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Ag opponents plan attacks
on water, climate issues
U.S. House passes bill that prevents a
Malheur County national monument
By Sean Ellis
EO Media Group
Ore.
BAKER
26
Proposed national Ontario
conservation area
Nyssa
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78
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden,
R-Oregon
Jordan
Valley
Burns
Junction
Idaho
Ore.
An Interior Department
funding bill passed by the
U.S. House of Representa-
tives includes a provision that
blocks a proposed national
monument in Malheur Coun-
ty that is strongly opposed by
local ranchers and farmers.
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Senate.
It includes a proposal by
Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon,
that prevents funds from being
used to create a national mon-
ument in Malheur County.
Oregon Natural Desert
Association, a Bend-based
environmental group, has
proposed creating a nation-
al monument on 2.5 million
acres in an area of the county
known as the Owyhee Can-
yonlands.
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of the county and encompass
about 33 percent of the coun-
ty’s total grazing land. County
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idea during a special election
in March.
Ore.
Idaho
Area in
detail
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Ore. McDermitt
Nev.
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20 miles
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Walden said in a news
release that the House vote
sends “a strong message to
the president that the over-
whelming majority of local
residents and the People’s
House oppose a monument.”
“The people of Malheur
County have already spoken
on this issue and they’ve come
out adamantly opposed to a
proposed unilateral nation-
al monument declaration on
the Owyhee River canyon,”
Walden said. “Now the U.S.
House has also voted on my
proposal to block a monument
in Malheur County.”
Walden’s communication
director, Andrew Malcolm,
said Walden will do everything
he can to stop the proposal.
“We’re going to continue to
speak out against it and use ev-
ery tool available to try to stop
this monument,” he said.
The vote was applauded by
Jordan Valley rancher Mark
Mackenzie, vice president
of the Owyhee Basin Stew-
ardship Coalition, which was
formed this year to represent
ranchers, farmers and others
who oppose a national monu-
ment designation.
By John O’Connell
Regardless of what hap-
pens to the bill in the Senate,
“it’s sending a loud message
... that, hey, we’re not happy
with this proposal,” Macken-
zie said.
He said if a monument is
created, a completely new
set of rules would have to be
drawn up for it and that un-
known is concerning to ranch-
ers.
“It’s very, very upsetting
for the industry because we
don’t know what we’re going
to get,” he said.
Malheur County is Ore-
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lion in farm-gate receipts an-
nually.
Livestock sales yards in
Idaho and Oregon recently
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to support its campaign to op-
pose a national monument.
Producers Livestock Mar-
keting Association donated
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auctions in June in Vale, and
Treasure Valley Livestock do-
nated $5,700.
Opponents of the national
monument proposal worry
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county’s land designated as
a national monument would
restrict grazing and access to
these lands and harm the local
economy.
The national monument
proposal “is a huge concern
over here,” said Paul Skeen,
president of the Malheur
County Onion Growers Asso-
ciation. “That’s why we voted
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EO Media Group
Future attacks on conven-
tional agriculture will focus
on water and climate, an ana-
lyst who tracks activist groups
predicts.
Jay Byrne, president and
CEO of the intelligence-gath-
ering agency v-Fluence Inter-
active, told the National Pota-
to Council’s summer meeting
that agriculture’s opponents
are working together more
closely than ever and spend-
ing large sums to convey their
messages.
Byrne said their campaigns
are beginning to shift from la-
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organisms to water quality
concerns — especially algae
blooms and “dead zones” in
water bodies.
“This is the most intense
advocacy period we’ve seen
in over 20 years of tracking,”
Byrne said. “Today in the
U.S. it’s GMO labeling. Very
quickly, that’s going to turn
around and be issues associat-
ed with water, and it’s going
to affect every aspect of con-
ventional production.”
Byrne said a “trial bal-
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alleges farming is creating
downstream environmental
challenges, and opponents are
already lining up litigants for
future cases.
Byrne estimates the groups
tracked by v-Fluence have in-
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North America spent $2.5
Jay Byrne
billion campaigning against
GMOs and conventional agri-
culture, v-Fluence estimated.
Globally, advocacy groups
targeting agriculture are likely
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this year, he said.
Charlie Cray, research spe-
cialist with Greenpeace USA,
agrees water and climate will
undoubtedly be key issues
heading into the future. He
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estimates, however.
“I don’t think the entire
environmental
movement
has that much money,” Cray
said. “I would love to see him
break (his estimates) down.”
Supported by “black mar-
keters” seeking to increase
organic sales by discrediting
conventional
competitors,
Byrne said opponents have
relied on a relentless “ghost
army” of baseless research
claims published in “pay-to-
play” journals.
Cray agrees the organic
sector supports campaigns to
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production system relative to
conventional agriculture, but
he disagrees that they’re be-
ing covert.
Biochar conference explores its use in forestry, agriculture
By Eric Mortenson
EO Media Group
Every other Monday in John Day at
Blue Mountain Hospital
170 Ford Rd. • 541-575-1311
The status and future of
biochar is the subject of a
four-day conference in Au-
gust.
The conference, titled
“The Synergy of Science and
Fair Update
The Fair Guide has the incorrect
divisions listed in the Fair
Premiums. The correct divisions
are listed below.
W E APOLOGIZE FOR
ANY INCONVENIENCE
THIS MAY HAVE CAUSED .
DIVISIONS ARE THE SAME
IN ALL DEPARTMENTS
UNLESS OTHERWISE
NOTED.
DIVISIONS:
1 PROFESSIONAL
(sell or get paid for services)
2 SENIOR (OVER 62)
3 ADULT (OVER 18)
4 YOUTH SENIOR (14-17)
5 INTERMEDIATE (9-13)
6 JUNIOR (0-8)
Division 1 will receive
ribbon only.
Industry: Biochar’s Connec-
tion to Ecology, Soil, Food
and Energy,” happens Aug.
22-25 at Oregon State Univer-
sity in Corvallis. Registration
costs $375 for the full confer-
ence; $250 for students and
QRQSUR¿WV IRU RQHGD\
attendance.
Biochar is essentially char-
coal produced by a pyrolysis
process of heating biomass in
a low-oxygen environment.
The biomass fuel can in-
clude such things as logging
VODVK RU ¿HOG VWUDZ ZKLFK LV
why it draws interest from the
timber and ag industries.
Researchers and industry
advocates say biochar has
multiple uses in agriculture
and forestry. It can provide a
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reducing acidity, retaining
moisture and storing carbon.
Conference Chair Tom Miles,
founder of T.R. Miles Techni-
cal Consultants Inc., in Port-
land, said it’s already used by
vineyards in drought-stricken
California.
In Japan, biochar devel-
ops the strong root systems
needed to transplant rice.
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Commercial cannabis grow-
ers favor biochar for the same
reason, Miles said.
In Eastern Oregon, OSU
dryland cropping agronomist
Stephen Machado is in the
third year of researching bio-
char’s use on Columbia Basin
wheat and pea crops.
One application of biochar
continues to produce a “nice
response” in test plots, Mach-
ado said.
Wheat yields increased 20
to 33 percent and pea yields
increased at a similar rate,
Machado said. Soil pH also
improved.
“I’m a true believer,”
Machado said.
He cautioned that not all
biochar products are the same,
however. The chemistry of
the biomass material used to
make biochar and the chemis-
try of the soil on which it will
be applied must be consid-
ered, he said.
Miles, the conference
chair, said biochar increasing-
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stormwater or to capture pol-
lutants, and has been shown
to remove phosphorous from
dairy manure.
Research is progressing
on multiple fronts, and en-
trepreneurs are jumping into
biochar production. The Cor-
vallis conference is intended
for farmers, foresters, policy
makers, biochar producers
and other industry profession-
als and entrepreneurs.
For more conference in-
formation, including schedule
and registration details, visit
KWWSXVELRUJ $GGL
tional information is available
through the Northwest Bio-
char Working Group: http://
nwbiochar.org.
Our Services by a registered nurse include:
• Pedi-Spa treatment for your feet
• Particular attention to Diabetic Foot
• Multifunctional massage chair
• Skin Inspection • Callus Removal • Nail Cutting
We also check your blood pressure, blood sugar level and oxygen saturation.
Call
541- 575-1648
for an appointment
$35 00 fee
Blue Mountain Hospital
FOOT CLINIC
www.bluemountainhospital.org
Services available at the
Home Health Office,
422 W. Main, John Day.