Oregon producers participate in many voluntary programs By Oregon Department of Agriculture If government rental payments to Oregon landowners currently enrolled in the federal Conservation Reserve Program were an agricultural crop, its value of nearly $27 million would make it the state’s 25th ranked commodity. However, there is no crop […]

Natural Resource News Note: An ICE audit is one of those critical events so important that no business actually prepares for.  Below is a highlight from an article by AG Careers.  Please read. The Top Things You Must Know to Successfully Pass an ICE Audit by Brenda J. Smith, J.D. […]

NASCAR using ethanol in their racecars in 2010

ODFW seeks candidates for Fish Passage Task Force Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife SALEM – The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking three members to represent water users, fishing and conservation interests and the public-at-large on the state’s Fish Passage Task Force. The Task Force advises the […]

US Reaches $760 Million Settlement with Native American Farmers By National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Support NSAC On Tuesday, October 19, the Obama Administration agreed to pay up to $760 million to compensate American Indian farmers and ranchers who were denied loans from USDA, ending months of negotiation on the 11-year-old […]

The Oregon Department of Forestry Department announced this week that the State Forester, Marvin Brown, is leaving at the close of 2010.  Below are some quotes on the resignation and the official press release from the Department of Forestry. Business Week: Jim Geisinger, executive director of Associated Oregon Loggers, said […]

Foundation CEO Jeff Raikes Calls for Innovation and Partnership to Help the World’s Smallholder Farmers Overcome Hunger and Poverty — Speaking at the World Food Prize, Raikes says, “What’s required of us is our unfailing commitment to the cause of agricultural development.” By Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation DES MOINES, […]

Oregon Natural Resource News Note: Below is a Tuesday Oregonian newspaper Editorial Board statement on the eve of President Obama’s visit.  The open letter is very forward in asking for Obama’s help and attention to Oregon’s issues of forest policy, land-use and trade issues. Oregonian Editorial: Look down as you […]

How one local natural resource group is trimming down By Oregon Forest Resource Institute OFRI has successfully negotiated a new six-year lease that allows it to continue working from its downtown Portland location in the historic U.S. National Bank building, 317 SW Sixth Ave., through June 2016. The new lease […]

Update on Current Policy News Affecting Forest Business & Timber Supply by Rex Storm, Forest Policy Manager Oregon Association of Loggers ODF Spending Shrinks: At the OR Dept. of Forestry, severe budget cuts affected spending in the past year, forcing personnel layoffs and deep service reductions in ODF’s key programs: […]