News Note: This week the Wall Street Journal did an editorial on the Agriculture Department’s mixing of politics with the science of government regulation. The problems involves the decision of Ag. Secretary Tom Vilsak bringing in activist and biotech opponents to assist in crafting the agency’s biotech regulation. The WSJ […]

Dying wheat fields hit E. Oregon By Natural Resource News Note: Investigators are looking into why over 40,000 acres of wheat fields in Eastern Oregon have died prematurely in the fall. The area impacted areas are 16 wheat fields near Pendleton Oregon and other fields in Morrow County. The symptoms […]

Agriculture remains a key provider to the Oregon Food Bank By Oregon Dept. of Agriculture, Oregon farmers and ranchers continue putting food on the plate for many of the state’s most vulnerable citizens, even as the need for hunger assistance reaches unprecedented levels. Donations from such organizations as Farmers Ending […]

By American Farm Bureau Federation, It will come as no surprise that America’s Christmas tree farmers are a giving lot. You need to look no further than the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation, a charitable organization created by the National Christmas Tree Association in 2005. Since its inception, America’s Christmas tree farmers […]

Thermal Imagery Sheds Light on Wolf Disease By U.S. Interior Dept., U.S. Geological Survey Psychedelically colored wolves depicted by thermal imaging will shed light on how mange affects the survival, reproduction and social behavior of wolves in Yellowstone National Park. About a quarter of the wolf packs in the park […]

By Oregon Farm Bureau On Friday, Dec. 17, Majority Leader Reid (D-Nev.) introduced an omnibus public lands and water bill, the America Great Outdoors Act (S. 303), in the Senate. The bill is a package of 110 separate public lands and water and wildlife bills. The package includes the Chesapeake […]

NW Law FirmCan Business Lawyers Afford to Practice “Defensively”? Stoel Rives LLP By Kenneth Odza For years, a debate has raged on the merits of vesting the FDA with mandatory recall powers. Mandatory recall is part of the food safety legislation that may or may not pass in this Congress, […]

Renewable Energy Failure: Why Government Mandates Don’t Work and What They Will Do to Our Economy By Torey Holderith and Todd Wynn Click here for the full report. Here is an excerpt: Renewable energy has long been hailed as the cure-all for Oregon’s economy. “Good policy, good for economic development, […]

ODFW will form advisory group for new hunting dog and raptor training rules By Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, SALEM, Ore.—After hearing concerns from hunting dog trainers and other members of the public, ODFW will take additional time before taking proposed hunting dog and raptor training rules to the […]

PLC, Livestock Groups Say Secretarial Order May Threaten Grazing National Cattlemen’s Beef Association WASHINGTON (Dec. 16, 2010) -Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, on Nov. 15, 2010, signed a Secretarial Order elevating the Office of the National Landscape Conservation System and Community Partnerships in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to […]