Oregonians for Food and Shelter

Right-to-farm law gets a boost

sandi — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:14:43 +0000

Editorial from the October 7, 2011 edition of the Capital Press

Right to Farm law protects

sandi — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:08:57 +0000

Capital Press Editorial - August 26, 2011

Update on what we’ve been doing since the end of the legislative session

sandi — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:58:12 +0000

OFS 2011 October Update

Natural Resources & Agriculture Committees to Hold Joint Oversight Hearing

sandi — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 22:51:21 +0000

On Tuesday, May 3rd the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources and the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture will hold a joint oversight hearing titled “At Risk: American Jobs, Agriculture, Health and Species — the Costs of Federal Regulatory Dysfunction.” The hearing will begin at 10:00 EDT (7:00 AM PDT) and will feature Oregon Farm [...]

A Call to Arms for Minor Uses on Crops

sandi — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 22:52:16 +0000

OFS received the following email from Alan Schreiber: If you are reading this email, I think you are connected to a minor crop or may have a crop with minor uses, or may be I just think you are a power broker……. At a recent Commodity Liaison Committee meeting for the USDA IR-4 Project was [...]

Talking Points for HB-3429

sandi — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 21:55:17 +0000

The following information was provided to OFS from the Oregon Forest Industries Council (OFIC). If you have any questions or comments about this issue, please contact Ray Wilkeson at 503-586-1242 or Linc Cannon at 503-586-1245.

Paulette Pyle

HB 3429 is a small but important step the Legislature should take to come to the aid of Oregon’s beleaguered timber industry.

Modeled after a successful program in British Columbia, HB 3429 would make Oregon the first state in the nation to say that, for government buildings at least, wood should be the preferred building material (unless it would cost more or for some reason would not be a practical option).

HB 3429 is pending before the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. Please contact members of that committee (contact information below) TODAY and ask them to support HB 3429.

These legislators have already heard from opponents of the bill who claim it would create an “unlevel playing field” to the disadvantage of steel and concrete. Those concerns are at the very least grossly overstated. To set the record straight, legislators now need to hear from Oregon’s natural resource industries.

Despite the shutdown of the federal forests by environmental lawsuits, Oregon continues to be the nation’s #1 lumber-producing state. To strengthen this vital part of our economy, Oregon should lead the way to show the rest of the country the advantages of building with wood. That’s what HB 3429 would do.

Click here for additional information about HB 3429: http://www.ofsonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Wood-First-Talking-Points1.pdf

PLEASE CONTACT THE HOUSE AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE MEMBERS TODAY AND ASK THEM TO SUPPORT THIS IMPORTANT LEGISLATION!!!

Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee Membership:

Brian Clem, Co-Chair

Party: D District: 21

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1421

Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-284, Salem, OR, 97301

Email: rep.brianclem@state.or.us

Bob Jenson, Co-Chair

Party: R District: 58

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1458

District Phone: 541-276-5821

Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-481, Salem, OR, 97301

Email: rep.bobjenson@state.or.us

Jean Cowan, Co-Vice Chair

Party: D District: 10

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1410

District Phone: 541-867-4233

Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-376, Salem, OR, 97301

Email: rep.jeancowan@state.or.us

Mark Johnson, Co-Vice Chair

Party: R District: 52

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1452

Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-489, Salem, OR, 97301

Email: rep.markjohnson@state.or.us

Deborah Boone

Party: D District: 32

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1432

District Phone: 503-717-9182

Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-375, Salem, OR, 97301

Email: rep.deborahboone@state.or.us

Sal Esquivel

Party: R District: 6

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1406

Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-483, Salem, OR, 97301

Email: rep.salesquivel@state.or.us

Mike Schaufler

Party: D District: 48

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1448

District Phone: 503-760-4446

Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-382, Salem, OR, 97301

Email: rep.mikeschaufler@state.or.us

Sherrie Sprenger

Party: R District: 17

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1417

Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-473, Salem, OR, 97301

Email: rep.sherriesprenger@state.or.us

Time to Clean Up the EPA

sandi — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 21:27:11 +0000

Time to Clean Up the EPA A great OpEd from House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member, Collin C. Peterson, D, Minnesota

Make comments to EPA on Draft BiOp on 2,4-D

sandi — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 16:38:35 +0000

Bullet Points for Stakeholders on 2,4-D Draft BiOp 15 March 2011 Click on the preceeding link for bullet points for your comments to the EPA. EPA Seeks Input on National Marine Fisheries Service’s Draft Measures to Protect Endangered Pacific Salmon from Six Pesticides – from EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs - 03/03/2011 EPA is seeking comments [...]

2010 General Election Results

sandi — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 19:56:48 +0000

Click here to review the full election results from November 2, 2010

From The New York Times

terry — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 19:34:00 +0000

Pesticides freak us out — and understandably so. The idea of otherwise healthy fruits and vegetables marred by residual poison unnerves us because, generally speaking, we’re clueless. We’re totally removed from the process of production. We don’t know what was sprayed, we can’t see the trace pesticides, we can’t measure them on our own, and, let’s face it, the vast majority of us don’t remotely understand how these agents work. The upshot is that we’re left to trust outside interpreters to assess the risk for us.

And this, as a recently hatched debate reminds us, can be equally unnerving. Earlier this month, 50 environmental organizations got together and demanded that California return a $180,000 federal grant awarded to the Alliance for Food and Farming, an agricultural non-profit based in Watsonville, CA. The AFF received the grant, in its own words, “to correct misconceptions that some produce items contain excessive amounts of pesticide residues.” The protesting organizations — notably the Environmental Working Group and the Organic Consumers Association — claimed that such a mission “strikes a blow” at the organic movement, adding that “it is inappropriate for state and federal officials to categorically take the side of conventional agribusiness in this scientific and policy debate.”