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NCAP Action News, December 2017
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS ANNOUNCEMENT:
Executive Director Departure
From Tony Brand, NCAP Board President
 It is with a bittersweet mix of sadness and gratitude that the Board of Directors announces Kim Leval's departure as Executive Director of the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP), effective December 27, 2017. Since 2009, Kim has played a critical role in the development and success of the organization, and while we will miss her and her inspiring leadership, we wish her the best of luck as she seeks out new endeavors. We want to thank her for the nine years of dedicated service.
Over the next few months, we will be conducting a search to find the new NCAP Executive Director. During this transition period, it is our priority to find the best individual to lead, while still maintaining a stable and effective organization. We will share the job announcement soon and ask for your help in identifying candidates who can help NCAP continue along this successful trajectory.
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A MESSAGE FROM KIM LEVAL
Dear Supporters, Friends and Advocates,
I have been honored to serve as the Northwest Center for Alternative to Pesticides' (NCAP) executive director for nearly nine years. Together, with your committed support, we have advanced NCAP’s critical mission of protecting community and environmental health and inspiring the use of ecologically sound solutions to reduce the use of pesticides. We have protected wildlife, people and places, and we have changed policies. Thank you!
This past August, I informed the board and staff that I would be changing my relationship from executive director to dedicated cheerleader, mentor and supporter. It is time for me to pursue other endeavors. I strongly believe new leadership is healthy for organizations.
With our stellar staff and strong board, we’ve been planning for a smooth transition behind the scenes to bring us to this point of readiness to make my departure public. Together, with your help, we are confident that NCAP’s enduring work will continue to strengthen and blossom in new ways.
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NEWS
New Study Links Fungicides to Bee Deaths
Glyphosate Wins E.U. Approval for 5 Years
American Farmers Are Killing Themselves in Record Numbers
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Special Thanks to Our
BUSINESS LEAGUE SPONSORS:
 
 
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Join NCAP at Our 9th Annual Organic Farming Conference!
Location: The Boise Centre in Boise, Idaho; Room 110
Date: January 20, 2018
Price: $45 Early Registration ($10 Price Increase in January)
Sponsored by USDA Risk Management Agency
This year's 9th annual Organic Farming Conference will coincide with the penning of a new Farm Bill. As we look toward the future, we aim to increase the sustainability and viability of local farms. By attending this year's conference, farmers will have the opportunity to:
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Identify key areas for improvement during our business management session;
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Discover how to increase your farm's financial viability during the cost of production session;
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Learn what's new during the organic certification session; and
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Build relationships during the farmer and buyer panels.
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HEALTHY LANDSCAPE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES:
PESTICIDE-FREE STRATEGIES FOR THE LANDSCAPE PROFESSIONAL
Workshop: Friday, February 16, 2018 9am – 5pm
Oregon City Pioneer Community Center, 615 5th St., Oregon City, OR 97045
Peer-led Field Learning Session: Weds, March 14, 2018 11am - 12:30pm
Location To Be Announced, Clackamas River Watershed Area
This two-part workshop offers landscape professionals the tools to design, install and maintain landscapes using ecologically-sensitive techniques. Attendees will learn how to reduce detrimental impacts on the environment, including river ecology, through strategies that support pesticide reduction. You’ll also learn about certifications and marketing strategies to promote your skills and share information and resources with your landscape professional peers at a field session.
$50 Registration fee covers attendance at both sessions and includes lunch for the workshop.
Spanish interpretation available. Scholarships available for participants with Spanish as first language. Continuing education credits have been applied for from Oregon Department of Agriculture Pesticide Division and Oregon Landscape Contractor’s Board.
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PROTECT FARM WORKER SAFETY:
Tell OSHA "Sheltering-in-Place" Isn't Good Enough
Oregon’s OSHA is considering a new proposal that threatens farm worker family safety. Oregon wants farm worker families to “shelter-in-place” when a pesticide application occurs adjacent to worker housing. Due to substandard farm worker housing and concerns with drift, the proposed changes do not protect workers and families from exposure. Farm worker advocates want 300-ft. buffers around all farm worker housing – and NCAP agrees that farm worker families deserve no less. Join NCAP and others in opposing OSHA’s proposal and calling for better protections from pesticide exposure!
SIGN THE PETITION ON OUR WEBPAGE HERE
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THE IMPLICATIONS FOR SALMON ARE FRIGHTENING:
Update on NCAP’s Court Battle to Save Salmon from Pesticides
Longtime NCAP supporters remember that we’ve been battling for clean water for salmon for many years, starting with our precedent-setting litigation that forced EPA to consider the impact of 54 pesticides on threatened Pacific salmon and steelhead. Our efforts resulted in:
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interim court-ordered buffers along salmon streams,
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a National Academy of Sciences review of analysis protocols, and
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the completion of comprehensive analyses (called consultations, usually with completion of a “Biological Opinion”) on all but a handful of pesticide.
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Several pesticides were cancelled altogether.
Since the Trump administration took office, however, things have taken a darker turn. Pesticide makers have urged the federal government to abandon the effort. Seemingly following suit, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) filed a court motion in November asking for two additional years to complete a final Biological Opinion (Biop) that was originally scheduled to be final December 31, 2017. This Biop covers three highly toxic insecticides (chlorpyrifos, malathion, and diazinon). The EPA had previously stated publicly that the document would be available in May.
NCAP and our ally, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, pushed back in court, demanding NMFS release the Biop on time and submitted a counter-motion to get EPA comments on the internal NMFS draft.
We expect the court to rule any day now. Will we receive the Biop on time? Or will the Trump administration succeed in slowing, weakening or even eliminating these analyses?
Industry is pushing its view in Congress as well. We recently learned of an industry-backed legislative effort to exempt pesticides from Endangered Species Act procedures. Although a formal bill has not yet been introduced, it would gut EPA’s obligation to comply with Endangered Species law.
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ALTERNATIVE OF THE MONTH:
Rethinking Roadside Spraying
Grassed ditch at Country Heritage Farms after planting
Water fills our drinking cups and powers our agriculture. But rivers and streams are important for much more than our own well-being. They are home to iconic fish and wildlife. Did you know that more than a million salmon and steelhead once returned each year to the Willamette Basin in Oregon? Today, our salmon and steelhead are in trouble.
Protecting clean water is a vital piece of salmon recovery. And pesticides are the most frequently detected contaminants in the streams of Oregon’s fertile Willamette Valley. This summer, NCAP met some inspirational growers who are implementing alternatives effectively.
One such grower, Sam Sweeney, grows grass seed, hazelnuts, berries, and vegetables at 1,600-acre Country Heritage Farms. Decades ago, Sweeney noticed weeds invading his field edges, spreading from the state highway. Roadside weed spraying actually seemed to be making the problem worse. Sweeney decided to reshape the ditch, plant creeping red fescue and mow it two to four times a year. The results: no more crabgrass invading his fields, reduced and much cleaner runoff and less work for the state roads department. “It was an amazing difference!” Sweeney reports. “Roadside ditches are the plumbing system of a watershed. What is in these ditches is moved into the riparian systems and streams.”
Water samples show the difference a grassed ditch makes in filtering out sediment, compared to a bare ditch.
He didn’t stop there. Surface and subsurface runoff (collected from underground perforated pipes, known as tiles) from his fields concentrates in a swale, then runs into a seasonal creek and ultimately feeds into the Yamhill River. With Natural Resources Conservation Service technical assistance and cost-share funds, Sweeney built a catchment basin at the tile outlet where the swale meets the creek. The catchment acts as a settling pond, allowing suspended soil particles to drop out before running into the creek. It also helps prevent gullying, which can occur during heavy storms. In addition to the catchment, Sweeney keeps a wide buffer of riparian trees and shrubs around the creek.
Sweeney’s pioneering work with conservation practices has resulted in several awards.
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NCAP DONATION RAFFLE
Have you made your end-of-year donation to NCAP? During the month of December, anyone who makes a donation will be entered into a drawing to win a Glory Bee honey and gift package (everything in the photo above). Plus, anyone who donates through our online giving page will be emailed three coupons to the online stores of our Business League members Glory Bee, Café Mam and Bob’s Red Mill.
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Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides | Info@pesticide.org | 541.344.5044
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