C8 The BulleTin • Sunday, June 6, 2021
Pilot project uses dogs to sniff out little cherry disease
BY SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
Capital Press
WENATCHEE, Wash. —
“Cherry!”
At the command, Aspen, an
Australian Shepherd, bounded
along a row of boxes, sniff-
ing each. Jan Flatten, the dog’s
owner-trainer, ran behind,
holding the leash.
Suddenly, Aspen stopped.
After smelling a box, she sat by
it and looked at Flatten.
“Yes! Good girl,” said Flatten.
She gave Aspen a treat.
Aspen had just sniffed out,
among a row of clean cherry
branches, the one piece of
wood infected with little cherry
disease, which researchers call
an “existential threat” to the in-
dustry.
Here at the Wenatchee Ken-
nel Club in central Washing-
ton, volunteers are working
with researchers, growers, de-
tectives and USDA experts to
train dogs sniff out little cherry
disease.
For decades, people have
trained dogs to detect explo-
sives, diseases, drugs and crim-
inals. The new frontier for
detection dogs, experts say, is
agriculture.
Little cherry disease, caused
by phytoplasma or one of two
viruses, prompts trees to pro-
duce cherries that are small,
pale and weak-flavored, mak-
ing them unmarketable.
Growers typically can’t de-
tect the disease until it’s too
late — when the only solution
is removing the infected tree to
prevent the disease’s spread.
In a draft survey by Oregon
State University and Washing-
ton State University, growers
across the two states reported
removing 974 acres of sweet
cherries due to the disease be-
tween 2015 to 2020, $115 mil-
lion in lost revenue and costs.
Because survey respondents
manage only 26% of acreage
across the region, experts es-
timate real losses are much
higher.
“It’s unbelievable the num-
ber of cherry orchards ripped
out. We’re at epidemic levels,”
Ashley Rodgers/Texas Tech University
The Wenatchee Kennel Club plans to bring in Nathan Hall, Texas Tech
University assistant professor of companion animal science, for some
third-party consulting, controlled trials and verification later this year.
said Teah Smith, agricultural
consultant and entomologist at
Zirkle Fruit Company.
Smith, along with Hannah
Walter, orchard project lead at
Stemilt Growers LLC, are pro-
viding the Wenatchee Kennel
Club with both clean and dis-
eased cherry tree samples for
trials.
The goal of this project is to
train dogs to differentiate be-
tween clean and diseased wood
and to detect the disease early,
when the trees are dormant or
in the nursery before planting.
“They’re doing really well so
far,” said Ines Hanrahan, exec-
utive director of the Washing-
ton Tree Fruit Research Com-
mission. “Everything looks
very promising.”
Lynda Pheasant, the pilot
project’s leader at the kennel
club, agreed.
“There’s no doubt now the
dogs know what they’re doing,”
she said.
Wenatchee Kennel Club is
a volunteer-run organization
founded in 1963. The club has
about 150 members and offers
33 weekly classes in tracking,
hunting, agility and scent work.
Six kennel club volunteers
and their dogs were chosen for
the pilot project. They come
from a range of professional
backgrounds, including the
U.S. Forest Service, Housing
Authority, USDA and CMI Or-
chards. Most are retired.
Their dogs represent a range
of breeds. For the dogs, detec-
tion “work” is really play.
The dogs recently completed
the first seven-week series
and are now into their second
course. The goal is to get the
dogs in orchards by the end of
2021.
For this project, the
Wenatchee Kennel Club has
sought support from out-
side experts, including Hallie
McMullen, an Idahoan who
started training detection dogs
for criminal justice work in
1995, and Nathan Hall of Texas
Tech University, who recently
won a $475,000 USDA grant
for his own detection dog re-
search.
The project’s leaders say they
envision a future where some
people will become dog entre-
preneurs, some farmers will
train their own dogs and vol-
unteers will offer community
service.
Sue Edick, a volunteer, said
she’s excited to serve the com-
munity with her dog, Cubby.
“It’s incredible what dogs can
do,” she said. “It’s thrilling to
witness.”
Vale officials see potential with short line railroad
BY PAT CALDWELL
Malheur Enterprise
VALE — When Vale Mayor
Tom Vialpando looks at the
rail lines that slice through
town, he sees opportunity.
“There is no reason Vale
can’t get a little bit of the share
of the rail and possibilities of
rail,” said Vialpando.
Vialpando said he wants to
leverage several pieces of prop-
erty near the rail line to spark
economic development.
The tracks are part of a short
line now owned by Jaguar, a
transportation and logistics
firm based in Joplin, Missouri.
Jaguar bought the short line
from The Western Group last
fall.
The short line used to run
to Burns, but that stretch was
abandoned in the early 1990s.
Now, the railroad operates
about 25 miles of track be-
tween Ontario and EP Miner-
als west of Vale.
Vialpando said he is dis-
cussing with Snake River Eco-
nomic Development Alliance
and Jaguar the potential for
property in Vale along the rail
line.
Vialpando said last week he
and Vale City Manager Todd
Fuller, along with Kit Kamo
and Kristen Nieskens from
the development alliance, and
Jaguar officials met in town
recently to consider develop-
ments.
Doug Story, vice president
of commercial development, is
an eager partner in those am-
bitions.
“We are extremely interested
in growing business along the
Pat Caldwell/Malheur Enterprise
Vale Mayor Tom Vialpando be-
lieves finding a way to link eco-
nomic development to rail ser-
vice will be key.
line and extremely interested in
working with the city of Vale,”
said Story.
Kamo said there are two
sites in Vale that could be used
for industry. Both are within
the city urban growth bound-
ary and have been identified by
the state as suitable to rezone
for industry from their current
designation for farming.
One property is a 117-acre
chunk of land owned by Farm-
ers Fresh Mushrooms, a Ca-
nadian company that once
planned to build a facility on
the site.
Those plans fell through in
2018 with no activity on the
land.
A second industrial site,
about 100 acres privately
owned, is west of town along
Graham Boulevard next to the
rail line.
Vialpando said there are also
a few small lots inside Vale that
could be used for industrial de-
velopment next to the rail line.
“There are two adjacent lots
next to the American Legion.
They are open and sit right
next to the rail and would be
ideal for, say, loading docks,”
said Vialpando.
The Farmers Fresh land is
prime for development be-
cause it is “very close to sewer
and water,” said Kamo.
The second piece of land on
Graham Boulevard is not as
close to city’s water and sewer
hookup so would be “a little
harder to develop,” said Kamo.
Both properties, though, are
“very desirable,” said Kamo.
“They have access to a major
highway and they also have rail
access,” said Kamo.
Kamo said her agency re-
ceives numerous inquiries
from companies that want rail
transportation.
“We are working with a cou-
ple of different projects that re-
quire rail. That is true on both
sides of the river. Most of those
projects want access to a short
line because it is easier to get
their product in and out,” said
Kamo.
Kamo said there are also
several businesses locally that
want to expand and use rail.
Vialpando said he is “open
to anything.”
Nieskens said the good news
is Jaguar is “very motivated” to
help economic development
along its line.
The biggest challenge, she
said, is finding the right fit for
the property.
“When you talk about work-
force and special needs of dif-
ferent projects, it is harder than
you think,” said Nieskens.
Vialpando is optimistic
about the city’s economic de-
velopment future, he said.
“Anything is possible.”