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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2016
State opposes
deregulation of
biotech bentgrass
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Bureau
CORVALLIS — Oregon
farm regulators are object-
ing to the U.S. Department
of Agriculture’s proposed
deregulation of a genetically
engineered grass variety that
escaped ¿eld trials more than
a decade ago.
Last year, USDA reached
an agreement with Scotts
Miracle-Gro, which devel-
oped the glyphosate-resistant
biotech creeping bentgrass,
to lift federal regulations on
the crop as long as it’s not
commercialized.
Scotts would also con-
duct a 10-year management
plan to control the grass,
but some farmers have com-
plained that the proposal will
allow the company to even-
tually wash its hands of the
problem while leaving them
with spray costs and poten-
tial export barriers.
The Oregon Department
of Agriculture has come out
against the proposal, arguing
it’s inappropriate to deregu-
late the bentgrass while it’s
still infesting areas of central
and Eastern Oregon.
“We think it needs to be
eradicated before deregu-
lation,” said Lisa Hanson,
department’s deputy direc-
tor, during a meeting this
week of the Oregon Board of
Agriculture.
The state claims the bio-
tech bentgrass doesn’t meet
the federal requirements
for deregulation because it
“clearly falls into the cate-
gory of a plant pest and nox-
ious weed,” according to a
letter sent to USDA’s Animal
and Plant Health Inspection
Service.
“It is invading irrigation
canals and displacing native
species in riparian areas in
the affected Oregon coun-
ties,” the state’s letter said,
noting that the crop should
remain regulated until “a
means to eradicate this pest
becomes available.”
The state also recom-
mends that USDA convene
a task force to evaluate the
impacts of deregulation.
Biotech bentgrass is
of particular concern near
waterways because they can
allow the crop to spread to
new areas and potentially get
out of control, said Helmuth
Rogg, the state Department
of Agriculture’s plant pro-
gram director.
There are also limited
chemical methods for treat-
ing the bentgrass, he said.
Not only is it resistant to gly-
phosate, but other herbicides
often can’t be used in irriga-
tion canals without poten-
tially harming crops.
Canals can be treated
with herbicides before
they’re used to convey sum-
mer irrigation water, but that
time window poses another
challenge, Rogg said.
“The problem in early
spring is it’s not easy to iden-
tify,” Rogg said.
At that point, the variety
looks much like any other
grass, he said. The crop
is more distinctive in late
summer.
Scotts developed the
bentgrass for golf courses
and began testing it with
USDA’s consent in a “con-
trol area” in central Oregon
designated by the state, but
the cultivar escaped ¿eld tri-
als in 2003 and continues to
be found in Jefferson and
Malheur counties.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
The Harbor announces
new executive director
The Daily Astorian
The Harbor, Clatsop
County’s domestic vio-
lence and sexual assault
resource
agency,
has
announced that Melissa
Van Horn is the new exec-
utive director.
In February, she began
¿lling the vacancy created
by Julie Soderberg’s depar-
ture. The selection was
made after a regional search
and selection process.
Van Horn has spent
the last 20 years engaged
in community work and
service. She is a veteran
of the U.S. Navy, where
she served as an avia-
tion electrician’s mate/
plane captain and fueling
skids supervisor, supervis-
ing and training 32 naval
airmen.
Her
resume
also
includes over five years
of development, adminis-
tration, communications
and marketing experience
in the nonprofit sector and
social services.
Prior to the appointment as
executive director, Van Horn
has been connected with The
Harbor as an advocate, con-
sultant and board member.
“Domestic
violence,
sexual assault and stalking
are crimes that affect the
health of the entire com-
munity,” she said in a
statement. “As such, I look
forward to continuing to
serve and partner with
businesses, social service
agencies and townspeople
in this new capacity.
“As a survivor, I am
deeply dedicated to our
program because we aide in
the empowerment of survi-
vors. We at The Harbor play
a key role in working to end
violence in our world.”
Last September, Soder-
berg tried to temporarily
suspend programs at The
Harbor, complaining about
the commitment of the
board of directors.
Ag regulators may seek
power to ‘stop work’
State explores
re¿ned authority
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Bureau
CORVALLIS — Food
manufacturers and pesticide
applicators could be subject
to “stop work” orders under
new regulatory authority being
considered by Oregon’s farm
regulators.
The state Department of
Agriculture may seek new reg-
ulatory power to halt speci¿c
unlawful actions that endanger
public safety.
Currently, the depart-
ment can suspend or revoke
the license of a food estab-
lishment or pesticide appli-
cator that’s violating the
law, but such sanctions may
be overkill in some situa-
tions, said Lauren Hender-
son, the agency’s assistant
director.
“We don’t have anything
that’s speci¿c to an activity.
It’s all or nothing,” he said
during this week’s meeting of
the Oregon Board of Agricul-
ture in Corvallis.
Revoking a license or
obtaining a temporary restrain-
ing order in court also involves
fairly high legal hurdles, Hen-
derson said.
Taking such drastic steps
would be overly burdensome
for the agency and the busi-
ness in the case of minor vio-
lations, such as a faulty ther-
mometer in a refrigerated meat
cooler, he said.
Under the proposed “stop
work” authority, the Depart-
ment of Agriculture could sim-
ply require a company to cease
using that cooler until it’s
¿xed, he said.
“We’re looking at some-
thing very narrow and prob-
ably short-term,” Henderson
said.
The proposal is in a very
early stage but the agency is
considering it as a possible “leg-
islative concept” for the 2017
legislative session, he said.
Henderson acknowledged
the “stop work” idea has met
with some trepidation among
regulated companies.
“The industry as a whole is
pretty nervous about us having
that authority,” he said.
Aside from possibly affect-
ing pesticide applications, the
proposal could impact on-farm
processing, such as dairymen
who make farmstead cheese.
Doug Krahmer, a blueberry
farmer and board member,
said companies should have
a way to challenge a “stop
work” order.
“I would caution you to put
some sort of judicial mecha-
nism in there, so if a grower
or an owner takes issue with
a stop work order, there is a
quick way to get adjudica-
tion,” he said.
The U.S. Department of
Labor did not provide such
recourse when it issued “hot
goods” orders in 2012 that
halted the sale of perishable
fruit based on alleged labor
violations, he said.
Krahmer said he would char-
acterize the actions as “tyranni-
cal” and he doesn’t ever want
to describe the Department of
Agriculture that way.
Katy Coba, the depart-
ment’s director, said the
agency is still examining simi-
lar authority in other states and
recognizes the importance of
protecting due process while
ensuring public safety.
“It’s ¿nding in statute the
right balance,” she said.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
Coast Guard rescues surfer caught in ebb tide
The Daily Astorian
GRAYS HARBOR, Wash.
— The U.S. Coast Guard res-
cued a surfer caught in an ebb
tide near Grays Harbor’s north
jetty Wednesday.
The Coast Guard’s com-
mand center at Air Station
Astoria in Warrenton received
a report from Grays Harbor’s
911 dispatch of two surfers in
distress and issued an Urgent
Marine Information Broad-
cast seeking assistance from
nearby mariners.
A 47-foot motor lifeboat
from Station Grays Harbor
eventually reached the scene
and recovered a 29-year-old
male surfer wearing a drysuit
and using his board as a Àota-
tion device. He was then taken
to Station Grays Harbor but
declined further medical care.
The other surfer, a 46-year-
old male, had made it safely
to shore prior to the Coast
Guard’s arrival.
“The Coast Guard sup-
ports safe recreational use
of our beautiful coastline
and encourages safe prac-
tices similar to the surf-
ers that needed help today,”
Chief Petty Of¿cer Matthew
Degerolamo, the chief duty
of¿cer at the command cen-
ter, said in a statement. “The
surfers used the buddy sys-
tem, dressed appropriately
for the water temperature and
used a Àoatation device to
stay aÀoat.”
Migrating whales pass the Oregon Coast
Gray whales
make their
spring migration
By LYRA FONTAINE
EO Media Group
CANNON BEACH —
Locals and spring break visi-
tors had the opportunity to spot
gray whales swimming north,
part of the 6,000-mile round-trip
migration the mammals make
each year.
Ecola State Park was one
of the 24 designated sites for
the Spring Whale Watch Week
hosted by Oregon State Parks
and Recreation.
About 300 volunteers were
stationed along the coast last
week, helping state park visi-
tors identify and learn about the
expected 20,000 gray whales
heading to summer feeding
grounds in the Arctic’s Bering
and Chukchi seas.
Volunteers spotted 1,552
gray whales statewide, the state
reported.
Ecola
State
Park
whale-watching volunteers had
already spotted 14 whales on the
morning of March 22.
“It’s a good day to see them,”
said volunteer Carl Hosticka,
from Tualatin, using binoculars
to look for whale spouts. “The
sun illuminates the spouts so
they will be easier to see.”
Gray whales will keep swim-
ming past the coast until Octo-
ber or November, Oregon State
Parks and Recreation ranger
Lyra Fontaine/EO Media Group
Volunteer Carl Hosticka helps visitors scan for whales.
Luke Parsons said. Resident
gray whales that stay in the
central Oregon Coast area also
show up later in spring.
“These whales are the ¿rst-
wave migration, the males and
the immature females,” Parsons
said. “The majority of the moth-
ers and the calves start showing
up in late April and May.”
When it gets dark in the Arc-
tic around October, gray whales
head back south. Hosticka also
volunteered for the Winter Whale
Watch Week in December, when
gray whales can be seen travel-
ing from the Arctic to lagoons in
Baja California, Mexico, where
they mate and give birth.
Volunteers, trained with the
Whale Watching Spoken Here
program, taught visitors about
whale migration and feeding
habits.
Gray whales, which prefer to
eat organisms near the bottom
of the ocean such as small crus-
taceans, do not eat much while
migrating.
“There isn’t much for them
to eat along here,” Hosticka
said. “They bulk up and swim
day and night because they can
sleep with half their brain.”
How long does it take for
gray whales to migrate to the
Arctic? It depends on the whale.
“Some of them are in a hurry
and it will take them three or
four months, and for some it
takes even longer,” Parsons said.
“The mothers will travel quite a
bit slower with their little babies.
It’s nonstop for several months
just to get there. They’re dedi-
cated animals.”
The length of an average
female gray whale, 45 feet, was
displayed in the grass using mea-
suring tape. Females are usually
larger than males, and their milk
is rich, made up of more than 50
percent fat, Hosticka said.
Instead of teeth, gray whales
have rows of bristly plates called
baleens, which allow them to
¿lter the food and water they
scoop off the ocean Àoor with
their mouths.
On the journey north from
Baja California, the babies con-
tinue to nurse and begin learning
how to eat.
“The mothers are teaching them
tricks of the trade,” Parsons said.
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Dinner
Friday April 1 st
4 pm ‘til gone
$7 .00
6PM “Karaoke Dave”
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