Oregon Cranberry Growers Association
Feed aggregator
Need a delicious cookie to serve almost anyone? This is it!
Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 20-26
Blue Mountains forest plan could be done by September
The U.S. Forest Service could finalize its revised land management plans for the Blue Mountains National Forests by early 2017, following a year-long re-engagement process with the public.
The plans will essentially guide management decisions on the Umatilla, Wallowa-Whitman and Malheur national forests for the next 10-15 years. While the documents do not approve any site-specific projects, they do set goals and desired conditions on approximately 4.9 million acres of public land.
Forest plans are supposed to be updated every 15 years to reflect changes in the landscape and science, though the current Blue Mountains Forest Plan is from 1990. Forest supervisors unveiled a draft version of the revised plan last year, which was met with criticism.
The negative feedback was so overwhelming that regional forester Jim Peña allowed more time in January to meet with stakeholders and find common ground on issues including road access, wilderness and commercial logging. Since then, the Forest Service has held public workshops across Eastern Oregon to hear new ideas and solutions.
Despite some continued rumblings, the supervisors say the input they’ve gathered has led them in a positive direction.
“Overall, the engagement process has helped us to better understand our public,” said Tom Montoya, supervisor on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. “There’s been folks on all sides of the issue who have provided really good comments to find some balance.”
However, Montoya admitted he was frustrated during a meeting Nov. 2 in La Grande, where nearly 200 people packed the Blue Mountain Conference Center. Tempers flared, and Montoya said he later heard from people who told him they felt threatened.
Norm Cimon, a retired Forest Service employee of 26 years, said the discussion was not closely moderated and broke down into a free-for-all.
“Given the anger that’s built up from the rhetoric that’s been thrown around, there’s going to have to be better management of these meetings,” Cimon said.
Cimon, who serves on the board of directors for Oregon Rural Action, a La Grande-based environmental nonprofit, said the tone was set by a letter from state Rep. Greg Barreto, R-Cove, accusing the Forest Service of “bureaucratic ineptness.”
Re-engaging with the public is absolutely worthwhile, Cimon said, but he felt Barreto’s letter didn’t help the situation.
“I hate that kind of talk. I really do,” Cimon said.
In his letter, Barreto says, “The overreaching heavy hand of government continues to pursue its stranglehold on the rural parts of the state, our way of life and our pursuit of happiness.” He also wrote “The preservationists along with you, the federal government, are teaming up to keep local people from our public lands.”
In a separate interview, Barreto said he was unable to attend the meeting in person and was asked by his constituents in the forest access movement to write a letter. Barreto said he intentionally worded the letter the way he did to make a point about people’s distrust in the current administration.
Barreto did credit the Forest Service for re-engaging with the public, and said people need to speak passionately to make sure they are heard.
“If everyone goes to these meetings and speaks in blasé language, probably nothing comes out of it,” he said. “If there’s no passion in what you’re saying, then what you’re saying falls on deaf ears.”
Montoya said the feedback is heard, and will be used to evaluate potential changes to the proposed forest plans. But, he added, people need to make sure they are providing substantive comments backed by evidence.
“It’s really not a venting process. It’s about addressing issues,” Montoya said. “I think we’re making positive momentum, definitely.”
Montoya said the Nov. 2 meeting was an anomaly, and they could have done a better job facilitating such a large group.
Steve Beverlin, supervisor on the Malheur National Forest, said he has been happy with the turnout at meetings he attended. He said the passion in people’s arguments comes through much stronger in person than just reading them on paper.
“Some people want more wilderness, some people want less; some people want more timber harvest, some people want less; some people want more access, some people want less,” Beverlin said. “The key for me is providing a safe environment for people to voice those opinions.”
After the new year, Beverlin said there will be a meeting of the minds to evaluate what potential changes could be made to the proposed plan. Of course, there are legal sideboards, he said, and not all suggestions will be feasible.
The supervisors said they hope to have a final Environmental Impact Statement completed by the end of September. Barring any other setbacks, a final Record of Decision could be done by April 2017.
Two more public meetings are scheduled from 6-9 p.m., one on Monday, Dec. 14 in Clarkston, Washington, and one on Tuesday, Dec. 15 in North Powder.
“We need the public’s engagement and help for managing the public forests. That’s the bottom line,” Beverlin said.
Petite Turkey and Brie Panini
Petite Turkey and Brie Panini
Baker County ranchers honored for sage grouse habitat work
A Baker County, Ore., cattle ranching couple who helped forge sage grouse habitat conservation agreements was honored during the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association annual conference Dec. 5-6.
Mark and Patti Bennett, of Unity, were given the 2015 Riley Freeman Award, named for a past OCA wildlife committee chairman who saw the need for cooperation between private landowners and the state and federal agencies that regulate wildlife and natural resources.
The award was jointly established and is presented annually by the OCA and ODFW.
In honoring the Bennetts, ODFW Director Curt Melcher praised them as “model stewards” of their cattle ranch. Like many other Eastern Oregon ranchers, the Bennetts signed a voluntary conservation agreement to maintain or improve habitat for greater sage grouse. Mark Bennett served on a rules advisory group that worked to balance the interests of landowners and regulatory officials.
“Bennett pushed for a reasonable approach to protecting sage grouse habitat while also protecting the economic viability of eastern Oregon and working lands,” ODFW said in a news release.
The voluntary agreements in Oregon were a model for other states, and were a key factor in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision in September to keep Greater sage-grouse off the endangered species list.
Jay Hess
Jay Hess
Kansas deputies confront naked Oregon man taking pictures
NEWTON, Kan. (AP) — Kansas authorities say an Oregon man was urged to head home after he was spotted taking pictures of a wheat field wearing nothing “but a hat and a smile.”
The Harvey County sheriff’s office in Central Kansas says the man was first spotted Wednesday afternoon.
Sheriff T. Walton says authorities found the man four hours later — wearing boxers.
Walton said on the office’s Facebook page that an officer told the man and his friend that “Kansas is not as liberal as Oregon” and “suggested they continue their travels” back home.
Walton says it’s technically not illegal to be publicly naked in the county, as long as one is not trying to arouse oneself or others.
Walton added, “You know folks, you just can’t make this stuff up!”
Winter storm to bring Cascades 20 to 40 inches of snow
The largest mountain snowfall of the season is expected to hit Western Oregon during the next six days, dropping snow on pass levels and bringing 20 to 40 inches of powder to the Cascade Range.
A system of cold air should transform the heavy rain into heavy snow above 4,000 feet, forecasters with the National Weather Service in Portland said, in a winter storm projected to last through the weekend.
Snow is expected to slam Willamette and Santiam passes with up to 10 inches of snow by Thursday evening. By Friday, the snow level is expected to drop to around 3,700 feet.
“This should be the biggest snow accumulation for the Cascades so far this year,” said Gerald Macke, a metrological technician with the NOAA. “We’re going to see wave after wave of moisture that’s not going to stop until next week, and above 4,000 feet, that should all fall as snow.”
The projected numbers — always to be taken with a grain of salt — are eye-popping.
Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood and Willamette Pass in the Central Cascades could see 20 to 40 inches, while Crater Lake National Park could get upwards of 50 inches by early next week.
Coastal Creatures public art exhibit at the Bandon Professional Center
Corporate cafes offer an expanding market for producers
PORTLAND — For the record, it is possible to find a job where you do your work while sitting in a yurt with a laptop and a sandwich. The yurt, it should be said, is on the third floor of a 100-year-old building in Portland’s Old Town, where street people provide rambling commentary and futilely shake parking pay stations for loose change.
Inside the old building, up to 400 employees of AirBNB, the international online vacation rental hub whose other offices are in San Francisco and Dublin, Ireland, take calls and emails from all around the world while perched in cubby holes, arranged in themed mini-offices or, yes, occupying the yurt.
But let’s talk about the sandwich.
The greens are from Portland’s Sauvie Island Organics. The ham is from Olympia Provisions, also of Portland, and the chutney was made in-house by AirBNB’s food team. The bread is from Pirate Bread, a North Portland startup.
All of which is intentional. AirBNB provides free breakfast, lunch and all-day snacks to its call center workers five days a week. As much as possible — bananas, orange juice, coffee and chocolate are among the few exceptions — the food is locally sourced. The baked kabocha squash? From Sauvie Island again. The portabella mushrooms? From Hood River, Ore. The maple-cashew-miso cream cheese? Made in-house. Craft beer and wine are available after work shifts, beginning at 5 p.m.
That’s just the casual soup, salad and sandwich bar. Four blocks away, behind an unmarked door along busy Burnside Street, AirBNB operates a full-blown restaurant for its employees. They’re encouraged to take a walk, grab a table and eat family style from shared platters. Again, free.
The employees, of course, eat it up.
Darcy Boles said free, healthy food is an “added, incredible bonus.” Her lunch table mate, Jeralyn Fix, said it’s the best perk of the job. The relaxed work atmosphere is somewhat like home, she said, and she feels free to get up and get a bowl of cereal anytime she likes.
Then there is James Evans Harvey, who on a recent day found a couch in the yurt to her liking. Evans Harvey worked one season for a CSA farmer and gained an appreciation for local food.
“I’m a new mom,” she said, “and for me it’s profoundly important to know the food going into my body and my baby’s body was grown, produced and made with a whole lot of love.”
AirBNB’s food service has a ripple effect, she said. The way she and other call takers interact with customers is “impacted by the way we’re treated here.” The work is “greatly enhanced by feeling we are home.”
The bigger ripple effect may be in the regional food system, especially among small producers and processors who operate relatively close to urban areas.
Kristin Arychuk, AirBNB’s culinary product and vendor lead in Portland, seeks out local farms and processors that can supply the greens, grains and finished goods needed to feed workers. She finds leads at farmers’ markets, looking for partners to provide ingredients and food that is seasonal and sustainable. AirBNB’s corporate culture encourages support of the local economy, she said.
“One of my main emphases is to make sure we ethically and wisely spend our money,” Arychuk said.
It’s a job that requires menu flexibility. “Yes we plan but no we don’t,” Arychuk said. “It’s dictated by what is great right now.”
The Portland center stresses sustainability in other ways as well. It eliminated canned beverages and the food team makes many drinks in-house. It employs re-usable totes, and snacks are delivered in bulk to avoid packaging. Leftover food is re-purposed, if possible, or donated to area missions that feed the homeless. “I feel pretty good about our waste structure,” Arychuk said.
Corporate cafes apparently started as a perk offered by high-tech firms that were competing for talented employees. A 2014 article online at Business Insider said Google had become the “gold standard of dining in Silicon Valley” by operating more than 30 free cafes for the estimated 20,000 employees at its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Each cafe focused on using local ingredients, according to the article.
Big buyers such as AirBNB have the power to change the nature of the food system, said Amanda Oborne, vice president of food and farms for Ecotrust, a Portland nonprofit. Oborne was lead author of a report that examined how small to mid-size farms and processors can find success in Oregon’s regional food systems. The report noted that institutions such as schools, hospitals, care centers and jails serve 40 million meals annually, and that “ag of the middle” producers could find expanded markets if they can solve some transportation, warehousing, cold storage and aggregation problems.
Corporate cafes such as AirBNB’s have more money to spend than public institutions, and likewise can have a big impact by seeking out locally produced food and ingredients and “really putting their money where their mouth is,” Oborne said.
AirBNB’s action in Portland is a significant commitment to sourcing within the region, she said.
Buying from local producers requires give-and-take from both sides, she said. Corporate cafes have to work harder and be more flexible to find everything they need, and accept the seasonal ups and downs of supplies. For their part, small farmers and processors accustomed to being paid on delivery have to realize their payment will be delayed as it cycles through a company’s accounting system.
“There isn’t any way around it,” Oborne said. “They get paid, but not that day or the next day, but a couple weeks down the road.”
AirBNB employees, meanwhile, say the free, healthy and locally sourced food they’re being served is a more immediate reward.
Employee Phil Davis said he’s paid less at AirBNB than at a previous job, but the food helps bridge the gap.
“It’s like a hidden benefit in your paycheck,” he said.