Field burning fires up politicians.

Byline: Diane Dietz The Register-Guard

CORRECTION (ran 10/12/2006): Glenn Fortune, Lane Regional Air Protection Agency board member, joined chairman Dave Ralston to vote against sending a letter to the Legislature urging a ban on field burning. An article on Page One incorrectly identified the board member who joined Ralston in opposing the letter.

State lawmakers say they'll carry citizen ire over summertime field burning to the Legislature when it begins meeting in January.

Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene, said he's got a bill in the works to ban field burning, which some grass seed farmers in northern Lane and Linn counties use to get rid of straw after harvest.

"The economic benefit of field burning does not outweigh the huge cost to public health - not to mention global warming," Holvey said.

Other candidates are jumping on the bandwagon. Rep. Terry Beyer, D-Springfield, Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene, state Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene - plus statehouse candidates Nancy Nathanson - a Democrat - and Bill Eddie - a Republican - said they all want the Legislature at least to take a look at the issue.

`I've had a lot of people out on the campaign trail talk to me about field burning and make a remark like, `Bill, if you could eliminate field burning, I'd vote for you,' ' Eddie said.

The battle over grass seed field burning has raged for years.

Some farmers say they need field burning to get rid of weeds so they can meet purity standards set by national seed buyers.

David Nelson, who represents the industry through the Oregon Seed Council, declined to comment for this article. `I'll comment to the committee that (the bill is) assigned to rather than The Register-Guard,' he said.

Each year between July and October's end, about 200 Willamette Valley grass seed growers use fire to sanitize their fields and get rid of straw.

As of Oct. 1, they had burned 48,285 acres, and the season isn't over until the heavy fall rains come.

The blazes send clouds of smoke high into the air and through communities in the southern Willamette Valley.

The state Department of Agriculture tries to minimize the impact on the Eugene-Springfield area by allowing burning only when winds carry the smoke over the Coast Range to the west or over the Cascades to the east. But the science is imperfect and sometimes smoke hangs in the air.

People exposed to the smoke report burning eyes and irritated throats. Those with respiratory diseases sometimes experience flare-ups and must seek medical attention.

"You have kids with asthma or you have health conditions caused by this burning. It's really bad, particularly at the end of the valley down here," Holvey said.

So far this year, 1,182 Oregonians have called the state to complain about field burning smoke. That compares with 1,106 in all of 2005.

Candidates seeking office in the south Willamette Valley say field burning is definitely on people's minds. It comes up in meetings, in campaign phone calls, and door to door, Eddie said.

"I'm getting so many people talk to me about it, some of them very, very adamant. They have respiratory problems and it just knocks them out of sync," said Eddie, who is running against Prozanski.

Holvey said he's had 100 calls from constituents in his southwest Eugene district. But Holvey said rural towns are tired of the smoke that state smoke managers allow their way in trying to protect Eugene-Springfield.

"That doesn't particularly make the people who live up the Mohawk Valley or up towards Brownsville, or even now in Veneta, happy," he said.

In a separate but related move on Tuesday, the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency Board voted 6-2 to draft a letter to encourage the Legislature to ban field burning.

Board member Drew Johnson, who carried the issue to the board, said it's unfair for people living in the rural areas to have to live with the smoke that Eugene-Springfield has the clout to repel.

"It's an environmental social justice issue," he said.

Lane County Commissioner Faye Stewart, who serves on the air agency board, said the local air agency received 600 complaints over two months this summer and that a "gob" of complaints came from his East Lane district. He voted in favor of the air agency's letter.

But board President Dave Ralston said it's not the agency's place to write the letter. "It's strictly up to the Legislature," he said. "The farmers have businesses and that's a very powerful lobby."

Ralston and citizen board member Earl Koenig opposed the board's letter.

Some local candidates, too, are against a ban.

Jim Oakely, a candidate for a house seat that includes the Linn County grass seed growing region, said field burning really isn't that much of a problem nowadays.

"They're being very careful," he said. "The farmers are doing their best to try to find ways to deal with it - either not burning or making sure they don't intrude on the cities."

Holvey said it may be tough to get lawmakers statewide to sympathize with the cluster of cities and towns in the south Willamette Valley.

He said he'd appeal to those colleagues by mentioning the tons of carbon that field burning puts into the atmosphere, which can contribute to global warming.

"The cost to the public and the cost to our planet far outweigh any benefit that they're getting from field burning. They're affecting a huge population for the benefit of a very few," he said.