3C
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015
Monarch butterfly protections could restrict GMOs
Federal of¿cials
say threatened
status may be
warranted
AN ANALYSIS
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
EO Media Group
Federal regulators think mon-
arch butterflies may be a threat-
ened species, which could even-
tually provide biotechnology
critics with a new justification for
restricting genetically engineered
crops.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service recently said the butter-
fly may warrant listing under the
Endangered Species Act, finding
that environmental groups have
furnished “substantial” data that
indicates federal protection for the
insect may be necessary.
Environmentalists claim that
widespread adoption of “Round-
up Ready” biotech crops resistant
to glyphosate herbicides has in-
creased usage of these chemicals,
depleting the monarch’s milkweed
habitat and drastically reducing its
populations.
The Endangered Species Act is
a “very powerful” tool that envi-
ronmentalists hope to use against
glyphosate and, by proxy, herbi-
cide-tolerant biotech crops, said
Jay Vroom, executive director of
Croplife America, an agribusiness
group.
“It’s a real concern, without
a doubt,” he said. “To single out
the GE resistance and glyphosate
technology is suspect and does not
comport with scientific trends.”
The petition to list monarch
butterflies as threatened is a new
tactic in a broader campaign to
discourage the cultivation of ge-
netically modified organisms, said
Damien Schiff, an attorney spe-
cializing in property rights and
environmental law.
In the past, pesticide opponents
have successfully used the Endan-
gered Species Act to require the
federal government to increase its
scrutiny of various chemicals and
limit their uses, he said.
“This is an element of the same
general strategy,” Schiff said.
If environmentalists succeed in
obtaining a listing for the monarch
butterfly, it would implicate the
spraying of glyphosate and other
herbicides on biotech crops across
the large geographic area occu-
pied by the species, Schiff said.
Monarch butterflies in the Mid-
west — where they’re most popu-
lous — overwinter in mountainous
areas of Mexico, while those in the
West overwinter on the California
Coast.
“That raises the possibility of a
huge critical habitat designation,”
Schiff said.
Biotech critics were dealt a ma-
jor legal setback in 2013, when the
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
decided that the USDA lacked au-
thority to regulate genetically en-
Courtesy of Elizabeth A. Sellers, USGS
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently said the monarch butterfly
may warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act.
gineered crops that are not plant
pests.
That opinion undermined the
effectiveness of lawsuits chal-
lenging USDA’s environmental
analysis of transgenic crops. Such
cases had previously hindered the
commercialization of “Roundup
Ready” alfalfa and sugar beets.
Biotech critics have since shift-
ed their approach. Recent efforts,
for example, have focused on en-
couraging states and local govern-
ments to label or restrict geneti-
cally engineered crops.
Environmental groups say their
ESA listing petition is motivated
by a desire to halt the steep de-
cline in monarch populations rath-
er than an anti-biotech agenda.
Over the past two decades, the
number of monarchs has dropped
from roughly 1 billion to less
than 35 million, their petition
claims.
Even so, the environmental
groups believe the main hazard
facing the insect is the loss of
summer breeding habitat due to
GMO-related glyphosate appli-
cations, said Tierra Curry, senior
scientist with the Center for Bio-
logical Diversity, one of the peti-
tioners.
“We think one of the largest
threats right now is increased pes-
ticide use,” she said.
Defenders of pesticides and
biotechnology discount this ar-
gument, pointing out that farm-
Wintertime at Proxy Falls
By ZACH URNESS
Statesman Journal
MCKENZIE BRIDGE —
Take a hike on Proxy Falls
Trail during summer or au-
tumn, and there’s a good
chance you’ll have compa-
ny.
The two waterfalls on
this easy hike off McKenzie
Pass Highway are among
the most frequently photo-
graphed in Oregon and often
draw a crowd on weekends.
Come back in winter,
though, when the highway
is closed to vehicles and the
preferred mode of transpor-
tation is skis or snowshoes,
and it’s a far different expe-
rience.
The journey to Proxy
Falls is longer, colder and
sometimes requires a bit of
route-finding during winter.
But it’s also more re-
warding,
offering
the
chance to travel a high-
way that becomes a tunnel
through snowy forest and
experience Upper Proxy
Falls (126 feet) and Lower
Proxy Falls (226 feet) orna-
mented by icicles.
The route, which in-
cludes stretches of highway
and trail, is seven miles out
and back with 1,100 feet of
climb.
On the right day — after
a fresh dose of snow — a
winter trip to Proxy Falls
Trail is far better than any-
thing you’d experience in
summer.
AP Photo/Statesman-Journal, Zach Urness
Waiting for snow
One of my favorite activ-
ities during winter is a sport
known as “Winter Waterfall
Hunting.”
The idea is pretty simple:
Visit as many waterfalls as
possible covered with ice
and snow during the year’s
coldest months.
The spray of a winter
waterfall is so refreshing it
clears all the cobwebs from
your brain. It makes a fun
scavenger hunt when com-
bined with snowshoeing,
skiing or snowmobiling,
IF YOU GO ...
Proxy Falls in Winter
General location: East of McKenzie Bridge, southeast
of Santiam Junction
Elevation: 2,100 (trailhead) to 3,200 (waterfalls)
Information: McKenzie Bridge Ranger District,
Oakridge, (541) 822-3381
Activity: Snowshoe, cross country ski or hike
Distance: 7 miles out and back
Elevation climb: 1,100 feet
Route: 2.6 miles up closed McKenzie Pass Highway
242, 1.8 miles on Proxy Falls Trail, 2.6 miles back
down McKenzie Pass Highway.
Directions: From Eugene, follow Highway 126 east,
past McKenzie Bridge and Paradise Campground,
and turn right onto McKenzie Pass Highway 242.
Follow to the gate and park on the right.
(You can also take Highway 22 east of Salem and
head south on Highway 126 to the same place. The
route from Eugene is about 10 minutes quicker).
Trailhead coordinates: N44 10.062 W121 57.966
The journey
Ice covers part of the Upper Proxy Falls, located near McKenzie Bridge, about 60 miles
east of Eugene, Jan. 1.
AP Photo/Statesman-Journal, Zach Urness
Hikers make their way up Highway 242, which is closed during the winter, to the Proxy
Falls trail, near McKenzie Bridge.
and for photographers, it
creates unique scenes.
The problem last sea-
son and the beginning of
this year has been crum-
my snow conditions. Proxy
Falls — along with many of
Oregon’s great waterfalls —
sits at the 3,100- to 3,200-
foot range, which these past
few seasons has been too
low for consistent snow.
I planned winter trips
to Proxy Falls multiple
times last year, only to can-
cel them when the weath-
er brought rain instead of
snow.
And so, when a system of
mid-elevation snow finally
arrived at the end of Decem-
ber, I decided to spend New
Year’s Day fulfilling my
resolution to see Proxy Falls
encased by snow and ice on
the first day of the year.
ers have removed milkweed from
their fields prior to the advent of
biotechnology or glyphosate.
“We’ve been controlling milk-
weed a lot longer than Roundup
has been available,” said Vroom
of Croplife America.
The petitioners argue that un-
like older herbicides, glyphosate
kills the perennial plant’s roots
and prevents it from regenerating.
The chemical is also much more
prevalent now that major com-
modity crops can withstand it,
they say.
“We do see a very strong cor-
relation,” said Sarina Jepsen, en-
dangered species program director
for the Xerces Society, another pe-
titioner. “I just don’t think farmers
were (previously) as effectively
controlling milkweed.”
If the species is listed, a possi-
ble remedy could involve farmers
setting aside reserves free of bio-
tech crops resistant to glyphosate,
allowing milkweed to recover, she
said.
The USFWS is unlikely to take
drastic measures, said Curry. “I
don’t think the Service is going to
come out and tell people they can’t
grow Roundup Ready crops.”
Possible restrictions would also
not be immediate — the agency
probably won’t decide whether or
not to list the monarch until 2016,
and then require another year to
finalize the rules, she said.
The pesticide industry does not
believe a listing is justified and
plans to oppose the listing peti-
tion, said Vroom. “This is another
marathon journey.”
The trip to Proxy Falls
during winter is simple
enough.
From Highway 126 —
coming from either Santiam
Junction or Eugene — sim-
ply turn onto Highway 242
and follow it until you hit
the snow gate. There’s a
small parking area on the
side of the road.
The trick once you arrive
is deciding what equipment
to bring. The snow gate’s el-
evation is 2,100 feet, but the
waterfalls are at 3,200 feet,
which means you’re likely
to pick up a fair amount of
snow during the trip.
When snowpack is min-
imal and there’s a good
path, all you really need are
waterproof boots. In deep-
er snow — when there’s
significant coverage at the
gate — snowshoes or skis
are best.
“Many times the snow
line is not all the way down
to the gate, which makes it
more like a hike,” said Ty-
son Cross, winter recreation
programs manager with
Willamette National Forest.
My day started with
plenty of snow, so I tossed
on snowshoes right away
and kept them on the entire
time.
From the gate, the route
follows the highway for
2.6 miles before you arrive
at Proxy Falls Trailhead,
marked by signs and a re-
stroom.
The loop trail branches
off to both the left and right.
I headed left, the quickest
route to the waterfalls, and
started breaking trail among
forest and lava fields. The
trail isn’t marked by blue
diamonds, so if you’re the
first one out after a big
snow dump, as I was, stay-
ing on the correct route is a
challenge. I was also glad to
have snowshoes, since there
were many downed trees
that would have been a ma-
jor hassle in skis.
At the first junction (0.4
miles from the Proxy Trail-
head), stay left to visit Up-
per Proxy Falls, a 126-foot
cascade. Fed by a spring,
this waterfall doesn’t thun-
der but rather slides down
mossy tiers into a pool be-
low.
Back to the junction, I
headed right and reached a
viewpoint of Lower Proxy
Falls, a more dramatic 226
feet. It fans out in summer,
but was a thin string of sil-
ver covered in icicles on my
trip.
I made my way carefully
down to the base of the falls
— the creek had a mostly
frozen top — and snapped
some pictures, enjoying a
winter waterfall that eluded
me for over a year.
The cool spray, drifting
off icicles into a forest of
white was so refreshing that
it didn’t take long for my
brain to feel clean and cob-
web-free.
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January 29th, 2015
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