Environmental Protection Agency officials reacted to the wrath of federal lawmakers over What’s Upstream by going into “damage-control mode,” simultaneously saying they couldn’t have controlled the anti-agriculture campaign but nevertheless promising to fix it, according to newly released EPA records.

The records, mostly emails between EPA employees, show an agency caught between looking impotent or complicit in an advertising and lobbying campaign waged at taxpayer expense by a Puget Sound tribe to mandate 100-foot buffers between farm fields and waterways in Washington.

In response to criticism from a U.S. senator, Liz Purchia, then EPA’s head of communications, urged colleagues to “acknowledge” that “we are not associated with it.”

“Anytime EPA and ‘campaign’ is used together it is not helpful,” she wrote in an email April 5, 2016.

The email, made public Aug. 31, is among the final batch of records released by the EPA in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by Save Family Farming, a group formed to counter What’s Upstream.

The group filed its FOIA request 16 months ago and has received more than 1,000 documents, detailing EPA’s part in funding and monitoring the half-million-dollar lobbying campaign.

Since the group asked for the records, the EPA’s inspector general, the Washington Public Disclosure Commission and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson have cleared the EPA, tribe and Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission of any illegal lobbying.

“Much has been accomplished by simply exposing this activity,” Save Family Farming Executive Director Gerald Baron said Tuesday. “It would have gone on. That’s the lesson. If farmers don’t stand up for themselves, they’ll get run over.”

Dennis McLerran, EPA Northwest’s administrator during the five years the agency funded What’s Upstream, said Tuesday that he tried to tone down the campaign, but didn’t have the authority to dictate its contents.

“I do recall the lawyers at the very top level of the EPA didn’t consider it lobbying and a violation of any federal requirement,” he said. “Like I said all along, this is an unfortunate situation. I tried to get the tribe to take down the billboards and change the content of the website, but it was not something under EPA control.”

Gov. Jay Inslee recently appointed McLerran to serve in an unpaid position on the Puget Sound Leadership Council, a state agency that coordinates environmental projects.

In response to criticism from U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, about the campaign, McLerran wrote a statement April 4, 2016, that for the first time said EPA funds should not have used for What’s Upstream. “We are in the process of correcting that,” he wrote.

Purchia suggested editing the statement to say the campaign “was not approved by the agency.” The statement was released saying the campaign didn’t reflect EPA’s views.

“Let’s add the word ‘outside’ before ‘campaign’ and get this out,” McLerran wrote April 5.

The statement didn’t disclose that the tribe and its hired lobbying firm, Strategies 360, had regularly submitted written updates and yearly work plans for EPA’s approval since 2011.

As criticism of the campaign increased, EPA adopted a policy of not answering questions.

McLerran, however, was sending emails to other public officials seeking to explain his side of the controversy. “We are clearly in damage-control mode,” he wrote to Washington State Conservation Commission officials.

Said McLerran: “From my perspective, I wanted for them to know facts, as I knew them.”

The newly released emails reinforce that the tribe’s environmental director, Larry Wasserman, was forthright about his goal to pass a state law and eager to get approval to spend EPA money on billboards and radio ads to rally grass-roots support during the 2016 legislative session, capping years of preparation and collaboration with environmental groups.

“I am concerned that additional delays will make our effort less effective because we have a short legislative session and we are hoping for some impact while the legislators are in Olympia,” Wasserman wrote Jan. 26, 2016, to a manager in the Puget Sound recovery program.

The records also affirm that mid-level EPA officials had misgivings about the campaign, but their concerns were rejected as having no legal grounding.

A few weeks before the agency disavowed the campaign under congressional criticism, EPA Puget Sound program specialist Gina Bonifacino wrote an email to a colleague referring to an EPA document prohibiting spending funds on political activities, including raising public support to introduce state-level legislation.

“Hi, I did not mean for you to have to spend more time on this and I know I am sticking my neck in where I don’t belong :) it just seemed so clear to me when I read this again that this website is lobbying,” Bonifacino wrote in an email Feb. 4, 2016.

The colleague, Lisa Chang, who expressed reservations about how the tribe was spending EPA money as earlier as 2012, cited EPA attorney Garth Wright in answering Bonifacino.

“I will have to go back and look at Garth’s most recent analysis, but my understanding is that since there is no specific piece of legislation — they are just asking for stronger protection of water quality — that the lobbying restrictions are not violated. That is my layperson’s understanding,” Chang wrote.

McLerran said Tuesday that he was unaware of Bonifacino’s concern. “This is the first time I have heard of that,” he said.

The EPA redacted emails from Wright, citing an attorney-client exemption. EPA’s legal advice was upheld in an audit by the inspector general.

Media reports about EPA’s funding of What’s Upstream in March 2016 provoked a strong reaction from some federal lawmakers, which brought the campaign to the attention of top-level EPA officials in Washington, D.C.

“Holy smokes this needs attention. Do we have someone on this?” EPA Deputy Chief of Staff John Reeder wrote in an email April 20, 2016, the day one-third of the U.S. House signed a letter demanding to know why the EPA funded an “anti-farmer campaign in Washington state.”

Matthew Fritz, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy’s chief of staff, replied: “We do. I have been talking to the (Northwest) Region about this. Long story.”

An Oregon judge has rejected claims by several Klamath Basin irrigators that state regulators wrongly shut down their groundwater wells based on faulty scientific analysis.

Marion County Circuit Court Judge Channing Bennett has ruled the Oregon Water Resources Department properly relied on “substantial evidence” to halt pumping from the four wells because they were interfering with surface water rights in the Sprague River.

Attorneys for the groundwater irrigators say the case is troubling because the OWRD’s reasoning — which was approved by the judge — effectively expands the agency’s jurisdiction over wells not only in the Klamath Basin but elsewhere in Oregon.

The dispute also pits groundwater irrigators against Klamath Basin farmers who use surface water and who support the actions of water regulators.

“We think this is the best result to protect senior water users,” said Richard Deitchman, attorney for the Tulelake Irrigation District, which intervened in the case.

The four groundwater wells in question are within less than one mile of the Sprague River, which opens them up to regulatory scrutiny for potentially affecting surface water.

After OWRD ordered pumping from the wells to stop in 2015 and 2016, a lawsuit against the agency was brought by their owners, Stanley and Dolores Stonier and Larry and Joan Sees, as well as Garrett and Cameron Duncan, who lease property from the Sees.

The plaintiffs argued their wells were drilled into a confined aquifer that’s separated from the Sprague river by layers of rock and clay, as well as a shallower alluvial aquifer.

Shutting down the wells isn’t allowed because OWRD only has jurisdiction over wells drilled into an aquifer “adjacent” to the surface water, the plaintiffs argued.

However, the judge said he couldn’t determine that those layers were of such low permeability as to hinder water flowing from the confined aquifer into the Sprague River.

Effectively, the decision accepts OWRD’s argument that it can regulate a broader “aquifer system,” even if a well isn’t drilled into an aquifer directly adjacent to a river, said Laura Schroeder, an attorney representing the groundwater irrigators.

“There’s nothing to stop Oregon Water Resources from regulating every aquifer in a basin (within a mile of surface waters) and calling it an aquifer system,” she said.

The groundwater irrigators fault OWRD for wrongly concluding that groundwater contributes to surface water flows along the portion of the Sprague River in question.

The agency improperly applied a scientific model by overestimating the ability of groundwater from the confined aquifer to eventually flow into the river, they claimed.

If used correctly, the model would have showed that water from the confined aquifer didn’t affect the surface water to a degree that would warrant regulation, according to the plaintiffs.

The judge’s decision is disappointing because he sided with OWRD without explaining how the trial evidence affected his rationale, said Sarah Liljefelt, an attorney for the groundwater irrigators.

“He really didn’t make any decision about the science,” she said. “You’re in a difficult position in which there’s a ruling against you without any real reason why.”

Richard Deitchman, attorney for the Tulelake Irrigation District, disagreed with this characterization of the ruling.

The judge must decide whether the OWRD’s actions were reasonable based on the evidence, rather than choose whose scientific theories were more convincing, he said.

“You have experts on both sides,” Deithcman said. “The judge’s role isn’t to play hydrogeologist himself. It’s to determine if there’s substantial evidence for the decision, which is what he determined here.”

The groundwater irrigators have until Sept. 25 to decide whether to appeal the judge’s opinion. They also have another case pending against OWRD related to its 2017 decision to shut down the wells.

A spokesperson for OWRD did not respond to requests for comment as of press time.

GLIDE, Ore. — The front acreage of the French Creek Ranch made a transition almost overnight on Aug. 9 and 10.

When lightning strikes started multiple fires in the Umpqua National Forest about 30 miles east of this small community, officials were quick to call ranch owner Phil Strader about turning his livestock pasture and hay ground into the Umpqua North Fire Complex Fire Camp.

Strader gave his permission. The cattle that had been grazing in the field were quickly moved to another pasture on the ranch and the next day personnel began to arrive to set up a camp that would provide for a management team, hundreds of front line firefighters, a helicopter base and its pilots, a support staff and supplies, vehicles and equipment for all.

The mission of the fire camp is to contain the complex of fires that had reached almost 32,000 acres as of Tuesday, Sept. 5.

There’s close to 100 acres in the two-level pasture camp that is the temporary home of about 1,000 people, most of them firefighters with the rest being management and support staff.

Setting up a fire camp on the ranch is nothing new. Strader said in the last 15 years, this is the eighth or ninth time a fire camp has been set up on the ranch that has been in his family for 95 years.

The ground is leased to the U.S. Forest Service so there is reimbursement for the ranch, but Strader said he also gives permission for the fire camp because it benefits many of his neighbors and their businesses in nearby Glide.

“If they were to set up the camp farther up into the forest, there would be no economic benefit for this small community,” Strader said. “They’re spending a good deal of money fighting these fires so I’d like to see a benefit for the community. It’s just a guess, but the local restaurants, stores, gas stations may do more like a month’s worth of business in just a week with the influx of personnel.”

On the camp’s lower level, there are large tents for sleeping and smaller tents, each with a different purpose, including operations, planning, logistics, human resources, air operations, finance, and medical and safety. There is also a kitchen that runs the inside length of a semi trailer, a large portable barbecue, a dining area, three or four trailers that offer wash basins and soap to clean up, a couple trailers that offer showers, a laundry service, port-a-potties and stacks of supplies such as bottled water, energy drinks, fire retardant pants and shirts, and numerous other items.

The upper level is a helicopter base.

Spread out under the oak trees on both levels are a couple hundred colorful popup tents that provide individual private resting places.

“It’s right alongside a road (Highway 138), it’s near a community, it’s close to a (Forest Service) district office,” Cheryl Caplan, a spokeswoman for the Umpqua National Forest, said of the benefits of the ranch as a fire camp. “The amenities are really great with electricity and the internet available. Having the two fields allows us to put a type 1 heli base next to a type 1 incident management team and the firefighters. It’s unusual to find all that packaged together so close to a national forest.”

Kyle Reed, a public information officer with the Douglas Forest Protective Association in Roseburg, said it is of great benefit to know in advance that a landowner will be cooperative and give permission to use his land when a fire camp needs to be established.

“Everything you would need is there or close by and it is easily accessible,” Reed said of the ranch.

Strader said fire management officials have expressed their appreciation of his cooperation. He said before any changes have been made to the camp that impacts the ground, officials have checked with him first.

He explained that with vehicles, heavy equipment and hundreds of people using the camp, the ground is impacted.

“Generally they are good about reimbursing the cost for rehabbing the fields,” Strader said of the disking and reseeding that must be done after the camp is taken down. Typically, it gets done and there is grass there the next spring.”

The ranch is home to 400 mother cows. The ranch’s latest crop of calves has been shipped.

While smoke from the fires is hanging low over the area, Strader said he hasn’t seen any negative effects on the ranch’s cows that are in early gestation of their pregnancies.

“This is probably going to continue until some season ending rain storms in late September or early October,” said Strader.

Until those rains, part of his ranch is a fire camp that has the look of a mini city.

Looking for something more exciting than pumpkin spice, Oktoberfests and leaf-peeping to shake up your plans this fall?

Current staff member Mallory Phelan has been appointed interim executive director of Oregon Aglink, the non-profit organization that attempts to help urban Oregonians better understand agriculture.

Phelan, who turns 30 in September, confirmed she has applied to replace Geoff Horning, who left to become CEO of Oregon Hazelnut Industries. Phelan, who has worked for Oregon Aglink four years, is vice president of operations.

The stated mission of Oregon Aglink is to bridge the gap between urban and rural Oregonians by helping people better understand where their food and fiber come from.

The organization’s activities include placing roadside crop identification signs, which it does in partnership with Oregon Women for Agriculture. Phelan said she is especially proud of Oregon Aglink’s “Adopt a Farmer” program, in which schools link up with producers for field trips and presentations. The program has grown from 18 schools and farms a few years ago to 50 this fall.

Phelan grew up working on her family’s grass seed farm between Albany and Lebanon in the mid-Willamette Valley. She earned a business administration degree at the University of Portland and at first had “no intention of working in agriculture,” as she put it. She taught English in Peru for eight months before returning to the U.S. and taking what initially was intended as a six-month position at Oregon Aglink.

“It was kind of like coming home,” she said. “I didn’t realize what I was missing.”

Phelan said she most enjoys working with producers and helping them tell their stories

Today in History

Bandon’s annual showcase football game has a new day and new format this year.

BANDON - On May 5, 1917, Leslie Martin Kranick bought 160 acres of land on the southern Oregon coast just south of Bandon, some of which was planted with cranberry bogs.

BANDON - On May 5, 1917, Leslie Martin Kranick bought 160 acres of land on the southern Oregon coast just south of Bandon, some of which was planted with cranberry bogs.

BANDON - On May 5, 1917, Leslie Martin Kranick bought 160 acres of land on the southern Oregon coast just south of Bandon, some of which was planted with cranberry bogs.

The first picture I am sharing this week was taken in 1976 when Gerry's Restaurant was just the ice cream shop and the dining room. It was not until later that the expansive lounge was built. Today this is the…

BOISE — Agricultural land values around the Northwest continue to increase, despite relatively low commodity prices.

“We would suspect that with commodity prices being low for the past two years, we would have seen some drop in (agricultural) land values, but that is not the case,” said John Chidester, an ag land assessor in East Idaho. “I’ve seen no indication that values are going down.”

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service estimates the average value for all cropland in Idaho at $3,400 an acre in 2017, a 3 percent increase over $3,300 an acre in 2016. NASS estimates irrigated cropland value in Idaho at $5,150 an acre and non-irrigated cropland at $1,460 an acre. Both are up 3 percent from the previous year.

Around the nation, average cropland value is estimated at $4,090 an acre, unchanged from 2016 and below the $4,130 total in 2015 and $4,100 in 2014.

Bob Morrison, an independent ag land appraiser in Idaho Falls, said NASS Idaho estimates for 2017 appear solid.

“Ag land values have been steady to slightly increasing,” he said. “It’s surprising when you consider that commodity prices are down, but the values are still holding strong.”

Doug Robison, Northwest Farm Credit Services’ senior vice president for agriculture in Idaho, said ag land value trends have shown some gains on an annual basis with overall transaction counts declining.

“The combination of limited supply, investor appetite and low interest rates have provided strong support for land values,” he told Capital Press in an email. “Land values have been surprisingly resilient over the past few years. High-quality farm land remains in tight supply.”

NASS also projects that cropland values in Washington and Oregon are on the rise in 2017.

The agency estimates average cropland value in Oregon at $2,860 an acre, up 4.8 percent from last year, with irrigated cropland averaging $4,850 an acre and non-irrigated cropland at $2,120 an acre.

In Washington, average cropland value is estimated at $2,890 an acre, up 4.7 percent, with irrigated cropland at $8,700 an acre and non-irrigated cropland at $1,380 an acre.

According to a Northwest Farm Credit Services market report on 2017 ag land values, limited supply is anchoring land values in the Northwest “despite concerns surrounding weaker commodity prices. ... Both irrigated and dry cropland values continue to remain strong despite lower commodity prices for many crops.”

A large volume of the farm land sold in Idaho this year is purchased by investment groups that are keeping the land in farming, said Morrison.

“We’re seeing investment groups buying large blocks of farmland in southern Idaho,” he said. “These people are looking at farmland as an investment and ... it gives them an annual return.”

Most of the farmer-to-farmer land sales are in the neighborhood of 160 acres and purchased by producers from their neighbors, Morrison said.

The following streets will be closed during the 2017 Cranberry Festival:

Wild Roots has launched a Cranberry Vodka using some of the best cranberries in the country. The spirits company is teaming up with Bandon-based Johnson Creek Farms on its cranberry infused vodka. Wild Roots Cranberry Vodka uses almost 2.5 pounds…

Wild Roots has launched a Cranberry Vodka using some of the best cranberries in the country. The spirits company is teaming up with Bandon-based Johnson Creek Farms on its cranberry infused vodka. Wild Roots Cranberry Vodka uses almost 2.5 pounds…

HUBBARD, Ore. — Northwest Hazelnut Co. has completed the installation of a 435-kilowatt solar power system that offsets 100 percent of the electricity the processing plant uses.

Company co-owner Larry George said the project, including the replacement of halogen lights in the facility with LEDs, ran up a bill of roughly $1 million. With the energy savings and government incentives, however, George plans to offset the costs within five years.

Northwest Hazelnut Co. is part of a network of facilities that process the Oregon Hazelnut harvest, and has three sister processing plants, according to its website.

As a result of going solar, Northwest Hazelnut Co. expects to save $1.6 million on its electricity bills over the next 25 years, said Jordan Sinn, Oregon Earthlight branch manager. The panels should have a lifespan of over 40 years.

The company partnered with Earthlight Technologies, a SunPower Elite Dealer, to install 1,000 E20-435W commercial panels. The 435-kilowatt system produces enough electricity to power about 40 average Oregon homes, David McClelland, senior program manager at Energy Trust of Oregon, said.

The cost of solar systems vary based on size and location, and there are state and federal incentives available for some businesses, McClelland said.

Northwest Hazelnuts held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 1 at the processing facility. The ceremony was attended by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown.

“It’s a great step forward for sustainability,” Brown said. “(Northwest Hazelnuts) is leading the way and impacting the future. They’re setting an example for Oregon agriculture.”

Hazelnuts rank 11th in farmgate value among Oregon’s agricultural commodities. Brown said she expects the rapidly expanding crop to shoot to fifth in the next couple of years.

“Thanks for investing in Hubbard, Marion County and Oregon Agriculture,” she said.

“SunPower’s reliable solar energy solutions coupled with Earthlight’s commercial experience and local presence were strong reasons why we decided to move forward on the project. And knowing this is a long-term investment, the robust warranty and higher efficiency panels were extremely important to us,” George said.

Earthlight Technologies was founded in 2008 as a family-owned and -operated business. Since 2012 the company has installed over 2.5 megawatts of solar PV in both residential and commercial sites, and has over 50 employees at its Ellington, Conn., and Silverton, Ore., offices.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

The fourth annual Cranberry Cruise-In will be held in Old Town on Saturday, Sept. 9.

Enjoy live music all day Saturday and Sunday during the Cranberry Festival on the Main Stage, located on Second Street and Delaware Avenue. Don't miss the Cranberry Coronation followed by the Street Dance featuring classic rock by Done Deal.

Corvallis, Ore. — Brothers Nick and Phillip Lorenz make mead, a beverage with lots of history behind it.

Mead is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages. It was widely popular in ancient Greece and during the Middle Ages, especially in northern European countries where grapevines didn’t flourish.

“On one hand, it’s not new at all — it’s the oldest alcohol, but it’s new commercially,” Nick Lorenz said. “Especially our style. It’s a niche, but emerging marking. The opportunities are endless and it’s just growing.”

The production of mead starts with fermenting honey in a tank with water, yeast and — depending on the brew — additional flavoring ingredients, such as berries. The mead is then filtered and carbonated in a tank before packaging. The process takes around a month, Nick Lorenz said.

At their company, Nectar Creek, the brothers produce session style mead, which refers to alcohol content, that ranges from 4 to 8 percent alcohol. Nick Lorenz describes the taste as light and similar to beer and cider.

For mead with additional fruit flavors, the company picks flavors that pair well together, along with giving brewers freedom to experiment. Nick Lorenz said that ginger-honey is one of their most popular meads, along with their lemon-lime brew they called “Nectorade.”

Nectar Creek formed in 2012, but the brothers had the idea since high school to start a value added agriculture business.

“Selling strawberries is great, but strawberry jam is available all year round,” Nick Lorenz said.

Experimentation with alcohol started young. Phillip Lorenz was caught drinking at 20 years old, but instead of being grounded, his parents took him to a brewery, the thought behind it being: “if you’re going to be around alcohol the rest of your life, you should see how it’s made.”

Phillip Lorenz started home brewing before going to work at Queen Bee Honey Co. When the brothers first started Nectar Creek Phillip Lorenz kept bees, but eventually sold them to Queen Bee Honey Co.

“It’s too much,” Nick Lorenz said. “Beekeeping is a whole separate business.”

Instead, Nectar Creek receives honey from local beekeepers and describe themselves as a “honey co-op.” Nick Lorenz said that they try to add a new honey supplier each year.

As the company has grown, the brothers have decided to double the size of their operation and expand into a new facility that can also work as a tap house, as well as a distillery. The facility is expected to increase operational efficiency by 50 percent. Nick Lorenz hopes that the building will be done in November.

The biggest struggle that the brothers have had is educating consumers about what mead is.

“People in the beer industry know everything about beer and have never head of mead,” Nick Lorenz said. “Or they’ll say, ‘My uncle made mead in his basement and it was gross,’ but they don’t really know what it is.”

He described interactions with bar owners where it took multiple attempts and samples for the owners to even try the product. He said that even when the owners do like it, they aren’t sure if they can make any money from it. He contrasts that with getting a new IPA in bars.

“A bar will just take it without trying it or even knowing if it’s good or not,” he said.

Although Nick Lorenz knows there is still a lot of education to be done about mead, one of the most rewarding aspects for him is seeing customers’ eyes light up after trying it.

“It’s the impact we have on people,” he said. “The goals we have rests on our positive impact on the environment, people and community.”

Nectar Creek employs five workers, and Nick Lorenz said that the first time he wrote an employee’s paycheck he knew “it was real.”

“The more mead we’re making, the more people are drinking it and the more we can care for our employees,” he said.

BANDON — Public enthusiasm for the annual Port of Bandon Boardwalk Art Show is at an all-time high. Countless boardwalk visitors have praised the quality of the art and the unique open air installation on the Coquille River boardwalk, according…