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NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Friday, November 30, 2018 Supplies remain tight for Oregon Christmas trees While the USDA did not conduct a survey for Christ- mas trees in 2018, Landgren said Oregon growers will likely ship around 5.2 mil- lion trees to retailers nation- wide — or about the same as 2017. Past years’ harvests had been as high as 7 mil- lion to 9 million trees, he said. It could take another six to 10 years for supply and demand to balance, Land- gren added, based on the time it takes to grow popu- lar species such as Douglas fir and Noble fir from seed- ling to holiday height. “It takes a long time to go through the cycle of a Christmas tree,” he said. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, consumers reported spend- ing an average of $75 per tree in 2017. Gary Snyder, president of the Kirk Co., a large tree grower with offices in Oregon City, said prices have risen 10-15 per- By GEORGE PLAVEN EO Media Group A lingering shortage from Oregon growers means Americans will once again pay more for Christmas trees this holiday season. Chal Landgren, a Christ- mas tree specialist at Ore- gon State University, said tight supplies are the result of overproduction during the late 2000s that deflated prices and forced roughly one-third of farms to drop out of the business. Oregon is still the top producer of Christmas trees in the U.S., though Land- gren said there are about 400 fewer growers now compared to just three years ago, turning what was a glut of cheap trees into a deficit. “It’s this sort of boom and bust (cycle) of agri- culture,” Landgren said. “When people weren’t mak- ing any money, they just got out of the business.” Kelly Lyon/The Register-Guard via AP Christmas trees get bailed on Thursday in Cheshire, and will be shipped to Idaho. cent each year for the last three or four years. Snyder said prices will be up a little bit again this year, but there should still be plenty of trees available. “I don’t think there should be any issue with people finding a real tree,” Snyder said. Bob Schaefer, general manager of Noble Mountain Tree Farm in Salem, said quality this year is “excep- tional,” despite a record-set- ting drought and heat over the summer. Dry condi- tions actual helped produc- tion during harvest, Schae- fer said, while timely rains in October provided some much-needed relief. “The only thing that really impacted us was the hot, dry summer, but that didn’t impact our crop trees. It impacted our seedlings,” Schaefer said. The weather-related impacts to seedlings is a con- cern for Landgren at OSU, since most of the region’s Christmas trees are grown without irrigation. Anecdot- ally, some farms reported up to 70 percent seedling mor- tality this summer, Land- gren said, which is much higher than the average of 10-15 percent. Landgren said the uni- versity is experimenting with ways to reduce seed- ling mortality, such as shad- ing and chemical sprays to reduce water transpiration. If young trees continue to die at a rapid rate, he said it could result in another shortage five years down the road. “Trying to get these trees to survive has been a bit of a challenge,” Landgren said. McKenzie “Ken” Cook, of McKenzie Farms based in Estacada, said the indus- try has dealt with a long, hard struggle to rebound from this latest shortage. He said the number of trees grown in Oregon has fallen from 90 million to fewer than 40 million. His company, which grows around 8 million trees in the Willamette Val- ley, faced nearly closing, with Cook having to go out of pocket to stay afloat, he said. Fortunately, he said the business was able to survive and is working to stabilize supply and demand. Once that happens, Cook said he believes farmers are growing smarter now in order to avoid a similar sit- uation in the future. “I don’t see them jump- ing back in this category as a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” Cook said. “After four miserable cycles over a 40-year period, I don’t think this will be repeated again.” Brown’s budget gears up for more fights with Trump tration for two years. This week, it moved to arm itself for more fights. Gov. Kate Brown carved out $2 million in her proposed 2019- 21 budget for suing the By AUBREY WIEBER Capital Bureau SALEM — Oregon’s government has been at legal war with President Don- ald Trump and his adminis- Trump administration. Whether it’s over a travel ban, attempted repeal of the Affordable Care Act or sanctuary policies, Brown and Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum have repeat- Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY Mostly cloudy with a shower A rain or snow shower in spots Mostly cloudy and chilly Partly sunny and chilly Chilly with clouds and sun 48° 33° 42° 32° PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 40° 26° 40° 25° 37° 21° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 51° 32° 44° 32° 44° 29° 42° 27° OREGON FORECAST 40° 24° ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 49/38 40/31 48/28 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 47/35 Lewiston 50/39 52/34 Astoria 52/39 Pullman Yakima 47/33 49/35 42/32 Portland Hermiston 51/39 The Dalles 51/32 Salem Corvallis 50/37 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 42/27 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 50/39 43/28 41/29 Ontario 47/29 Caldwell Burns 47° 35° 44° 30° 67° (1973) 8° (1985) 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 50/40 0.06" 0.35" 1.15" 6.80" 8.76" 8.43" WINDS (in mph) 46/30 39/20 0.05" 0.55" 1.42" 8.70" 15.26" 11.41" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 39/25 51/40 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON Enterprise 48/33 48/32 48° 33° 43° 29° 72° (1892) -13° (1896) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 50/33 Aberdeen 39/31 44/32 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 50/39 Today Boardman Pendleton Medford 49/35 Sat. WSW 6-12 WSW 7-14 NNW 4-8 WNW 4-8 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 41/27 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today edly argued that the federal government has become an affront to Oregon values. Since Trump’s elec- tion, Oregon has partic- ipated as a plaintiff with other states in 14 lawsuits against his administration. As of June, the state has incurred $185,000 in costs even though state Justice Department attorneys under Rosenblum’s direction have been handling the work. “I want to personally thank Governor Brown,” Rosenblum told the Capi- tal Bureau in an email. “The additional funding in her budget will help us continue to protect our environment and defend existing health care, civil and consumer rights as well as our immi- gration laws.” Among the lawsuits Oregon joined were mul- tiple versions challenging Trump’s ban on people from several Muslim-majority countries to come into the United States. The lawsuits were effective in halting the travel ban several times, though the U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled that most of the ban was legal. Oregon also sued to stop the federal government from attempting to withhold funds due to its sanctuary state law. Oregon has had a sanctuary law since 1987, and voters recently reaf- firmed it. Oregon has also joined 7:14 a.m. 4:13 p.m. none 1:17 p.m. New First Full Last Dec 6 Dec 15 Dec 22 Dec 29 lawsuits challenging the U.S. Census Bureau’s deci- sion to ask about citizenship and Trump’s effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Brown has repeatedly talked about defending the state from the federal admin- istration and has labeled the money proposed for current and future lawsuits as the “Oregon Defense Fund.” “The federal government is receding from its role as a strong partner in navigating this moment,” Brown told reporters Wednesday. Funding the lawsuits over the past two years has been difficult, said Misha Isaak, one of Brown’s policy advi- sors. The Justice Department is largely funded by fees charged to other state agen- cies for legal services, much as a law firm would bill its clients. The agency had to cobble together resources to join the lawsuits, Isaak said. Rosenblum requested the $2 million purse for continu- ing the legal fights. “I think as we move through the biennium, if that proves to be insuffi- cient we probably would support an ask to the emer- gency board,” Isaak said. Isaak said the state could partner with attorneys work- ing as volunteers or retain outside lawyers who spe- cialize in such lawsuits. Isaak said the $2 mil- lion will fund pending law- suits and allow the Jus- tice Department to respond to new actions by Trump. Isaak said Brown is specif- ically worried about Trump shrinking the Cascade-Sis- kiyou National Monument, reducing funding for repro- ductive health services and rolling back protection for discrimination against trans- gender people. “I cannot predict what the administration in the White House is going to do,” Brown said. “What I know is what I will do. And that is, I will continue to fight for and protect Oregonians and Oregon values.” Brown has also taken to combating Trump on other fronts. In her budget, she asks for $2 million to pro- vide legal services for immi- grants facing federal depor- tation proceedings. “They may not be able to provide soup-to-nuts rep- resentation of everyone in removal proceedings, but at least they would make sure that everybody would have some access to communi- cating with a lawyer,” Isaak said. Brown said that Oregon has “been a place that is considered to be welcoming and inclusive to all who call Oregon home. And I want to make sure that our immi- grant and refugee communi- ties feel safe and welcomed in the great state of Oregon.” McKay Creek Estates NATIONAL EXTREMES FREE Cognitive Screening Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 84° in Llano, Texas Low 5° in Stanley, Idaho NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Is Mom a little more forgetful lately? There are many early warning signs of a potential memory disorder, such as Alzheimer’s disease. That’s why we’re offering a FREE and CONFIDENTIAL cognitive screening. We encourage anyone who is concerned about cognitive decline to take this short, in-person screening. The screening is administered by a qualified health care professional. To schedule your cognitive screening today, please call (541) 704-7146. Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s ice 50s cold front — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 211 S.E. 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