The Oregon Natural Resources Report - Agricultural News from Oregon

From The Cultivator,  Oregon Women for Agriculture.

Virginia Kutsch is so deserving of AAW’s LEAVEN award. She was born to a farm family in Iowa. Virginia moved to Oregon as a small child in the early 30’s and settled in Shedd. She grew up working in agriculture and worked for the Thompson Flour Mill after high school, before marrying Mike Kutsch.

By Water for Life,

The Oregon Groundwater Act was adopted in 1955 for the purpose of establishing a uniform system of administering groundwater rights in the State of Oregon. Modeled upon the 1909 Water Rights Act, which applied only to surface water, the Groundwater Act recognized water rights established prior to 1955 as vested rights subject to future adjudication and provided that groundwater rights would be administered in accordance with the doctrine of prior appropriation.

By Sean M. Smith,
Vice President Starfire Lumber Co.

Democrat presidential hopeful and, come very lately, self-anointed champion of rural values Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to spend an unusual amount of time in Oregon in the lead-up to our May primary. For the first time in memory, Oregon is a factor in determining which Democrat candidate ends up in the general election. This has forced Hillary and her staff to pay an unprecedented amount of attention to Oregon and the Northwest. She has challenged Sen. Barack Obama to no less than two debates here, and has specified that these debates should focus on issues important to rural Oregonians.

By Oregonian In Action Education Center

Many thanks to the 523 OIA supporters who participated in the OIA Education Center’s Land Use Forum this year. It was a great event. Attendees had the opportunity to hear first-hand from Richard Whitman, the new DLCD Director who administers Measure 49 claims, and from David Bragdon, a key member of the Big Look Land Use Task Force and President of Metro. Also, it was important for these important officials to confront such a large turnout of property rights supporters, and get their questions and comments.