Liz Writes Life 2-26-2020

Feb. 26, 2020

Liz Writes Life

Ray Haupt, Siskiyou Co. Supervisor for Dist. 5, and Erin Ryan, representative for CA. Dist. 1 Congressman Doug LaMalfa, will be the speakers for the Scott Valley Protect Our Water meeting this Thursday, Feb. 26, 2019 at the Fort Jones Community Center. Time is 7 p.m.

Ray continues to attend meetings on the forestry dilemma and will share progress being made at agency levels. Erin will report on the congressman’s activities, including events from Washington D.C. She should have some fun stories!

Last week, LaMalfa praised President Trump and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt after they visited California and signed a Record of Decision formalizing biological opinions that will reduce the wasted water flushed to San Francisco Bay. This support for the protection of Northern California Water Rights will also provide more water for wildlife refuges and California famers’ irrigation systems.

LaMalfa said: “For too long California water has been utterly wasted by sending vast quantities of it out to the ocean for no environmental benefit or for human use.” He explained that the previous policy has been a failure and harmed families, farms, workers and California’s economy.

Garden

Earlier this month, I was talking with a friend from Medford about gardening and she told me that she did straw bale gardening, last summer. I had never heard of it and asked her to explain it and then I went and looked it up on the internet. A man, Joel Karsten, wrote a book on straw bale gardening and it has blossomed.  Simply put, this is a different type of container gardening with the bale being the container. You can also think of it as easy-raised-bed gardening. Folks with poor soil or little room praise this system.

Like most gardening, you need to plan how, why and where you will put your bales. I think my friend and her husband put them end to end. Some people put them in a square. Set the bale on its side with the cut-ends sticking up and the strings around the outside. Because straw has very little nitrogen, the next step is to “condition” the bale at least two weeks before you will plant. This means watering it thoroughly and adding quite a bit of granulated fertilizer every day or so to start to breakdown the interior part of the bale into a compost mulch. Apparently, this creates an “extraordinary” root environment.

It takes quite a bit of nitrogen-type of fertilizer – about three cups every other day with the watering for a week – and then a reduced amount for several days. Look it up on the internet for an exact amount. Within a few days of watering, the inside of the bale should start to warm from the de-composting process. Put your hand into the bale to check. Roots also like warmth.

After two weeks, seeds or small plants can be planted in holes that you make with your trowel. One discussion that I read said to put an inch-layer of mulch on top of the bale before planting and water it well. Then, add another inch or two of a planting soil and water it well again.

Using straw bales is much preferred to hay bales, since hay can have so many other seeds in it. Funny-looking mushrooms may grow, but this just shows that the de-composting is occurring. Pull them out and only eat them if you know your mushrooms!

One thing the internet discussions mentioned is that the straw bales will continue to need daily irrigating and suggested using a drip system or soaker hose. It was also said to be sure to put up wire or some kind of trellises before the plants get very tall so they don’t fall over. Once again, pre-planning is the key.  

I was intrigued by this method. What innovative minds won’t come up with next!

But, a word of caution: With the warm temps we have had, it is easy to get excited about starting the garden. We have had frosts and temps down into the 20s this past week. Just remember that no matter how high the daytime temps reach, this spring, we will continue to get frosts through May. And, hopefully, we will have a good bout of rain and or snow in March or April. We need the moisture!

Election

I haven’t said much about the Primary General Election that will be held next Tuesday, March 3, 2020. Yep, this is three months earlier than our used-to-be June Primary. Many of you have likely voted, but for you leave-to-it-to-the-last-minute voters (like me) I wanted to mention that Prop 13 will likely raise our property taxes. I voted against it.

I know that our school facilities need help and I am not against our school districts receiving more funds. Unfortunately, like many propositions, this one will chip away at the previous property tax law, Prop 13, that protects our property taxes from increases.

This 2020 Prop. 13 is a $15 billion school facilities bond that has language buried deep within the measure allowing school districts to borrow more money from the state – almost double what they can currently borrow. One point I learned, from my research on Prop 13, is that the state already has a $7.8 billion in unsold, unused school facilities bond monies that have already been allocated for the construction, upgrades and retrofitting of California schools.

That is $7.8 billion! Just seems like that money should be utilized before chipping away at our property tax protections.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

 # # #

Liz Writes Life 2-19-2020

Feb. 19, 2020

Liz Writes Life

California enjoyed a good snow-packed winter last year. But, unfortunately, this year’s Feb. 1, 2020 snow surveys are not looking so good. At the start of January 2020, the statewide snowpack was at 90 percent or normal. That has dropped to 64 percent and includes the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which is a huge contributor to agricultural and metropolitan water usage as well as power generation and recreation to the state.

Locally, the snowpack is at 66 percent after Klamath National Forest Service employees surveyed the Middle Boulder, Dynamite Meadow, Swampy John (above Etna) and Scott Mt. on Feb. 1^st. The surveys will be conducted again the first of March and April. Boy, let’s hope and pray we get a “Miracle March!”

Nope, I still haven’t done anything out in the garden. Quite often, I stare at the dry perennial stems that need pulling; and I am starting to feel a little guilty they are not cleaned up. Only a little! I heard some friends were pruning their fruit or ornamental trees. Good for them!

The only gardening I am doing is watching the three pink hyacinths shrivel-up in the bowl in the house. I planted them in gravel and water in early January. The three that hadn’t bloomed are just now starting and they are purple. Surprisingly, two of the pink ones are shooting out another pick hyacinth.

The crocus that I tried to force-bloom indoors are stagnant. They have grown several inches, but the inch or so of green grass-like stems are just sitting there. I decided to put them outside to see if that would stimulate blooming, but that hasn’t worked. The icy mornings don’t seem to bother them, so I don’t know if crocus just don’t like to be forced to bloom. Hum, shrug. I didn’t get the left-over bulbs planted in the garden, so I have nothing to compare them to.

FEMA grants

Doug LaMalfa, CA. Dist. 1 Congressman, is grateful FEMA has issued two federal grants totaling $16 million to California for Carr Fire recovery. The first grant is for $6.5 million to the city of Redding to restore its power grid. The second grant is for nearly $10 million to the CA. Dept. of Resources Recycle and Recovery for debris removal per a provision secured by Congressman LaMalfa.

The Carr Fire burned over 220,000 acres, destroyed over 1,600 structures and caused eight deaths. LaMalfa is pleased these newest FEMA grants will help his constituents continue to recover from the deadly 2018 fires.

Also, LaMalfa worked with the federal Dept. of House and Urban Development to obtain over $1.8 million in Community Development Block Grants to Paradise, Chico and Redding; and over $1 million in HOME grants to Chico and Redding. These grants will assist with building low-income housing in these communities.

He is dedicated to working with Congress and the Administration to ensure the North State rebounds from these tragic fires -- as quickly as possible.

FERC

During the past several weeks, there has been a flurry of back-and-forth letter-writing regarding the Klamath dam removal situation. Result: All talk to remove the dams is just that – talk. No governmental decisions have been made.

In fact, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission just set down the law or rather the process that must be followed -- in black and white. This means, the non-profit Klamath River Renewal Corp., that wants to destroy the dams has been publically put on notice.

This latest spat started with KRRC sending letters to government agencies demanding decisions and the forward movement toward KRRC obtaining the hydro-electric license to remove the dams.

Loy Beardsmore, who owns a home and property in the Copco area, contacted me to say she wrote a letter to both FERC and the CA. Water Board asking both government agencies to follow the correct administrative and environmental processes. She and her husband, John Beardsmore, said it looked like KRRC was “intimidating and bullying” the agencies.

Then, I learned that other property owners, the Siskiyou Water Users Assoc. and Siskiyou County had also weighed-in. The county’s response was three pages and addressed significant aspects of inadequacies in KRRC’s proposed Definite Plan for obtaining PacifiCorp’s hydro-electric license and removal of the four targeted Klamath dams.

I wish you could read the county’s letter. Talk about important environmental, financial and liability issues that KRRC has not addressed! If the process is being slowed down, it is KRRC that has failed to meet deadlines to improve and complete its Definite Plan.

Adding to the process for KRRC is another review of its plan. Ray Haupt, Siskiyou Co. Dist. 5 Supervisor, told me that whenever KRRC submits a final Definite Plan, it must first be evaluated by an Independent Board of Consultants before going to FERC. That is when the National Environmental Policy Act will be implemented. It is no small feat to address all the NEPA issues and will take even more time.

A few of the issues, Ray said the county has brought to light include the incorrect disposal of concrete, proposed by KRRC, which will likely have asbestos in it. KRRC’s proposal does not meet federal, state or county regulations. Also, the county has learned from KRRC’s contractors that certain proposed bridge improvements (on county roads) are being stricken from KRRC’s plan to save money. This is a major public safety issue, because of the heavy equipment that will need to cross these bridges.

So, once again, KRRC is making a lot of noise and demanding forward movement of its Klamath dams removal project, but has not done its part in completing its final Definite Plan.

Ray Haupt will explain more on the Klamath dams issue at the Scott Valley Protect Our Water meeting on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 at the Fort Jones Community Center at 7 p.m.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

# # #

Liz Writes Life 2-11-2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Liz Writes Life

OK, I know I am getting older and realize my memory is not as good as it once was. Sometimes, I think I remember how something happened and then find out that is not what someone else recalls. It is pretty frustrating – especially when they are right!

Several years ago, I found a three-page story I had written about my dad, Hearst Dillman, and documented with photos how he barbecued 40-pound beef roasts in a pit. The story, with photos, was finished on Dec. 22, 1995 and given to a few family members. Dad died earlier in March of 1995 and supervised his last barbecue in October 1994, when Dan and Lyn Hayden married and held a reception. Soon-to-be brother-in-law, Dave Grassman, volunteered to help, along with my husband, Jack, and I and son, Branden. In the photos we can also see Rob Ritola.

The past few years, I have been thinking that I need to share my photos with family and friends and write stories to go with them. I hoped this set of photos would be a nice Christmas gift and a way to start organizing my many photos. (Oh, but some good intentions turn into big projects. Ugh!)

So, last November, I re-found the barbecue story with photos and decided to re-write it, because it was mostly about the step-by-step process of building a huge fire in a pit, season and wrap the huge beef roasts, when to put them in the pit, seal it up and when to take the meat out.

It was in the 1950s, when my grandpa, George Dillman, and Pleasure Park rodeo friends began cooking the beef roasts in a pit for big events. The Pleasure Park Association was organized in 1948 as a non-profit for recreation and featured rodeos. Gymkhana horse playdays were organized, as well, and the community seemed to enjoy a barbecue picnic before the event, which was usually held in the fall. (When I was a kid, I wanted to win a ribbon so bad, hum, but that is another story.)

Soon, Hearst and his brother, Charley Dillman, were helping George. Grandpa died in 1960, and the brothers took over the project and were also barbecuing for other events. They typically cooked for 200 to 300 people.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the Etna Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was always holding bake sales, dinners and doing catering to raise funds to enlarge their church building. Known for their good food, the church members were asked to cater a luncheon for Governor Ronald Reagan, who was travelling up to Siskiyou County. Dad said he would cook the meat in the pit, but here is where my memory became fuzzy. I do remember that dad was quite proud to be asked to cook for Gov. Reagan.

Needless to say, this project did not get finished for Christmas gifts to my sons or family, because I realized I needed to talk to other people and get more information.

I was a teenager and helped serve. I could remember Gov. Reagan and other dignitaries were seated on risers in the Flower Building at the Siskiyou Golden Fairgrounds. I felt the Winema Hall was used for cooking. And, I thought the event must have been held for Reagan’s campaign for his second term. I was right on the Flower Building, but the campaign part was wrong.

I called Betty Seaver, who now lives in Utah and asked what she remembered. Most of the women made 10 pies – each. She thought they planned for 450 people. French dip sandwiches were featured along with beans and salads. Betty was in charge of making sure there were enough beans.

Then, I called Libby Dudley Sears, because I remembered talking to her at the event and she was very pregnant. Libby had agreed to attend the event, because her husband, Stan, parents, Clarence and Arde Dudley, and Dr. Meamber were all there. Yes, she thought the Republican Committee must have sponsored the event, but her first child was born Oct. 6, 1971. This was after the campaign as Reagan was elected to his second term in Nov. 1970.

(As a side note, I looked up the election results in Siskiyou County and Reagan won by 172 votes! Wow, that was a squeaker. He won the state with 52.83 percent.)

Now, I was really curious. So, I went to the county library in Yreka and looked through microfilm of Siskiyou Daily News and found two articles. The event was hosted by the Republican Central Committee on Thursday afternoon, Sept. 23, 1971. Mary Chancey was the chairman of the committee and her husband, Harold Chancey, was Master of Ceremonies. The event must have been a fundraiser for the Republican committee, but I don’t know for sure. And, yes, the governor spoke.

When chatting with my brother, Steve Dillman, about dad and the pit beef barbecues, he recalled that this event was the only time someone tried to sabotage the pit fire. It takes a cord of wood burning for 12 hours to create the deep coals needed to cook the meat. While dad had went back home, someone took the hose and watered down the fire. Dad was able to add a bunch more wood and stoke up the fire. He worried if the beef would cook enough and, luckily, it did. I remembered the sabotage, but did not recall that it was during the Gov. Reagan event.

The dinner was a success, but exhausting for the cooks. Elsie Thackeray was food chairman and also pregnant!

Well, these are just a few facts from my re-written story. It took nearly all of January and a bunch of phone calls to finally piece a pretty accurate story together, which turned-out to be 10 pages and 3,500 words! I added several photos of my Grandpa Dillman and Uncle Charley Dillman to the photo section.

So, why am I sharing this story? I believe it is extremely important to tell our stories and our ancestors’ stories. For many folks, it is hard to get started. We worry that we may get something wrong. Yep, I did on several things. Yes, it was important to me to take more time to ask other people their memories and discern as much accuracy as possible. And, it was fun. But, you don’t have to.

Just know that these stories bring our ancestors to life. A story need only be a few paragraphs about an event or activity or someone. You don’t have to end up with 3,500 words! I encourage you to give it a try. Take an old photo and write about it. There will be relatives, grandchildren and friends who will thank you!

Scott Valley Protect Our Water will meet Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 at the Fort Jones Community Center at 7 p.m.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

# # #

Liz Writes Life 2-5-2020

Feb. 5, 2020

Liz Writes Life

Ooops! I forgot to remind folks that Scott Valley Protect Our Water would not be meeting in January. The next meeting will be Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 at the Fort Jones Community Center at 7 p.m. So very sorry!

Three of the six hyacinths that I put in a pot of rocks and water in the house,  a month ago, are blooming and all are pink. I really enjoy the fragrance of hyacinths – makes me think of Easter, which won’t be until April 12^th this year. I thought the crocus would bloom before the hyacinths, but a few are just barely two-inch tall green stems. I haven’t gotten any planted in the garden and don’t know if that is even going to happen, because the garden is sorta not on my radar right now. I am enjoying winter!

Get to know candidates

Several groups are inviting candidates running for a variety of offices to meetings on Feb. 11, 2020. The public is invited to both meetings, which are free.

The first meeting will be held at 11 a.m. starting with a meet and greet and will be held at the Yreka R.V. Park meeting room at 767 Montague Rd. in Yreka. This meeting is sponsored by the Siskiyou Co. Republican Women Federated.

Candidates that have been invited to speak are: Dist. 1 U.S. Congressman Doug LaMalfa and or his Field Rep Erin Ryan; CA. Senator Dist. 1 Brian Dahle and or his field reps Bruce Ross and Alice Bennett; CA. Dist. 1 Assemblywoman Megan Dahle; Siskiyou Co. Dist. 1 Supervisor Brandon Criss; and candidate for Dist. 4 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor Nancy Ogrin.

The Republican Women are also hosting a luncheon at noon with sandwiches, soup, salad and dessert by Jackie. Cost is $10. Please call to make a lunch reservation to Annie at 530-842-2350 and Kathy at 530-905-2492.

Everything seems to happen at the same time and on the evening of Feb. 11, 2020, the Siskiyou Patriots have invited candidates running for Siskiyou Co. Dist. 1 Supervisor position to speak. Incumbent Brandon Criss said he will be attending and one of the two other candidates, Angelina Cook, responded to the invitation.

Siskiyou Patriots meet at 6:30 p.m. at Covenant Chapel at 200 Greenhorn Rd. Yreka. Everyone is invited. For more info call Louise at 530-586-1430.

Census scams

The U.S. 10-year census has started with April 1, 2020 the official date. I saw a news article stating that scammers are already on the move. Gotta say that answering government questions is not my favorite thing, but I do genealogy and the U.S. Censuses are a huge godsend of information, when finding families. So, I will fill out my census form, because I am real and the government already knows it.

Most of us will receive a census form in the mail. Be sure to check that the census mailing form has a return address of Jeffersonville, Indiana. This is the site of the National Processing Center. If it is from somewhere else, it’s not from the U.S. Census Bureau and needs to be reported to the Better Business Bureau.

Census-takers are also being hired to find people that have fallen through the cracks. So, you may have someone knocking on your door.

Please be careful. Here is some information to protect you from scammers.

Genuine census survey agents and surveys will not ask for your Social Security number, credit card or bank account numbers. Do not give out that info! Census takers will not ask for money or threaten jail time, if you don’t answer their questions.

To be extra cautious, you should verify a census agent is legitimate. He or she should have a Census Bureau photo identification badge with a U.S. Dept. of Commerce watermark and an expiration date and a copy of the letter the bureau sent to you. Oh, that is important to know. You can also search a census agent’s name in the Census Bureau’s online staff directory.

A census will not be sent by email. Delete immediately!

Klamath dams

Last week, I talked with our Dist. 5 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor, Ray Haupt, and he said the county recently responded to several state agencies’ comment periods as the State Water Board is still in the process of revisiting the Environmental Impact Report. He added that the county is still waiting for the non-profit Klamath River Renewal Corp. to submit its revised Definite Plan for taking out the Klamath dams.

KRRC, again, missed its last deadline, which was in December 2019. I believe this was to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. When KRRC submits its final Plan, the county will be scrutinizing the Plan and submitting its responses.

LaMalfa

Congressman Doug LaMalfa is not happy with the newest infrastructure plan released by the Democrats, who are the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

LaMalfa said: “Infrastructure bills that move through the House are typically passed with broad bipartisan support. At a $760 billion price tag with unknown financing, this proposal is sadly nothing more than a set of talking points. I’m concerned that more taxes and things like increased airport passenger fees are going to be a big part of this financing proposal, yet much of the new spending will go towards projects that middle-income families cannot afford, like electric car infrastructure that no one uses and green energy projects.

“Our country is in desperate need of an infrastructure revamp. We can’t pass one without working it out together. The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, on which I serve, has a bipartisan history, which is not so common in the House these days. Republicans remain ready to work with Democrats on real infrastructure proposals – proposals that people can actually benefit from – not just talking points.”

This is too bad, because our freeways and bridges certainly need to be updated.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

 # # #

Liz Writes Life 1-29-2020

January 29, 2020

Liz Writes Life

An interesting meeting will be held this Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020 regarding a possible dam-passage solution for salmon on Klamath River dams. The meeting will be at 2 p.m. at the KRCE Community Center in Hornbrook. The meeting is sponsored by the Siskiyou Water Users Assoc., who has advocated several practical solutions to salmon passage instead of destroying four Klamath dams and the environmentally-friendly hydro-electric facilities.

I talked with Richard Marshall, president of the Siskiyou Water Users, who said that the groups demanding the removal of the dams have not considered fish ladders or any type of passage around the dams. Over the years, the Siskiyou Water Users, Siskiyou County and other groups have suggested alternative fish passage solutions – but they have been ignored.

Back when the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement group was meeting (five to eight years ago), the removal of the four hydro-electric Klamath dams was the only solution on the table. KBRA and the present non-profit activist group, Klamath River Renewal Corporation, seem to only be interested in destroying the dams.

A final government decision to remove the dams has not been made. Currently, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must make several decisions before the dams can be removed. These include relicensing the hydro-electric facilities from PacifiCorp to the non-profit KRRC and meeting the National Environmental Policy Act regarding the proposals for destruction of the four dams.

Many dams throughout the United States, and the world, have fish ladders and passages. There are alternatives to demolition of the Klamath dams.

Whooshh Innovations, based in Seattle, WA. is the inventor of the “Salmon Cannon,” but contrary to the name the technique is actually quite gentle in moving salmon.

I checked Whooshh Innovations website and learned the technique has been used to move fruit through a flexible transport tube. We all know that consumers do not like bruises on their apples, so the process must be fairly gentle. Whooshh tested its technology on live fish in 2011 and the technology has undergone numerous independent and peer reviewed studies. The process has become a game-changer and Whooshh systems are now being utilized in the United States and Europe.

Rich said it is an inexpensive fish passage solution compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars it would take to remove the four Klamath dams. Wow, cost-saving!

I have been reporting on the relicensing of the Klamath hydro-electric dams since 1998. It was surprising to me that PacifiCorp was not given a new 40 to 50 year license, when its previous long-term license ended in 2000. Environmental groups claim the Klamath hydro-electric dams were hurting the salmon runs especially after the coho salmon were listed to the federal Endangered Species Act in 1996. These claims have affected the relicensing process.

Years of wrangling and discussing the science and biology of salmon and water heated-up back in 1986, when congress approved the Klamath River Basin Fisheries Resources Restoration Act and provided $21 million for this 20-year study. In 1986, the congressional act targeted Chinook salmon and included impacts from the ocean like commercial and sports fishing.

When salmon and steelhead have swam the 190 miles from the Pacific Ocean and reach the Irongate Fish Hatchery, operated by CA. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, eggs are taken and millions of new young fish are hatched, grown and carefully released back into the Klamath River.

When I read more about Whooshh, I found it interesting the company has its roots in agriculture and has witnessed first-hand the seemingly contradiction between species listed with the Endangered Species Act and growing food.

The Whooshh story goes like this: In 2011, while field-testing its fruit harvester to mechanically harvest and sort tree fruit, Whooshh CEO Vincent Bryan III observed helicopters flying overhead with large buckets. They were moving migratory salmon over a dam. Later, Bryan’s business returned to a citrus grove in California that was alive with 50-years old trees the year before, but was now completely dead. It was explained that the irrigation water that fed the orchard had been diverted to save fish.

This would certainly be a shock to the senses: Sacrificing trees for fish. So, Bryan and his company began working on this new fish passage process.

I still believe fish and agriculture can live together. I also checked with Ray Haupt, our Dist. 5 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor, to see what he thought of this new technology. He said the county has also learned about this new salmon passage alternative and Whooshh Innovation could be the solution. He plans to attend the meeting on Jan. 30^th.

Anyone interested in finding a way to save the Klamath dams and aid salmon numbers is welcome to attend the meeting with Whooshh Innovations.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

 # # #

Liz Writes Life 1-22-2020

Jan. 22, 2020

Liz Writes Life

This is so exciting! Last week, I started six hyacinths in the house to force them to bloom – hopefully in February. They were sitting on the shelf, cuz I purchased them last November just for this project. But, the package of bulbs did get buried under the reusable plastic bags and I sorta forgot about them. You know, out-of-sight out-of-mind! But luckily because I ordered crocus bulbs, in December, I remembered the hyacinths.

So, last week, I went to the rock pile and gathered different sizes of small gravel and put in a big flat bowl for the hyacinths -- to provide room for their roots to grow -- and a bigger glass bowl for about 12 crocuses. I added water and the shoots are already greening up. When the snow melts, I hope to get the rest of the crocus planted in the garden. The soil should be soft. (It needs to be done right away! Ha, ha.)

Speaking of snow, we only had about three inches here below Callahan. When I drove to Etna last Friday, I could see they had quite a bit more snow and then heard Patterson Creek and Kellems Lane area was hammered with 18 inches of wet snow that condensed quickly down to about eight inches. Oh, the joys of January in Scott Valley.

Fallen Heroes

I just love this and it is just in time to beat back the winter blues.

An allied coalition of Siskiyou County veterans, law enforcement and fire agencies are sponsoring a fundraiser dinner for our Siskiyou Fallen Heroes Memorial. It will be a great night of fun and sincere appreciation. The dinner of rib-eye steak or chicken will be this Sat., Jan. 25, 2020 at the Yreka Community Center up by the Yreka High School. Doors open at 5 p.m. and dinner is at 6 p.m.

There will be auctions and raffles of desserts, gift baskets and various other items. Three Henry engraved commemorative rifles representing firefighters, law enforcement and veterans will be the highlight of the fundraising event.

Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased at Cal-Fire in Yreka, the Siskiyou Co. Sheriff’s Office and the Veteran’s office. In Mt. Shasta purchase your tickets at Mt. Shasta Elks. For more information, call Tony Genocchio at 530-945-8979 or Suzi Brady at 530-598-2622.

USMCA

With all the politics going on in Washington D.C., I was happy to see the U.S. Mexico and Canada Agreement passed by both the House and the Senate. President Trump was pleased that Congress passed the bill and will be signing with the heads of Mexico and Canada very soon. (I was also very pleased to see the first step in a trade agreement with China as well!)

Dist. 1 Congressman Doug LaMalfa touted USMCA passage by the hugely divided Congress. Nearly all California Agriculture groups have praised the recent action.

LaMalfa said the USMCA will reduce trade barriers that will give farmers and manufacturers new opportunities to grow and continue to boost the American economy. “As our neighbors, maintaining a free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada is vital,” he said.

I know our elected officials are pushed and pulled by a huge amount of lobbying interests and in talking with LaMalfa over the years, he truly works to support California agriculture. Unfortunately, you just can’t make everyone happy.

So, I am a bit torn. Like I said, USMCA needed to be accomplished. I have always been frustrated with NAFTA from the Clinton era. There is one group, R-CALF USA, that felt a major issue was ignored. But, to be fair, it has been opposed by the other large National Cattlemen’s Beef Association – for years.

What is this issue? It is COOL – Country Of Origin Labeling. More than 20 years ago, I reported on the need for COOL as it was accepted by beef associations two decades ago. Then, COOL was dissolved and R-CALF USA has been exposing the need to bring it back.

You see, since NAFTA opened the world market, consumers do not know the country of origin of their beef unless it is labeled. According to statistics, imports of beef and cattle are the leading agricultural products from Canada and Mexico at $4.1 billion. Believe it or not, the second-place import was malt beverages at $3.7 billion! Yep, I was surprised at that one.

But, Mexico and Canadian beef is not the only threat to the U.S. ranchers. Recently, Bill Bullard, R-CALF USA CEO, reported that in November 2019, U.S. fed steers prices averaged $116 per hundredweight, while steers from Argentina, Brazil and Australia averaged about $39, $70 and $88 per hundredweight, respectively.

“How can you expect to compete against this world supply of cheaper cattle and cheaper beef, when packers and retailers who sell beef from your superior U.S. cattle are not required to distinguish it as a U.S. product with a Country-Of-Origin Label?” he said.

Many of us have been skeptical of the quality of foreign-raised beef. Some foreign countries do not have nearly the controls and humane protections demanded by USDA.

I don’t know all the complex politics and why the NCBA does not support COOL. Personally, I want to know where the meat I purchase is grown. Locally, several ranchers, along with R-CALF, are sending their concerns to President Trump. But, just like politics in the swamp of WA. D.C., the beef industry also has its politics and bigger powers have so far stopped COOL. Doesn’t mean family ranchers shouldn’t try to get their voices heard. I say: “Go for it!”

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

 # # #