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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2016 Fewer suppliers means Oregon Christmas trees may cost more Task force eyes tax hikes for fish, wildlife funding Associated Press SALEM — Christmas trees in Oregon may cost a bit more this year as the supply of holiday firs in the state has dropped. An oversupply of trees in 2015 led some growers to leave the market, meaning there are fewer trees to go around this year, which could push prices slightly up, The Salem States- man Journal reported. Tracy Fisher, a bookkeeper and office manager with Hupp Farms, located in the Silver- ton area, said the company has seen high sales and has turned down at least 50 inquiries for trees. “People are just scrambling for Christmas trees,” she said. Fisher said Hupp Farms is selling noble firs for around $5 per foot — with popular sizes ranging between 6 and 8 feet tall. She said those prices are slightly higher and more in line with 2005 levels. The farm has sold 22,000 trees so far. According to the United States Department of Agricul- ture, harvest and sales of trees dropped 26 percent in 2015 compared to 2010. USDA statistician Dave Losh said growers planted an overabun- By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau Danielle Peterson/Statesman-Journal Gerald Beard and fellow workers bale and sort Christmas trees last week, at Hupp Farms in the Silverton area. Christmas trees in Oregon may cost a bit more this year as the supply of holiday firs in the state has dropped. ‘People are just scrambling for Christmas trees.’ Tracy Fisher bookkeeper and office manager with Hupp Farms dance of trees compared to the demand for them and as sup- ply outpaced demand, prices fell and growers left. “Now it’s just a matter of who’s left,” he said. Pacific Northwest Christ- mas Tree Association Execu- tive Director Bryan Ostlund says while supplies have tight- ened, there is no shortage of Christmas trees in Oregon. “It’s what mother nature provides us here in the North- west,” he said, later adding, “It’s just a perfect natural growing environment for these conifers.” Wet weather heralds busy season for Oregon State University slug researcher Expert studying slug life cycle By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press It’s the rainy season in Oregon, which means there’s plenty of work for Oregon State University’s new slug expert, Rory McDonnell. With slugs emerging from their underground hiberna- tion, McDonnell has found that Oregon’s reputation as a haven for the slimy pests is well deserved. “The populations are very large,” he said. The number and size of slugs is greater in Oregon compared to McDonnell’s pre- vious post as a research spe- cialist at the University of California-Riverside. “Sometimes, in California, I felt like I was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole,” he said. McDonnell assumed his new position as an assis- tant professor at OSU in mid- July, but autumn is when his research began in earnest. During the dry season, he got his laboratory equipped and met with farmers afflicted by the prodigious mollusks. The wet weather has now allowed him to study the slug’s life cycle with the aim of developing efficient ways to eliminate the pests. Slug activity peaks in fall and spring, so McDonnell is out in the field, checking traps to see which species are most problematic in certain locations. European brown garden snails are the worst offenders in nurseries, while gray field slugs are the primary culprits in field crops, he said. Indeed, the gray slug is likely the most prominent slug pest worldwide due to its abil- ity to adapt to a variety of envi- ronments and food sources, McDonnell said. “It can be successful under a wide range of conditions,” he said. In March 2015, OSU orga- nized a “slug summit” in Salem, Ore., where growers complained that damage from slugs has intensified in recent years. That complaint prompted the university to seek addi- tional funding from Ore- gon lawmakers to hire a slug researcher. The Legislature Courtesy of Rory McDonnell Oregon State University assistant professor Rory McDonnell specializes in slugs. He’s currently help- ing Oregon farmers find ef- ficient ways to kill the slimy pests. provided an addition $14 mil- lion to OSU later that year, allowing the university to fill this slug position and several others. McDonnell is exploring strategies to fight the pests. For example, farmers could W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 November 1 st to December 15 th use extracts from food or slug pheromones to attract them to a certain area of a field that’s treated with a hefty dose of molluscicide. This approach may kill the slugs more effec- tively than spreading a lesser concentration of molluscicide across an entire field. McDonnell and other researchers have identified slug attractants that work in the laboratory, and they plan to see if the substance also works outdoors. “What happens in the lab isn’t necessarily what happens in the field,” he said. Another technique would involve parasitic nematodes that kill slugs, which are used for biocontrol in Europe. If such nematodes were found in Oregon, research- ers would have to prove to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that the parasites don’t affect native species. “We only want to use tools that are safe and specific to the pest species,” McDonnell said. SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS and earn a chance to win gifts! For more details visit: seasidedowntown.com Leinassar Dental Excellence Trusted, Caring and Affordable Dental Care K ind , ca ring, k now led geab le a nd professional sta ff. O ne of the b est hygienists I’ve ever ha d a nd there w ere m a ny from m oves all a cross the U nited Sta tes. Spa rk ly clea n office w ith a b ea u tifu l a tm osphere H ighly recom m end . SALEM — A task force convened to find ways to raise revenue for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wild- life Monday will recommend two tax increases to add $86 million to the department’s budget. The next challenge will be selling them to the Oregon Legislature. The agency, which has a biennial budget of about $370 million, is looking for more money for conservation pro- grams, maintenance and out- reach. It gets about a third of its revenue from hunting and fishing license fees, and the remainder from state and fed- eral sources. After evaluating dozens of options to raise revenue, the task force recommends an income tax surcharge and a surcharge on beverages at the wholesale level. Task force members acknowledged Monday that the roughly $86 million ask every biennium will be politi- cally challenging. Shortfall The state faces a $1.7 bil- lion shortfall going into the next biennium, according to the Governor’s Office. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is expected to release her bal- anced budget Thursday. The tax force’s recommen- dations will come in a legisla- tive session that will likely be characterized by attempts to both cut costs and raise funds across the board. Much of the discussion at Monday’s meeting revolved around gaining traction for the additional ask — both in terms of support from mem- bers of the legislature and from the state’s hunting, fish- ing, outdoor recreation and conservation communities. Many at Monday’s meet- ing pointed to the success of Measure 99 — which passed at the ballot box earlier this month to allocate state lottery funding for outdoor education — as an example of an initia- tive that leveraged the sup- port of those Oregonians who value outdoor recreation such as cycling or hiking, but don’t hunt or fish. A ST O R S T R E E T O PRY C O M PA N Y ’ S 21 A N N U A L ST Oregon State Rep. Ken Helm, a nonvoting member of the task force, advised the task force to meet with all mem- bers of the Legislature and to gain the support not only of conservation groups, but also of Oregon businesses. Task force members also met with Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene, and Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, last week. Barnhart is chairman of the House Interim Revenue Com- mittee, while Witt is chairman of the House Interim Com- mittee on Agriculture and Natural Resources. Reps. Barnhart and Witt discouraged emphasizing either tax, said task force members. According to task force members, Barnhart and Witt discouraged them from emphasizing either tax and instead were advised to “lead with” the mission of ODFW and what it plans to do with the additional money. Conservation That money, according to task force recommendations, is to be allocated toward addi- tional conservation activities, improved hunting and fishing opportunities, increasing out- reach and education efforts, and the cost of needed main- tenance to department infra- structure that has been put off in prior budget years. The largest chunk of the approximately $86 million target — about $46.7 million — would be dedicated to con- servation efforts. 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