By Jim Welsh, Oregon Cattlemen Association Agency Budgets: More Fee Increases The natural resource agencies have been holding stakeholder meetings involving their budgets addressing the anticipated General Fund shortfall due to the continuing recession.  The Governor instructed the agencies to prepare budgets with present biennium reductions continuing and budgets with […]

Senate Agriculture to Start Farm Bill Hearings on June 30 By National Association of Wheat Growers The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee will hold its first hearing in the 2012 Farm Bill process on June 30, Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) announced this week.  The hearing will be in the […]

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, ENTERPRISE, Ore.—A domestic calf was killed by a wolf or wolves in Wallowa County yesterday, marking the third confirmed wolf kill in the area this month. The incident was first reported late yesterday. ODFW and USDA Wildlife Services investigated and confirmed the kill today. […]

Natural Resource News Note It was just two weeks ago that the Seattle Post reported a serious invasion of grasshoppers.  Here is what they said  “The Pacific Northwest must prepare for the worst grasshopper outbreak in 30 years, according to scientists for Washington State University and the USDA….”In some areas […]

Action Plan By American Farm Bureau Federation and Oregon Farm Bureau The face of agriculture is changed by the Estate Tax (aka Death Tax). Family farms can be altered or lost forever when family members must sell land, buildings, and equipment to generate the money to pay the tax.  Congress […]

By Rick Sohn Umpqua Coquille LLC As we take a step back and reflect on the prices since April 2009, substantial  percentage gains have been made in the lumber and housing statistics, while unsold home inventory has fallen.  We’ve come a long way since the bottom of this great recession, […]

Ag Groups Urge USDA and EPA to Improve Climate Bill Modeling By National Association of Wheat Growers, NAWG and seven other agricultural groups wrote Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on Wednesday, asking them to ensure that their departments’ future analysis of proposals to […]

By Julia Pettit Stoel Rives LLP, Attorneys at Law The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (“NREL”) recently announced the release of the “Western Wind and Solar Integration Study” (the “WWSIS”), which investigated the operational impact of up to 35% energy penetration of wind, photovoltaic, and concentrating solar power on the power system […]

By Oregon Employment Department Oregon’s Renewable Energy Production and Generation Sector – as identified by the Oregon Green Jobs Council – includes firms that produce renewable energy from solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, wave, bioenergy, small-hydro, and biofuels technologies. In fact, more than 200 firms throughout Oregon produce renewable energy. Many […]

By Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, SALEM, Ore.—A new and improved version of Oregon’s Hunting Map is now available online at http://www.oregonhuntingmap.com/ The interactive Google™ map has added functionalities including: Boundaries for Access and Habitat areas, wildlife areas, travel management areas, regulated hunt areas, national wildlife refuges, state parks […]