MONROE, Ore. (AP) — A combine overheated while threshing oats west of Monroe and sparked a fire that spread through farmland and threatened three homes.

Monroe Fire Chief Rick Smith said Friday that the blaze started around 6 p.m. Thursday spread to a field of oats and then to a timber farm in the area west of Interstate 5 between Salem and Eugene.

Residents were told to prepare to evacuate late Thursday but about 50 firefighters were able to contain the blaze overnight.

Elsewhere, a 1.2-square-mile blaze in Crater Lake National Park was 12 percent contained and another fire to the east, near Unity, was 5 percent contained after charring more than 10 square miles.

A smaller blaze near La Pine was 80 percent contained.

Five Oregon cheesemakers won awards in the recent American Cheese Society’s annual competition, held in Des Moines, Iowa.

Rogue Creamery, of Central Point, won six awards. The creamery took second place for its Flora Nelle Organic and third for its Caveman Blue and third for its Tolman Organic in the category of blue-veined cheeses with a rind; second for Echo Mountain Blue Cheese in the rindless/goat’s milk category; third for two-year-old Organic Cheddar; and third for Smokey TouVelle in the smoked cheese open category.

Ancient Heritage Dairy, of Portland, won first place for Hannah in the “American Originals” category.

Ochoa Queseria, based in Albany, won first place for its Queso Oaxaca in the Hispanic- and Portuguese-style melting cheeses.

Oregon State University Creamery, in Corvallis, won third place for its Smoked Cheddar.

Tillamook County Creamery Association, of Tillmook, won second place for its hot habanero Monterey Jack; second place for its white sharp cheddar aged two years or less; third place for its extra sharp cheddar aged two to four years; and third place for its salted sweet cream butter.

Contest results were announced July 29. The contest is the nation’s largest cheese competition. Entries are judge on flavor, aroma, texture and technical accomplishments. The contest this year attracted 1,843 entries from 260 processors in North and South America.

Initiative Petition 28, on track to be called Measure 97 on the ballot, levies a 2.5 percent tax on certain corporations’ Oregon gross receipts exceeding $25 million.

“I have spent my career fighting to make Oregon a place where everyone can thrive, Brown said in a statement. “I support Measure 97 because there is a basic unfairness in our tax system that makes working families pay an increasing share for state and local services, including public schools, senior services, and health care. By some measures, Oregon is among the lowest in corporate taxes, and Oregon ians expect everyone to pay their fair share.”

The tax would pour an estimated $3 billion a year into state coffers but slow job growth and bump up consumer prices, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Revenue Office.

“Our state cannot move forward and meet Oregon’s growing needs over the next decade without a stable revenue base,” Brown said Thursday. “Measure 97 is an important step forward, and I will make sure the funds the measure yields go towards schools, health care, and seniors, as the voters expect.

“State leaders before me have repeatedly tried and failed to solve the problem of adequate and stable funding for schools and other state services. Every solution has had strengths and weaknesses in terms of fairness and economic impact. None has succeeded in bringing the business community, individual and family taxpayers, service providers, and advocates together.”

Many of the public employee unions backing the measure also support Brown’s election.

Bud Pierce, Brown’s Republican challenger in November’s governor’s race, said he was disappointed that Brown is supporting what would be the largest sales tax increase in Oregon’s history.

“If passed, this tax increase would greatly raise the cost of living in Oregon,” Pierce said in a statement. “Everyone, including low-income families would be paying on average more than $1,800 (sic) per family more for goods and services. A tax increase like this will not help anyone. It will hurt low-income families in Oregon the most.”

The Legislative Revenue Office estimated that the tax would cause price increases that would cost a family earning median income more than $600 more per year in the form of increased prices on daily needs, such as food, fuel and electricity.Brown said that state leaders have repeatedly failed to come up with another solution to Oregon’s unstable funding system for schools and other state services.

“Every solution has had strengths and weaknesses in terms of fairness and economic impact,” she said.

DILLARD, Ore. (AP) — Fording a flood of cheaper lumber imported from Canada, local timber executives met with U.S. Senator Ron Wyden to jointly call for a new trade agreement or risk whittling the industry at home.

“What we need is a fair system that allows individuals and companies on both sides of the border to feel they are being treated fairly,” Wyden, D-Oregon, said. “... What this comes down to, folks, is what I call trade-done-right.”

Wyden stopped at a Roseburg Forest Products mill in Dillard on Tuesday to share the latest on talks to hammer out the agreement, which would succeed the Softwood Lumber Agreement that limits the amount of lumber Canada can export to the U.S.

The agreement, which was ratified in 2006, expired last October and gave way to lumber from the neighbors up north to come pouring in. According to Grady Mulberry, CEO of Roseburg Forest Products, lumber from Canada is up 43 percent since the deal expired and prices have been driven down by nearly a quarter on the dollar.

“It’s certainly very impactful on Oregon mills like ours and it certainly makes it very hard for us to compete,” Mulberry said.

The last agreement was established in 2006, but trade deals over lumber between Canada and the U.S. date back to the 1980s. Domestic lumber companies have contended that harvests up north were aided by subsidies from the Canadian government and created a product too cheap for local companies to compete with.

But the pact expired last fall, bringing along with it a one-year freeze on trade tariffs and paving the way for Canadian companies to import freely until this October. With that deadline approaching, some fear what will happen to the domestic market if a deal isn’t struck soon.

Talks between the Obama Administration and that of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have been underway for some time. And, on July 19, 25 U.S. senators signed a letter commending the American ambassadors for work in negotiations.

“A strong lumber industry is essential to the U.S. economy, and securing fair trade in lumber is of critical importance to domestic lumber manufacturers and their workers, as well as tree farmers and landowners, and the communities they support,” wrote U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho.

Should talks stall, it would be particularly problematic for timber-reliant communities like Douglas County. Wyden went so far as to call the area, “near the epicenter of the debate,” during his remarks.

“What we’re seeing at Roseburg is being replicated all across the country,” Wyden said. “We’re seeing executives, union folks, people all across the political spectrum — Democrats and Republicans — coming together because what is on the line is the ability to have high-skill, high-wage, good paying jobs in natural resources.”

According to Mulberry, Roseburg Forest Products has continued with business as usual, but something needed to change if it was going to succeed in the future.

“We continue to invest and be more-and-more competitive, but at the same time, without a level playing field, it doesn’t matter how competitive you get you can’t offset all of that import supply,” Mulberry said.

Roseburg Forest Products has about 300 employees.

Douglas County Commissioner Susan Morgan drove the point further by talking of how county residents rise and fall with its economy. The county, like much of Southwestern Oregon, has high rates of substance abuse, domestic violence, child poverty and more, she said.

“The one that helps with the economic and social stability here in the county are the jobs in the timber sector. Not just the jobs in the mills, (which) are a really important piece of it, but this reaches out across the economy and across all parts of this county,” Morgan said.

Timber and wood products jobs comprise about 30 percent of jobs in Douglas County, Morgan said. And, according to Wyden, there are about 32,000 employees in those fields throughout the state.

BANDON -- The Greater Bandon Association has named the August recipient of its Volunteer of the Month award. Nita Watson becomes the 10th winner of the award. She was presented the award in form of a plaque and a gift…

LANGLOIS – The preschool and kindergarten program at the Wilderland School in Langlois has had another successful and adventurous year that included a high excellence in early learning rating from the state – the first private school in the region…

After having been one of the very few commercial structures that survived the Bandon Fire of 1936, the old Breuer building caught fire in August of 1961, and thanks to the work of the Bandon Volunteer Fire Department, they were…

PORTLAND, Ore. — A panel of agricultural, business, political and social leaders called for comprehensive immigration reform Wednesday, saying the current system is broken, hurts families and hampers economic growth in Oregon.

The gathering was part of a coordinated national campaign, called “Reason for Reform,” that kicked off in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The effort is the work of a bi-partisan group called the Partnership for a New American Economy.

The group released reports that detail the economic impact of foreign-born residents, including data on businesses started by immigrants, the number of people they employ, their tax payments, spending power and the types of jobs they fill in Oregon and elsewhere.

Speakers in Portland included state Rep. Tina Kotek, who is Speaker of the House of Representatives. She said immigrants make “an enormous and growing contribution to our culture and economy” and the current immigration system is disjointed and chaotic.

State Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, said immigrants and refugees in Oregon are not here to “game the system.”

“They are here to work and work hard,” he said. “Without their labor, agricultural areas all over the U.S would be in serious distress.”

Immigrants’ contribution to Oregon agriculture was a highlight of the state report.

Leigh Greschwill, whose family owns F&B Farms and Nursery of Woodburn, said a lack of labor is the top issue for agriculture, and the immigration problem is weakening Oregon’s economic health.

She said some members of the Oregon Association of Nurseries could grow their businesses 20 percent, but due to a lack of workers will grow only 2 percent because “we can’t get off our butts and get this done.”

Ryan Deckert, president of the Oregon Business Association, called immigration reform a moral and economic “no-brainer.”

Among the report’s Oregon highlights:

• Nearly 390,000 Oregon residents were born outside the U.S., and 14,599 people immigrated to Oregon between 2010 and 2014.

• Immigrants make up 10 percent of the state’s population but 13 percent of the overall workforce and an estimated 56 percent of the workers who hand-harvest crops. About 73 percent of immigrants are working age, between 25 and 64, compared with 51 percent of the native-born population.

• In 2014, undocumented immigrants earned an estimated $1.6 billion in wages and paid $61 million in state and local taxes and $104 million in federal taxes.

The report’s authors acknowledged that immigration issues cut both ways.

“Of course, there are many compelling reasons that having a large undocumented population is a problem for a society,” the report said. “It undermines law and order, permits a shadow economy that is far harder to regulate, and is simply unfair to the millions of people who have come here legally.”

But the problem of undocumented immigration has “gone largely unaddressed” for 30 years, they added, while undocumented workers have come to fill an integral role in many industries.

Other speakers in Portland included state Rep. John Davis, a Republican from Wilsonville; and Andrea Williams, executive director of CAUSA. Jeff Stone, executive director of the Oregon Association of Nurseries, served as moderator.

ONTARIO, Ore. — USDA will prepare an environmental impact statement that evaluates a petition to deregulate a genetically engineered creeping bentgrass plant that escaped field trials in 2003 and has taken root in two Oregon counties.

A notice of intent to prepare the EIS was published in the Federal Register Aug. 3, and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will accept public comments through Sept. 2.

The bentgrass, which is resistant to applications of the glyphosate herbicide, was developed by Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. and Monsanto Corp. for use mainly on golf courses.

It escaped field trials in 2003 and has spread throughout parts of Malheur and Jefferson counties.

Farmers and water managers in those areas worry that because the bentgrass is resistant to glyphosate and is hard to kill, it could clog irrigation ditches and affect shipments of crops to other nations that don’t accept traces of genetically modified organisms.

Some farmers in the affected counties have criticized a 10-year agreement USDA reached with Scott’s in October that lays out Scott’s responsibilities to help control the bentgrass.

They believe it essentially allows Scott’s to walk away from its responsibility to control the grass after two years, a claim the company and USDA officials deny.

Malheur County farmer Jerry Erstrom, one of the most vocal opponents of the agreement, said it’s critical that growers comment on the petition because the bentgrass could have a major impact on them.

“It’s very important to comment because the people from APHIS have no concept of the impact it could potentially have on Malheur County and other counties downstream,” he said. “We’re looking at the possibility of a major economic and ecological impact....”

By law, USDA is required to conduct either an environmental impact statement or a less rigorous environmental assessment of the petition.

Because of the degree of controversy involved, “We thought it was in the best interest of everybody to do an environmental impact statement,” Sid Abel, assistant deputy director of APHIS’ Biotechnology Regulatory Services, told Capital Press.

The agreement USDA reached with Scott’s last fall is “distinct and separate from the request for deregulation” and will not be impacted by it, Abel said.

However, he added, the information included in the agreement will have an impact on the EIS and will be the basis for how it’s written.

Federal law requires USDA to determine whether the creeping bentgrass is a plant pest and the agency will look at whether it poses a risk to other plants, agricultural production systems and biological resources.

According to the Federal Register, the petition for deregulation by Scott’s and Monsanto states the plant is “unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and, therefore, should not be (regulated).”

A preliminary review has determined the bentgrass likely isn’t a plant pest, Abel said.

In its review, USDA will also be looking at the agronomic consequences of the bentgrass out-crossing to weedy species, including the possible impact on crop rotation practices, herbicide use and tillage. It will also examine the possible impact on farm exports.

Oregon’s Clackamas County canceled a meeting this week on its bid to redesignate farmland following critical remarks from communities, a conservation district and a key state land-use agency.

That doesn’t mean the idea is dead, however. A majority of county commissioners want to review the status of 1,625 acres now designated “rural reserves.” The land, three parcels south and southeast of Portland, was designated to remain farmland for 50 years under a 2010 agreement signed by Clackamas, Washington and Multnomah counties and Metro, the Portland area’s land-use planning agency.

The Clackamas commissioners now want to review that decision. They believe their county needs more “employment land” that can be developed for industrial or commercial use and jobs. This summer, they announced a plan to review the status of 800 acres south of Wilsonville, 400 acres adjacent to the urban growth boundary of the city of Canby; and 425 acres south of the Clackamas River along Springwater Road. County officials believe the land should revert to “undesignated” rather than rural reserves.

The proposal caught the attention of groups such of Friends of French Prairie, which opposes development spilling over from the Portland area into the northern Willamette Valley.

The Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District, which usually steers clear of political arguments, took the unusual step of expressing its concern in a letter to the commissioners. The district’s board said the county’s plan “may not adequately consider the long-term value of high-value farmland,” which it called an “irreplaceable natural resource.”

Officials in Wilsonville and Canby, which might have to provide services such as water, sewer and police and fire protection to new development, said their cities have already designated other areas for development, and don’t favor adding land that is outside their city limits and urban growth boundaries.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Land Conservation and Development said the county’s intended review goes beyond the narrow issues detailed in a court-ordered remand of the rural reserves issue.

In a letter to the county, regional representative Jennifer Donnelly said DLCD “encourages the county to maintain the rural designations of the three study areas and focus on completing the reserves process.”

BANDON — Take a walk down memory lane in the 70th annual Bandon Cranberry Festival titled, "Cheers to 70 Years: A toast to seven decades of Cranberry Festivals."

Oregon State University’s hazelnut research program was awarded a $3.1 million in a round of USDA grants announced Aug. 2.

The five-year grant will be used to continue hazelnut research at OSU, where breeder Shawn Mehlenbacher is credited with saving the industry by developing varieties resistant to Eastern filbert blight. Mehlenbacher, who submitted the grant application, could not be immediately reached for comment.

OSU’s grant proposal indicated the money would be used to expand commercial hazelnut production in the U.S. The work will focus on the Pacific Northwest, where Oregon accounts for nearly all of U.S. production and growers have added 3,000 acres since 2009; the temperate “fruit belt” region of the eastern U.S., where new blight-resistant cultivars are expected to be released in three to four years; and the Midwest and Great Plains, where new hybrids are being identified that have superior nut quality, yield, and adaptation to demanding climates, according to a news release.

OSU’s application describes hazelnuts as a “profitable, high-value, low input, sustainable crop for which steadily increasing world demand now exceeds supply.”

Producers and consumers are enthusiastic about increased U.S. production, the grant application says, but susceptibility to Eastern filbert blight remains a problem. In addition, existing cultivars lack climatic adaptability, which severely limits production in the East and Midwest and threatens the sustainability of production in Oregon, according to the application.

OSU’s grant application said there is a $3.26 billion national and international market for hazelnuts and “powerful environmental and economic benefits” would be generated by large-scale production of hazelnut hybrids.

“Hazelnuts are an ideal choice to integrate into profitable, sustainable agricultural or agro-forestry production systems, and are family-friendly for small producers focused on local food issues,” the application states. Hazelnuts could become a third crop in the Midwest and Great Plains, joining corn and soybeans, and would have considerable value as a specialty crop in the Eastern states, according to the application.

Hazelnuts require relatively few inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides, can be grown without irrigation in many areas and don’t require honeybees for pollination, according to OSU. Hazelnut kernels are a healthy food, have a long storage life and open up “robust local-to-international markets” for a variety of value-added products, according to OSU.

The grant money comes from the Specialty Crop Research Initiative that was authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. The grant program is coordinated by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. OSU’s hazelnut grant was one of 19 nationally, worth a total of $36.5 million.

Farmer Kevin Hobbs realized that inducing consumers to drive out to his property near Turner, Ore., just to buy eggs would be a tough sell.

Agritourism operations usually offer numerous other products and attractions, so Hobbs decided to find a retail establishment to buy his eggs.

To do so, however, he needed an egg handler’s license from the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

Obtaining the license involves fees and regulations, but Hobbs said the process paid off when he found a retail buyer in Portland.

“They’re taking everything we produce,” Hobbs said. “We can’t produce enough pastured eggs.”

Other egg producers across Oregon are taking a similar approach as Hobbs.

Between 2005 and 2015, the number of licensed egg handlers in Oregon more than doubled, from 81 to 189, according to ODA records.

Though growers don’t need a license to sell eggs directly from a farm stand or at a farmers’ market, many want to be able to supply grocery stores and restaurants, said Carl Buchholz, who raises eggs near Mount Angel.

“You see a lot of restaurants where a selling point for them is they buy local,” he said.

Buchholz said he obtained his license to sell to the Bon Appetit Management Company, which provides food service to corporations and institutions, as well as a food retailer in Portland.

The license also allowed him to sell eggs on behalf of a neighbor who also raises chickens on pasture. Several other producers wanted to supply Buchholz with eggs, but he was concerned with maintaining consistency and quality control.

“When you’re selling at a higher price point, people are picky, and rightly so,” he said.

Though he’s now taken a full-time job and sells eggs directly to the public, Buchholz has elected not to let his handler’s license lapse, in part because ODA’s $25 annual fee and other requirements are reasonable.

“I was really impressed,” he said of working with the agency.

Licensed handlers can sell eggs produced by other farmers as long as the product undergoes the same grading, sanitation and packaging procedures, said Sarah Schwab, operations and automations specialist with ODA’s food safety program.

For example, eggs must be free of dirt, cracks and similar defects, and they must be held up to a candling light to inspect the air cell — which indicates freshness — and to ensure they contain no internal blood spots or signs of bacterial infection, she said.

Packages must also be labeled with the handler’s permit number to allow for traceability, Schwab said.

Large producers are inspected by ODA quarterly, while smaller ones are inspected every other year, she said. The agency also inspects eggs at the retail level to check that handlers are complying with regulations.

In some cases, farmers’ markets are requiring that egg producers obtain licenses, even though it’s not mandated by law, she said.

“They want to ensure someone is overseeing their process,” Schwab said.

Demand for local eggs among grocery stores and restaurants is strong despite competition among the growing number of egg handlers, particularly for eggs raised on pasture, said Buchholz.

Apart from the marketing angle, Buchholz said he’s been able to save money on feed by allowing his chickens to forage freely.

Hobbs, who started raising chickens last year, plans to increase his flock from 250 to 1,000 birds and invest in mechanized equipment for washing and grading.

Maintaining the egg handler’s license involves additional steps for his operation, but the expanded marketing opportunities it offers are valuable, he said. “It’s worth it.”

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Arizona man who took part in a pair of armed standoffs over federal land policy has pleaded guilty to a charge in Oregon and is expected to do the same in Nevada.

Joseph O’Shaughnessy, 44, acknowledged in court Monday that he conspired to prevent U.S. Interior Department employees from doing their jobs after ranchers and others took over a national wildlife refuge this winter near Burns, Oregon.

O’Shaughnessy said he didn’t participate in the occupation led by Ammon Bundy but felt a duty to provide security for those protesting federal control of public lands and the imprisonment of two Oregon ranchers.

“I did support their message,” he said, becoming the 10th of 26 defendants to plead guilty in Oregon.

Prosecutors will recommend a prison sentence on the low end of a 12- to 18-month range, and it will be served at the same time as the term he could receive for his role in a 2014 armed standoff with federal agents at a Nevada ranch owned by Ammon Bundy’s father, Cliven Bundy, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel said.

Portland defense attorney Amy Baggio confirmed that O’Shaughnessy has a plea deal with prosecutors in Nevada and that resolving the Oregon case was part of the agreement.

O’Shaughnessy’s attorney in Nevada, Andrea Luem, did not return a phone message seeking details about the plea there.

Prosecutors in Nevada have described O’Shaughnessy as a midlevel organizer of the confrontation at Cliven Bundy’s ranch. The defendants there are accused of conspiring to assault federal officials who were rounding up Bundy’s cattle over unpaid grazing fees.

In Oregon, the 16 defendants who have not pleaded guilty are awaiting their day in court. Half of them, including brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, are scheduled to stand trial starting Sept. 7. The rest were granted a trial delay until Feb. 14, 2017.

SILVERTON, Ore. — As the Willamette Valley Pie Co. grows at its new location, sales manager Jeff Dunn said it wants family farms to grow with it.

The pie-making company has been in its new 67,000-square-foot production home in Silverton, Ore., for six months. Owner Jeff Roth decided to move the production arm of the company after outgrowing its previous space, which it shared with the pie retail store and the Willamette Valley Fruit processing facility.

Willamette Valley Pie makes all-natural handmade pies with local ingredients that are sold in the bakery and frozen sections of grocery stores such as Whole Foods, Roth’s, Albertsons, New Seasons, Market of Choice and Safeway.

Gerald Dunn started the company in 1999 as a processing operation. In 2001, the Roths purchased a pie company from LaSuisse Specialty Foods and it became Willamette Valley Pie Co.

The company primarily distributes to grocery stores on the West Coast but Dunn said the increased production at the new facility has given the company room and space to think about growing into new regions.

Jeff Dunn expects to move into the Midwest and East Coast starting in 2017, increasing sales, production and the amount of fruit the company buys from growers.

Willamette Valley Pie Co. buys 3 million pounds of fruit from Northwest growers every year and Dunn said that number is getting bigger.

“As we grow and use more fruit, it will help the fruit market,” Dunn said. “Anything we can do to help support the local agriculture market is all the better.”

The company contacted CD Redding Construction to explore its expansion options. After considering several options, the company decided to convert a grass seed warehouse on Eska Way into the production headquarters.

Project manager Jeremy Kuenzi said the facility was built with expansion in mind. Willamette Valley Pie is currently only using two-thirds of the building and has 20,000 square feet available for lease.

CD Redding worked for nine months to turn the empty warehouse into office space, a large kitchen, an 8,500-square-foot storage freezer and loading and packaging areas.

Dunn said the kitchen is four times bigger than what the company had at its old location and the freezer is three times bigger.

Bakery production manager Marlene Ganderson said production has changed tremendously since moving to the new facility.

Ganderson said the 68 bakery employees were cramped at the old location.

When Dunn started working in sales in 2005, the company was grossing $500,000 in sales per year. He said he expects close to $10 million in sales by the end of 2016.

Dunn said the company held back while it was getting used to the new facility but he expects 2017 to be a big year in regard to expansion.

As the company expands, Dunn said key considerations will be maintaining handmade quality products and continuing to support local agriculture.

“Our story starts with the growers, where we get our fruit.” Dunn said. “Our entire goal is to support local farm families.”

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has scaled back proposed rules regulating factory farms' manure spreading amid complaints from the dairy industry.

MEACHAM, Ore. (AP) — About 20 homes in Eastern Oregon have been evacuated, and officials on Sunday told residents in the nearby small town of Meacham to be ready to leave because of a wildfire.

Also on Sunday, authorities reopened the eastbound and westbound lanes of Interstate 84 that had closed overnight due to the fire.

Fire spokeswoman Jamie Knight said the 1-square-mile fire burning grass, brush and ponderosa pine stands is being fought by about 280 firefighters. Two helicopters and a small aircraft are also trying to slow the blaze.

A Type 3 Incident Command Team has taken over managing the fire.

The team is assessing when it’s safe for evacuated residents to return home. The American Red Cross has set up shelters for the evacuees at the Sunrise Middle School in Pendleton.

The fire is burning on lands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry. Thirteen fire engines and two bulldozers are assigned to the blaze.

Knight advised caution for motorists on the interstate because of firefighting equipment in the area.

Once a captivating landmark along Interstate 84 in Eastern Oregon, the Boardman Tree Farm is quickly disappearing to make way for more conventional crops and cows.

GreenWood Resources, headquartered in Portland, sold the land earlier this year and already large swaths of poplars have been cut down and replaced with irrigation pivots. Approximately one-third of the 25,000-acre property is slated to become a dairy farm — permit pending — while the rest was purchased by AgriNorthwest, based in the Tri-Cities.

Will Evans, division controller for AgriNorthwest, said the plan is to convert all acreage into cropland as the remaining trees are harvested. Evans said the transition has gone better than expected since the company took over in February.

“It’s a beautiful piece of property,” he said. “This is a great place to farm.”

Terms of the deal, which included both the land and water rights from the Columbia River, were not disclosed. AgriNorthwest grows a variety of local staples, including potatoes, corn, wheat and carrots.

Don Rice, director of North American operations for GreenWood Resources, said it will likely be a few years before all the trees are gone. Part of the wait, he said, is to allow younger trees to finish growing before they are ready to be processed. Another part is based on what the markets will bear.

The Collins Companies informed Morrow County officials they will permanently shut down the Upper Columbia Mill by the end of October, with most of the facilities’ 67 employees laid off by Sept. 19. However, Rice said the Columbia Forest Products veneer mill is still open, and GreenWood will continue to sell wood chips to pulp and paper mills.

The Boardman Tree Farm has been around since 1990, and has become a popular attraction for visitors to the community. Residents will have one more chance to bid farewell to the tree farm during the final “Very Poplar Run,” a charity 5K, 10K and 15K race that benefits the Agape House in Hermiston.

Rice said they are planning to make this year’s event extra special.

“The idea is to do it up real nice for the last event,” he said.

More than 7,000 acres of the tree farm also sold to Lost Valley Ranch, formerly Willow Creek Dairy, which is proposing to bring in 30,000 cows on ground east of where Homestead Lane intersects with Poleline Road. The dairy, owned by Greg te Velde, is in the process of obtaining a confined animal feeding operation, or CAFO, permit with the state. If approved, it would become the second-largest dairy in Oregon behind only nearby Threemile Canyon Farms.

The permit regulates how Lost Valley Ranch would handle wastewater and manure generated on site to protect surface water and groundwater. A public hearing on the permit was held Thursday at the Port of Morrow in Boardman, with the majority of comments in favor of the proposal.

Wayne Downey, of Hermiston, managed the design of the facility, which he said uses the best management practices and latest technology. The design calls for open top lagoons capable of holding 260 acre-feet of liquid manure, which is then recycled and applied onto farmland for growing animal feed.

Lagoons are to be built with a synthetic liner and leak detection system to protect groundwater. The farm will conduct annual soil monitoring and quarterly sampling of monitoring wells, according to its application.

Marty Myers, general manager of Threemile Canyon Farms, also supported the proposal. For 15 years, Willow Creek Dairy has leased land from Threemile Canyon, and Myers described te Velde as a good tenant.

“Sustainable agriculture is really what we’re talking about here,” Myers said. “This whole operation is really a recycling venture, where the cows are the main benefit.”

Morrow County Planning Director Carla McLane presented comments on behalf of the county court, which were not necessarily in opposition of the project, but did pose some concerns. McLane said the dairy would be located within the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area as well as three different critical groundwater areas, which raises questions about water use and contamination.

“We’re not unfamiliar with (land application) here in Morrow County, but we have to find a way to balance that with historical impacts of high nitrogen levels in the groundwater,” McLane said.

Written public comments will be accepted through Thursday, Aug. 4 on the project. There is no timetable for a decision to issue the permit, which is done jointly by the Oregon Department of Agriculture and Department of Environmental Quality.

Evacuation notices for the area around Deadman Pass were lowered Sunday afternoon from Level 3 to Level 2 as crews continued to battle the Weigh Station Fire east of Pendleton.

A Level 2 evacuation means residents can return home, but should be ready to leave again at a moment’s notice if necessary. Jamie Knight, spokesperson with the Oregon Department of Forestry, said 20 structures have been threatened by the fire, but it’s not certain how many of those are primary residences.

Columns of smoke could still be seen rising over the blaze Sunday, which has scorched roughly 500 acres of grass and timber along Interstate 84 up Emigrant Hill. The total number of acres burned had been estimated as high as 800, but that figure changed based on more accurate mapping, Knight said.

The fire is 25 percent contained as of Sunday evening. Evacuation warnings for the nearby town of Meacham also have been lifted entirely.

“The winds didn’t come up like they did (Saturday),” Knight said. “That really helped a lot.”

The freeway, which had been closed for nearly 24 hours, also reopened Sunday after firefighters finished removing hazard trees from along the road.

The fire started Saturday at about 12:30 p.m., with residents and Emigrant Springs State Park evacuated later that evening. More than a dozen people wound up at the Oregon Trail Store & Deli in Meacham where they planned what to do next.

“We’re kind of at the center of town,” said store owner Dixie Earle. “We had people load up here and regroup, and figure out where they were going.”

Earle said the store’s phone lines were knocked out earlier in the day, and a nearly two-hour power failure in Union County may have also been attributed to the fire damaging power lines. Though the fire never came too close to Meacham, Earle said they could see plenty of smoke hovering in the distance.

A temporary shelter for residents was established up at Sunridge Middle School in Pendleton, though Rebecca Vaughn with the American Red Cross said nobody had arrived by Sunday morning. That likely means those families found assistance elsewhere, Vaughn said, though the shelter will remain available until evacuation orders are lifted.

“We’re ready to stand down when we get the word,” Vaughn said.

The Blue Mountain Type 3 Interagency Incident Management Team took command of the fire Sunday morning, and will continue to work strengthening fire lines in the coming days. There are approximately 285 firefighters on scene, with fire camp established on private property at Poverty Flats.

As many as nine single-engine air tankers, one heavy air tanker, two helicopters, one air attack and one lead plane have been called in to provide air support, along with three bulldozers and more than a dozen fire engines on the ground.

JORDAN VALLEY, Ore. — A TV ad aired on MSNBC in the Portland region during the Democratic National Convention is encouraging people to oppose a proposed national monument in Malheur County.

The ad is paid for by the Owyhee Basin Stewardship Coalition, which was formed by a group of ranchers and other Malheur County residents this year to oppose a proposed national monument on 2.5 million acres in an area of the county known as the Owyhee Canyonlands.

That would represent 40 percent of the county’s total land and opponents worry it would restrict grazing and other economic opportunities.

Rancher and coalition member Mark Mackenzie said the majority of East Oregon residents are aware of the proposal and oppose it and the coalition is trying to ensure people in the rest of the state know about it.

The OBSC has also had “No Monument” billboard signs along the Interstate 5 corridor for about six weeks, he said.

“We’re trying to broaden the coalition base to get people in Portland and the Willamette Valley to stand up and say ‘no,” he said.

“We’re trying to spread the message to folks who may not even know what’s going on in our part of the state,” said rancher and OBSC member Elias Eiguren.

The ad asks Oregonians to let Gov. Kate Brown and U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, all Democrats, know they are opposed to a monument designation without a vote of Congress.

The proposed monument designation is being pushed by the Oregon Natural Desert Association, an environmental group based in Bend, and Portland’s Keen Footwear.

Supporters say they’re not trying to eliminate grazing, but instead want to prevent mining, transmission lines and oil and gas development. They tout a poll they commissioned that showed 70 percent of Oregon residents supported permanent protections for the Owyhee Canyonlands, including 66 percent in Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District where the national monument would be located.

Opponents believe monument supporters will ask the Obama administration to use the Antiquities Act to create a national monument. They oppose a monument designation through executive order.

Monument opponents respondwith their own poll results, which show 73 percent of Oregonians believe that national monument designations should be approved by Congress rather than the president.

In a news release. OBSC Chairman Steve Russell, a rancher, said East Oregon families “are searching for a leader in the Democratic party who will stand up for rural Oregon. We face strong opposition from well-funded special interests and Portland-based corporations, and our community needs a champion.”

Mackenzie said the message of not designating a national monument without local input and a vote of Congress is one that resonates across party lines and the coalition believes it will enlist more support as that message reaches a larger audience.

“I don’t view this as a Democrat or Republican thing,” he said. “This is about the health of the land and not about any political party.”

Formed in March, the coalition has raised $370,000, most of it from Malheur County, Mackenzie said.

OBSC now includes more than 6,000 members, a dozen organizations and more than three dozen elected leaders from across Oregon, according to the news release.

“We formed this coalition to have a voice in the process,” Mackenzie said. “This has unified the county and the people here.”