The Oregon Natural Resources Report - Agricultural News from Oregon

Blowing up four Snake River dams is a bad plan

Removing 4 Lower Snake River Dams Just a Bad Idea
Don Brunell, President Washington Business

There are dams that should come down and those that shouldn’t.

Demolishing the two dams on the Elwha River west of Port Angeles is a good thing and, hopefully the salmon and steelhead will return in record numbers. The dams were built in the early 1900s to bring electricity to the Olympic Peninsula at a time when salmon and steelhead were plentiful in other Pacific Northwest rivers.

OFIC has new President

By Oregonians For Food and Shelter,

Last week the Oregon Forest Industries Council (OFIC) announced their new President. According to a statement from Tom Holt, OFIC’s Board Chairman, “McNitt will begin work on June 15, 2012, and there will be a two week overlap with Ray Wilkeson working closely with her until the end of June…With Kristina we believe we have made an excellent choice to lead the organization into the future.”

McNitt grew up east of Salem in a timber family, and has a degree in economics from the University of Oregon. She is married to Stuart Olson, a Salem area farmer (and former OFS Board Member) who grows peaches, cherries, berries, apples, nectarines and holly.

Farmers use video to stop Oregon Death tax

YF&R Committee Vice Chair, Brenda Kirsch, gives a video reason on why Oregon’s estate tax (aka “death tax”) should be eliminated. Currently the End Oregon Death Tax petition campaign is gathering signatures to qualify for the 2012 ballot.

Walden & 15 lawmakers push PLIT payments in Senate

Walden leads group of lawmakers urging inclusion of county payments, PILT in final transportation bill
By Congressman Greg Walden

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) and 15 House Republicans have sent a letter urging a joint Senate-House panel to include county payments and PILT funding in a final transportation bill.The Senate version of the bill, S. 1813, includes a fully offset one-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (SRS) and PILT, which represent a lifeline to more than 700 rural federally forested communities and 9 million school children across the nation.

Sierra Club vs. Natural gas

Free Enterprise,
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Beating up on coal, America’s most-used source for electricity, wasn’t enough for the Sierra Club. They now declared war on natural gas. From National Journal:

“The Sierra Club is intensifying its natural-gas reform campaign and renaming it “Beyond Gas,” a spin-off of its decade-old “Beyond Coal” campaign seeking the phaseout of coal-fired power plants.“As we push to retire coal plants, we’re going to work to make sure we’re not simultaneously switching to natural-gas infrastructure,” Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune told National Journal in an interview on Wednesday.”

Survey: Consumer don’t want food labels for biotech

By National Association of Wheat Growers

A new survey of U.S. consumer perceptions of agricultural technology shows a strong majority would be willing to purchase foods made with wheat produced using biotechnology if the innovations delivered nutritional or environmental benefits. The survey was sponsored by the International Food Information Council (IFIC), which released the results Thursday.

Overall, most consumers surveyed indicated favorable or neutral impressions of plant biotechnology, with no one surveyed saying they are avoiding foods with biotech-derived ingredients.

Gas prices drop. Who do we thank?

The Video of the week comes from the Wall Street Journal which analyzes the reason behind sliding oil prices. The interview covers IRAN, the Market and OPEC.

Million dollar fish released

Lucky Oregon angler could hook a million dollar fish
BY Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife

There are now a million more good reasons to go fishing in Oregon this summer. That’s because one of three popular Oregon reservoirs could have a fish that’s worth a million bucks to the lucky angler who lands it.

Crane Prairie Reservoir in Deschutes County and Dexter and Blue River Reservoirs in Lane County have been selected as Oregon’s representatives in the “Wanna Go Fishing for Millions” contest sponsored by Cabela’s, the Outdoor Channel and fish and wildlife agencies from 19 states.

14 Farm Bureau groups sue to stop EPA

AFBF Intervenes in Mississippi River Basin Case
American Farm Bureau Federation 

The American Farm Bureau Federation Tuesday, along with 14 state Farm Bureau organizations and 16 other national and regional agricultural organizations, filed a motion seeking to intervene in Gulf Restoration Network, et al. v. Jackson, et al., a lawsuit seeking to force the Environmental Protection Agency to establish federal numeric nutrient water quality standards for all states in the Mississippi River Basin. The resolution of the lawsuit could be significant for farmers, municipalities and others throughout the 31-state basin because numeric nutrient standards could lead to more costly and stringent limits on nutrient runoff to waters that ultimately contribute to the Mississippi River.

Wyden maes case for helping Oregon Ag products sales and exports

By Oregon U.S. Senator Ron Wyden

Looking to increase jobs and economic development in Oregon, Senator Ron Wyden said that negotiations to open up Asian-Pacific markets and Congress’ consideration of a new Farm Bill offer opportunities to increase the domestic sale and international export of Oregon agricultural products.

“My guiding principle in improving the Oregon economy is that we grow things here, add value to them and ship them somewhere, and nothing says that more than selling more Oregon fruits, vegetables and other high-value products at home and aboard,” Wyden said. “Fortunately, we are at a point – domestically and internationally – where we can do something about both.”

Congress is beginning consideration of a Farm Bill that will guide U.S. agriculture policy for the next five years. At the same time, international free trade negotiations are underway between the U.S. and eight Asia-Pacific nations with the goal of tearing down trade barriers and opening doors to new markets.

All eyes on Kitzhaber’s choice for Environmental vacancy

Major Environmental and Economic Decision
by: John Ledger
Associated Oregon Industries

Governor’s Choice – and Senate’s Action – will Affect Oregon Competitiveness for Decades.   An upcoming appointment by the Governor and subsequent approval by the State Senate will have a huge impact on manufacturing, agriculture, and the economy of the state for decades. The appointment is to a soon to be open seat on the Environmental Quality Commission (EQC). This body has evolved into one of the most powerful in state government. It is made up of five members, all appointed by the Governor, all subject to confirmation by the State Senate.

OSU grant to study impact of Farm Bill

By JunJie Wu
By University of Oregon Extension Office

Increasing government scrutiny of farm support programs has prompted the creation of a new research center at Oregon State University.

The Partnership for Agricultural and Resource Policy Research, established through a $910,216 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is a collaboration among economists at OSU and University of California, Davis. It will assess the impacts of the Farm Bill on agricultural economies, rural communities, the environment, and consumer access to healthy, affordable food and nutrition.

NW firm eyes mining asteroids

By Oregon Small Business Association

Seattle’s entrepreneurs have a bright new idea: mine asteroids for the valuable rare earth minerals they contain. The project has some heavyweights on board. Founders Eric Anderson and Peter Diamandis came up with the idea of selling space flights for private individuals, and their new venture has Google CEO Larry Page and James Cameron of Avatar and Titanic on board with them.

NASA, meanwhile, is spending over a billion dollars to bring back two ounces of an asteroid to earth. With that kind of money being spent on space mining, some scientists question whether Anderson and Diamandis’ project can possibly be cost-effective, even with platinum and gold at $1600/oz. Such questions don’t worry the two, reports the AP. “Before we started launching people into space as private citizens, people thought that was a pie-in-the-sky idea,” Anderson said. “We’re in this for decades. But it’s not a charity. And we’ll make money from the beginning.”

Kashi is latest food to go anti-biotechnology

By Cathryn, Corn Commentary
National Corn Growers Association

Kashi, in a move almost certainly based on a desire to drive profits and not a strong-held belief, joined the legions of companies currently making very public, splashy moves toward non-GMO ingredients. Openly disclosing this action seeks to meet the “ever-evolving needs of our consumers,” the company showed its willingness to kowtow to the rantings of food elitists.

Tellingly, the press release issued by Kashi comes quickly on the heels of an agenda-driven campaign to “out” the health food maker’s use of foods produced with biotechnology. The declaration of the cowardly cereal creator’s about-face on biotechnology use fails to site new science, or any damaging information on biotechnology, that would explain the rapid move away from ingredients that have been used by the company since its inception more than two decades ago.

Wolf kills four sheep in Umatilla

By Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife

A May 2 investigation by ODFW confirmed that four penned sheep (two ewes, two lambs) were killed by a wolf on private land east of Weston, Ore. in northern Umatilla County.

One additional lamb is missing and believed to have been killed by the wolf.

The incident occurred in an area not known to be frequented by one of Oregon’s known wolf packs (Imnaha, Wenaha, Walla Walla, Snake River) but by two wolves discovered last August in the northern Mt Emily wildlife management unit. Based on evidence at the scene, wildlife biologists believe a single wolf was involved in the depredation.

Governor seeks to streamlien ag rules

By Oregon Farm Bureau

All of us get frustrated with regulations and permitting processes that create extra cost and time for businesses and economic developers without a clear indication of the added environmental and social benefits being gained. There is an advisory committee to the Governor on regulatory streamlining and simplification. The Advisory Committee includes several business leaders and business association representatives. The goal of the group is to create a roadmap for more efficient and streamlined regulatory and permitting processes in Oregon.

Unsold homes at 5 year low

Timber Industry Report
By Rick Sohn,
Umpqua Coquille LLC

Spring prices are holding in studs, and unsold home inventory is the lowest in 5 years. Four-year trends of lumber, logs, housing, and mortgage statistics are shown below.

Information and interpretation.

The best news this month is the unsold home inventory, dropping below 6 months in Portland, for the first time since 2007, and it dropped to 5 months!

Bill stops EPA from mis-using Clean Water Act

House Bill Introduced to Stop EPA Manipulation of Clean Water Act
by National Cattlemen’s Beef Association,

U.S. Congressmen John Mica (R-Fla.), Nick Rahall (D-W.V.), Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio)  introduced legislation (H.R. 4965), which is strongly supported by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Public Lands Council (PLC). The bill would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) from using their clean water guidance to expand the regulatory regime under the Clean Water Act (CWA). NCBA President J.D. Alexander said the legislation would stop EPA’s intentional avoidance of the rulemaking process and Congress.

Ag advocate Denny Jones passes at age 101

Denny Jones passes at age 101
By Oregonians for Food and Shelter

(photo) Paulette Pyle and Denny Jones at Jones’ 100th birthday celebration in September of 2010

Former Oregon State Representative, Denny Jones passed away recently. It was our pleasure to have known him and worked with him for many years. In May of last year, Jones was honored for his service to Oregon at a celebration at the Oregon State Capitol. OFS is proud that we were a part of the planning of that memorable day attended by many of Denny’s friends, former colleagues, legislators and lobbyists.