By Oregonians For Food and Shelter, Last week there were two OFS priority bills up for hearings. In the morning, the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on HB 2469. This bill would undermine the seed preemption law by exempting regulations on GMO crops from preemption. This would […]

American Farm Bureau The Senate joined the House in approving a Farm Bureau-supported resolution (H.J. Res. 44) to stop an Obama administration rule that would weaken the influence of local and regional input on Bureau of Land Management decisions. The resolution now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature. […]

By American Forest Research Council, The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) filed a legal challenge to Presidential Proclamation 9564, an order signed by President Obama in his final days of office nearly doubling the size of the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument in Southern Oregon and Northern California. AFRC President, Travis […]

By Oregonians for Food and Shelter While there were no OFS priority bills up for hearings this week (3/6-3/10), it was encouraging to see farmers in town testifying on a couple other important issues. The first was on Wednesday in the Senate Workforce Committee where SB 779 was up for […]

By Oregon Farm Bureau, On Wednesday, March 8, at 3:00 PM in Hearing Room A, the Senate Workforce Committee will hold a public hearing on Farm Bureau’s bill to clarify the Oregon Sick Time law. SB 779 (and HB 2936) provides a necessary fix for family businesses that are trying to […]

By Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities, Covering Idaho, Montana and portions of the Dakotas, Region 1 of the U.S. Forest Service has reached a grim milestone. Over 35,000 acres of forest projects on Region 1 National Forests are stymied by litigation. The amount of timber tied up in lawsuits (355 million […]

American Farm Bureau American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall: “President Trump’s executive order to ditch the Waters of the U.S. rule is a welcome relief to farmers and ranchers across the country today. “The flawed WOTUS rule has proven to be nothing more than a federal land grab, aimed […]

Congressman Greg Walden A bill authored by U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-Hood River) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Portland) to force the U.S. Forest Service to complete a land exchange on Mt. Hood today passed the House of Representatives in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, 415-1. The Mount Hood Cooper Spur Land Exchange […]

Wall Street Editorial, Feb 10, 2017 Someone should tell Mr. Trump the damage that his trade policies are already doing to the rural and farm-state voters who put him in the White House. This year the U.S. is expected to export $134 billion in agricultural goods, from pork to nuts […]

By Oregonians for Food and Shelter OFS testified on three bills of concern to our members. The first two were in the House Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources. HB 2038 provides funding for what is known as the “Farm to School” program. This program connects schools to local farmers […]