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Show The Salt Lake Tribune NATION Sunday, June 24,2001 All Farmers: Wheat at Risk Because USDA Slow to Contain Fungus Drought ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Pits Man Vs.Salmon | ANTHONY, Ty Bureaucratic bungling by the U.S. Department of has allowed the spread of a plant disease that could prove as devastating to wheat exports as foot-and-mouth disease has Lawgives priority — to endangered species over farms and power der Karnal bunt is a fungus thatis harmless to people but sours the taste and smell of flour made from infected kernels.It also slightly cuts production in infected fields. ‘The disease’s main impact is economic: 80 countries ban impdrts ofwheat grown in infected regions. That could be as crippling for American growers, who last year produced nearly $6 billion of wheat, as would be the discovery of foot-and-mouth disease in US.livestock, said Brett Myers, executive vice presidentfor the Kansas Wheat Growers Association. Europe's foot-and-mouth outbreak has cost millions of dollars for the slaughter of around 3 million animals and a ban on exports. The sus) Karnal. bunt contamination was first reported to the USDA on May25, said Michael ae co-ownerofthe elevatorin Olney, Texas, that found it. Butit took seven days before the USDA's Animal and PlantInspection Service confirmed the finding, and 15 days before it quarantined the first affected counties, Charles Schwalbe, director of APIS’ plant protection and quarantine program,said his agency sent the sample away for testing at a national lab instead of using a local one to make sure it had accurate and leeally defensible information before taking action. The Karnal bunt found in Throcknforton and Young counties in Texas were the first confirmed cases in the nation’s wheat belt, an area extending from central Texas to Alberta, Canada. On June 19, concern widened as the USDA added neighboring Archer County to the quarantined area, followed by Baylor County the next day. One elevator has also been quarantined in Fort Worth, about 150 miles southeast. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., has been pursuing the issue following a request from growers for a congressional investigation into the USDA's handling. Hisoffice said he has not decided whetherto ask for an inquiry. PUCY te(st on and steelhead under the Endangered Species Act. On manystretches of river, those rules now putprotecting salmon ahead of irrigating farms and producing electricity. But even with the legal reshuffling, nature still holds the highest cards. Fighting for Survival: Droughtis gripping the Snake River and the rest of the Columbia River Basin, making it impossible to satisfy everyone whouses river water. Government biologists want reser: voirs lowered immediately to help flush young salmon downstream. Farmers wantthe reservoirs kept full.so they cari water their fields later this summer, Utility operators, facing exorbitantelectricity costs dueto California’s power crisis, want a steady flow of water through the basin’s hydropowerdams. Lawsuits and protests have become almost daily occurrences as the Northwest gropes its way toward saving salmon without bankrupting those who use the same resources as the fish — which is to say nearly everyonein the region. Five species of wild salmon andone species ofsteelhead are involved. Some populations in somerivers are doing justfine, while others are at the brink of extinction — a complex situation made even more confusing ye lise of hatchery-peed the years to substitute tefor dwindling wild runs. Few in the Northwest question the need to protect salmon. They just want someone else to doit: Dams,logging operations, farms, urban commercial andtribal fisheries — all get blamed for the salmon’s problems. FRAM’ AIR FILTERS see | : pencacon.... 449 MAILAN Penca..on...1.50 to $1.29VALUE 1720¢ ¥ covron Saari ennGusnrar«CASH BOSCH PLATINUM Drought’s Toll: The Columbia _basin’s mountain snowpack was half its normal level last winter, the seconddriest since 1895. Without the usual spring freshets, young salmon trying to swim downstream to the sea are getting lostin the sluggish water of reservoirs. Others are getting stranded as riverlevels fall. Biologists have found young fish trying to survive in water-filled deer tracks along the shore. , During past droughts, Northwest utilities have supple mented hydrogenerated electricity by buying power elsewhere in the West. Butthis year, power shortages and California’s troubles with deregulation have raised wholesale power pricestenfold or more. Glass - #10865. Cleaning - #10863, Protectant - #10861 ¢ PROTECTANT Ultrashine. #78000. i @ WHEEL CLEANER 72020. © CAR POLISH wa119 WASHKIT #541000. the dams’ operator, to help flush young salmon downstream this summer by releasing at least a third of the water held behind the dams in Brownlee Reservoir. The private utility wants to Stant Lifetime SUPERSTATS Warranty. Lynn Tominaga,of the Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association, aL ae Tg I COra)ny Ae Ca For The CHECKER Location Neare CALL 1-800-2 CHECKER erty yee ya) Shop online at 6(S57lar | * Shop for auto parts and accessories at home at checkerauto.com | * Choose home delivery or pick up your orderat your local Checker store. * Remember,, any merchandise ordered online can be returned ot exchan at any Checker store* (nooo ooa, oy rt coro |