EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
Friday, June 11, 2021
Volume 94, Number 24
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POWER STRUGGLE
Competition between agriculture and solar energy facilities is heating up
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
ONANZA, Ore. — Nobody is against
solar energy — at least, not in theory.
Solar power is often cast in a positive
light until a specifi c site is chosen for a
facility.
At that point, the proposed develop-
ment can seem like a dark force to neighbors who fear
the unsightly transformation of their familiar landscape.
“What’s it going to do to my property values when
I’m right next to it?” asked Greg Thomas, whose farm
abuts a proposed 2,733-acre solar project near Bonanza,
Ore.
“All our property values are going to go in the toilet.
Nobody wants to live next to a power plant,” answered
Tonya Pinckney, another neighbor opposed to the facility
planned by developer Hecate Energy.
B
Local hostility
Local hostility to solar facilities isn’t just a knee-jerk
“not in my backyard” sentiment in Oregon, a state known
for its rigorous protections against converting farmland
within the Bonanza project are developed.
“Why do we have zoning laws?” Pinckney asked. “If
it’s zoned for ag, how can they just take it out?”
About 600 acres of the project are irrigated and half
the associated water rights can’t be transferred elsewhere
due to a lack of available farmland, meaning that capac-
ity could be lost forever, said Dave Noble, a local farmer.
“That is some top-notch farm ground for this area,”
he said.
Competing goals
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Dave Noble, left, and Greg Thomas look out onto a neigh-
boring fi eld where a 2,700-acre solar facility is proposed
near Bonanza, Ore. Neighbors oppose the project be-
cause it will take irrigated farmland out of production.
to other uses.
Opponents of solar facilities are often strongly moti-
vated by concern for the agricultural economy, which
can permanently suff er if irrigated acres such as those
Aside from preserving agriculture, Oregon strives to
be a leader in promoting renewable energy to reduce car-
bon emissions and fi ght climate change.
Those two objectives are bound to clash as solar
energy production takes off in the state, propelled by eco-
nomic forces as the technology becomes less expensive
to manufacture and install.
While it’s long been boosted by tax credits, renew-
See Solar, Page 11
“ALL OUR PROPERTY VALUES ARE GOING TO GO IN THE TOILET.
NOBODY WANTS TO LIVE NEXT TO A POWER PLANT.”
Tonya Pinckney, a neighbor opposed to the facility planned by developer Hecate Energy
Getty Images
Farm groups seek say in court tussle over wolves
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Farmers and ranchers are seek-
ing to defend the Trump adminis-
tration’s decision to take wolves
off the endangered species list, dis-
trusting the new White House to
stand by the policy.
The American Farm Bureau,
National Cattlemen’s Beef Asso-
ciation and other farm groups are
waiting for a ruling on whether
they can intervene in three suits
fi led in U.S. District Court for
Northern California.
The suits seek to restore fed-
eral protection for wolves in Cal-
ifornia and the western two-thirds
of Washington and Oregon, as well
as the Great Lakes region. Farm
groups argue they have a big stake
in the outcome and can’t rely on
the Biden administration to protect
their interests.
If the White House settles rather
than fi ghts, or loses and declines to
appeal, farmers and ranchers will
be hurt, according to the groups,
calling themselves the Gray Wolf
Agricultural Coalition.
“A change in presidential
administration suggests that rep-
resentation may not be adequate,”
according to a brief submitted by
the farm groups.
The three suits, fi led by envi-
ronmental groups, are on parallel
tracks before Judge Jeff rey White
in Oakland.
White already has granted inter-
venor status to the National Rifl e
Association and Safari Club Inter-
national. Several other groups,
calling themselves the Sportsmen
Conservation Coalition, have also
moved to intervene.
A hearing on motions to inter-
vene is set for July 2. The Amer-
ican Sheep Industry Association,
American Forest Resource Coun-
cil and Public Lands Council
joined the Farm Bureau and cattle-
men’s association in the motion.
On his fi rst day in offi ce, Pres-
ident Biden ordered the Inte-
rior Department to reconsider a
rule adopted in November that
removed federal protection from
wolves throughout the Lower 48.
“That review may alter the gov-
ernment’s position, and, at a min-
imum, makes clear the federal
defendants cannot be relied upon
to continue defending the delis-
ting rule,” according to the farm
groups.
The Biden administration has
not announced any change in pol-
icy or asked the judge to delay pro-
ceedings while it reconsiders the
rule.
Center for Biological Diver-
sity attorney Collette Adkins said
she wants the suits to move along
to prevent states from authorizing
wolf hunts. “We’re not inclined
to stay the case while they (Biden
See Wolves, Page 11
WDFW
Farm groups want a say in three
lawsuits in U.S. District Court for
Northern California that seek
to restore federal protection
for wolves in California and the
western two-thirds of Washing-
ton and Oregon.
High-risk fi re season arrives in some of West
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
Cal Fire
A Cal Fire fi refi ghter battles a wildfi re. Much of the
West faces above-average fi re risk this season.
FFA SENIORS
We’ll see you in the Fields!
Parts of the West face above-normal risk
of large wildfi res as June begins, the National
Interagency Fire Center reported.
Warm, dry conditions mean the potential
for signifi cant fi res — burning acreage above
long-term medians — this month is expected
to increase to above normal for portions of
southern and central Oregon, and into south-
eastern Washington, NIFC’s National Signifi -
cant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook for June
through September said.
Brush, salt cedar and cedars in the Colum-
bia Basin, the Northwest’s driest area, are
especially fi re-receptive.
“With the dry spring we had, especially
across much of California, Washington and
the Pacifi c Northwest, and into the Great
Basin, it looks like more areas are going to
have above-average fi re potential this sum-
mer,” NIFC meteorologist Nic Nauslar told
Capital Press.
The report said conditions that are warmer
and drier than normal are likely for much of
the High Plains and West through summer,
continuing and exacerbating drought in those
regions.
More than 87% of the West is in drought,
which is categorized as extreme or excep-
tional in more than half the region, NIFC said.
See Fire, Page 11
Nial Bradshaw, James Gardner and Jed Myers
Experienced Lenders with a focus on
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