SALEM - Those towering pillars of smoke that rise up from Willamette Valley grass seed farms each summer could be a thing of the past, if a state lawmaker from Eugene has his way.

Democratic Rep. Paul Holvey is introducing legislation that he hopes will be enacted in time to prevent grass seed farmers from torching their fields next summer - or ever again.

"It is our duty to end field burning now,'' Holvey said at a news conference Tuesday.

The Eugene lawmaker has an ally in Gov. Ted Kulongoski, although the Democratic governor is advocating a plan to end field burning within three years to give the industry more time to find alternatives.

Whether it's Holvey's immediate ban or Kulongoski's phase-out, both officeholders say field burning threatens public health and needs to be outlawed.

However, those bills are sure to spark one of the toughest environmental debates of the 2009 legislative session, which begins Jan. 12.

Oregon's $500 million-a-year grass seed industry will work hard to defeat the bills, saying that field burning helps Oregon's growers maintain their competitive edge in worldwide markets by producing some of the purest grass seed available.

"This ban could make the state's economy worse, especially in the grass seed sector. It could lead to job losses,'' said former state Sen. Roger Beyer, spokesman for the Oregon Seed Council.

But Holvey and Kulongoski are finding support from health organizations who say field burning causes health problems for many Oregonians each summer, especially among people with asthma or other respiratory ailments.

Dana Kaye of the American Lung Association of Oregon calls field burning "an outdated and dangerous practice'' that makes people ill.

"Ending field burning would significantly reduce the amount of air pollution. Oregonians have the right to breath clean air,'' she said.

Oregon grass seed farmers set the fires to burn the stubble left after harvest to kill off weeds and pests and to sanitize their fields before the next planting.

Beyer said, however, that field burning has been significantly scaled back over the years and now accounts for only 2 percent of total particulate pollution in the Willamette Valley during the summer months.