream jobs for
Americans.
Americans are struggling
to make ends meet as the
cost of living continues to
rise. Meanwhile, agriculture
producers across the coun-
try are facing a labor short-
age crisis, and I don’t use
the word “crisis” lightly. As
a lifelong farmer, former
director of agriculture for
Washington state, and cur-
rent chairman of the Con-
gressional Western Cau-
cus, I understand the vested
interest we share in sup-
GUEST
VIEW
Rep. Dan
Newhouse
porting our agriculture pro-
ducers. And a lack of labor,
combined with the Biden
administration’s burden-
some regulations and infla-
tionary spending, is severely
impacting rural communities
and the millions of Ameri-
cans who rely on them for a
strong food supply chain.
Farmers are not strang-
ers to difficulty — we have
faced similar challenges
in the past, and yet we still
have stepped up to the plate
to feed our country and the
world. These challenges
remain and we will con-
tinue to face them — but
we cannot do it alone. We
need to implement policies
that boost domestic produc-
tion of energy and food, pro-
tect our vital resources, keep
food grown in the United
States, and keep the grocery
store shelves stocked. Enact-
ing policies that support our
domestic food supply chain
will ensure that the Amer-
ican people can pay lower
prices and face more cer-
tainty when they head to the
grocery store.
And that starts with the
Farm Workforce Moderniza-
tion Act.
Passing my legislation
means we can reform our
broken immigration laws
and ensure that those who
wish to pursue a legal path-
way or come to our country
to contribute to our agricul-
ture industry are able to do
so. It means we can protect
our communities, strengthen
our national security and
secure our southern border,
while recognizing the con-
tributions of immigrants and
bolstering our local econo-
mies, producers, and small
businesses. And it means we
can secure our food supply
and ensure American fami-
lies can afford the groceries
they need.
So, what are we wait-
ing for?
Dan Newhouse rep-
resents central Washington
in the U.S. House.