Oregon legislature allocates $9M to increase opportunities for Oregon’s meat processors Oregon Department of Agriculture News release With the passage of Oregon House Bill 3410 (HB 3410), the Oregon Legislature appropriated $9 million to the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) to support the State’s Meat Inspection Program and aid businesses […]

Grant program extended to help fire-harden homes, businesses damaged by 2020 and 2021 wildfires The Oregon Building Codes Division   Aug. 16, 2023 (Salem) – The Oregon Building Codes Division is partnering with counties on a grant program to help owners of homes and businesses rebuild after the 2020 and […]

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon Foundation The trade association representing cannabis retailers wants to find legislative options to increase tax collection among its members without tying renewal of licenses to whether a company or its owners have filed taxes. Their efforts come in the wake of the Oregon Liquor and […]

By Lori Chavez-DeRemer Oregon Congresswoman (OR-5) News Release Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05) recently joined Rep. Joe Neguse (CO-02) and a bipartisan, bicameral group of her colleagues to introduce the Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act. This legislation seeks to bolster firefighter recruitment, retention, and wellbeing by preserving a pay raise established […]

By Oregonians for Food and Shelter EPA’s draft herbicide strategy released July 23rd outlines another aspect of the Agency’s approach to addressing its obligations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The proposed framework aims to reduce the need for evaluations of chemicals and species on an individual basis, work which […]

Representative Helfrich Sends Letter to Governor Kotek Urging State Disaster Declaration for Oregon Cherry Industry By State Representative Jeff Helfrich, SALEM, OR – This week, Representative Jeff Helfrich (R-Hood River) sent a letter to Governor Tina Kotek urging her to issue a State Disaster for Oregon’s cherry industry.Sweet cherries are […]

By Oregon State Representative E. Werner Reschke, It’s summer. It’s hot in late July. It’s also fire season. Growing up in Oregon, that last statement is relatively new, until about 10 years ago. Large forest fires in Oregon’s previous history were infrequent. By one count, between 1902 and 2002, there […]

By Oregonians for Food and Shelter As we summarized in last week’s newsletter, EPA has released a draft plan to protect vulnerable species listed under ESA. One of these species, the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly, has habitat areas in Oregon. EPA’s plan would impose a complete restriction on conventional, outdoor-use pesticides […]

By American Forest Resource Council President  American Forest Resource Council President (AFRC) Travis Joseph had the following to say regarding the D.C. Circuit’s opinion on the Obama-era expansion of the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument (CSNM) and the 2016 Resource Management Plans for Western Oregon O&C Lands managed by the Bureau […]

By Oregon Family Farm Association, More than 63 percent of Oregon’s 37,000 farms earned less than $10,000 in 2020, forcing operators of small farms to work other jobs and seek creative ideas for adding products to sell and tapping into markets for them, according to an article on Axios. New […]