Disaster edict issued for counties

By Larry Meyer - Argus Observer
Monday, October 8, 2007 11:22 AM PDT

ONTARIO - The federal government will step in to help area ranchers after the United States Department of Agriculture announced a disaster declaration for five Eastern Oregon counties.

The declaration was delivered in the wake of severe damage to area rangeland from wildfires and drought during the summer.

Oregon congressman Greg Walden, R-Hood River, who spearheaded a lobbying effort to get the declaration issued, announced the USDA decision last week.

“Disaster declarations for these counties are an important piece of getting the federal assistance to those who need it most,” Walden said. “But there is still much work to be done for Eastern Oregon.”

Walden’s news release said the U.S. Drought Monitor identified the drought conditions in Malheur County as severe, with rangeland grass losses estimated at 50 percent and pasture losses at 80 percent.

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In Baker County, the U.S. Drought monitor identified conditions ranging from abnormally dry to moderate to severe drought. The U.S. Drought Monitor also said the conditions in Baker County were the driest since 1944.

Harney County’s conditions ranged from moderate to severe drought, increasing wildfire intensity.

Severe frost in April and May led to losses in sweet cherries, grain, alfalfa and seed crops in Union County, and ongoing drought conditions have led to losses in pasture and rangeland as well as damage to dryland crops. Conditions in Wallowa County ranged from moderate to severe drought. In a related note, Malheur County Judge Dan Joyce, who was in Washington D.C. recently lobbying with the National Farmers Union, also took the time to visit the offices of Oregon’s Congressional Delegation, including those of Walden and Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith. Joyce visited the Oregon lawmakers to press them to use their influence to get the disaster declaration.

NFU members were lobbying for specific items in the 2007 Farm Bill, including the creation of a permanent disaster program to assist farmers and ranchers hit by natural disasters instead having to rely on yearly ad hoc assistance. The NFU also wanted mandatory funding to accompany the permanent disaster program.