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CapitalPress.com
Friday, May 20, 2022
Ruling requires revisions for solar project expansion
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
To pass legal muster, a Central
Oregon solar facility expansion
plan must provide more specifics
about mitigating impacts on wild-
life habitat, according to a state
land use ruling.
However, the West Prineville
Solar Farm’s developer, NewSun
Energy, is optimistic the project
can now proceed with “only lim-
ited refinements to the plan crite-
ria,” said Jake Stephens, its CEO.
The state’s Land Use Board
of Appeals said Crook County
approved doubling the solar facil-
ity’s size, from 320 acres to 654
acres, without “substantial evi-
dence” its wildlife plan will
ensure quality habitat mitigation
that’s reliable and durable.
The developer’s wildlife plan
also “lacks a schedule of perfor-
mance measures” required under
state law to ensure it will cause
“no net loss” of habitat, the rul-
ing said.
Despite these issues, NewSun
Energy said it welcomes LUBA’s
order because the ruling has con-
firmed the mitigation plan is
“appropriate and acceptable in
form, size, scale, substance and
type,” as well as in its definition
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press File
A land use ruling requires revisions to a wildlife mitigation plan for a Central Oregon solar facility ex-
pansion.
of habitat, Stephens said.
For example, the plan can now
move forward with “more tightly
defined limits” on where mitiga-
tion occurs as well as “specific
deed restriction language” that will
shield the habitat mitigation site
from future development, he said.
The company believes the plan
already includes these elements
and has exceeded the requirements
of state wildlife officials, Stephens
said. “Regardless, NewSun looks
forward to continuing to invest in
good faith in rural Oregon commu-
nities, including performing miti-
gation as required by law.”
Crook County will have to
reconsider its authorization of the
solar facility’s expansion based on
the the ruling’s criteria and stan-
dards, most likely based on addi-
tional evidence from the project’s
developer, according to LUBA.
Last year, LUBA blocked the
expansion project but the Oregon
Court of Appeals said it incorrectly
construed state land use law. The
appeals court faulted LUBA for
requiring the county to fully meet
wildlife criteria that’s meant for
larger solar projects.
LUBA has now issued a new
ruling based on instructions from
the appellate court but has still
found that the wildlife mitigation
plan needs to be improved.
The developer’s plan to enhance
an acre of wildlife habitat for every
acre affected by the project, plus a
“buffer” of additional acreage, is
sufficient to conclude “there will
be no net loss of habitat quantity,”
LUBA said.
However, the plan “lacks the
specificity and definiteness”
required by state law, since it pro-
poses two options without pro-
viding enough details about the
location of replacement habitat,
effectively preventing third par-
ties from evaluating the quality
of mitigation measures, the rul-
ing said.
Likewise, the so-called “V2
Plan” contains treatment options
that are “too vague” to be eval-
uated for reliability and durabil-
ity, “especially in the absence of
defined performance measures,”
the ruling said.
“In conclusion, the V2 Plan
is not substantial evidence in the
record as to the quality of mitiga-
tion, the reliability or durability of
mitigation, and lacks a schedule of
performance measures required to
be included in a mitigation plan,”
LUBA said. “Accordingly, the V2
Plan is not evidence a reasonable
person would rely on to conclude
that the development action meets
the no net loss standard.”
The Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife, which had
objected to the project’s wildlife
plan, can “absolutely” make the
solar facility’s expansion work
under the ruling’s requirements,
said Greg Jackle, district biologist
for the agency.
The new LUBA ruling is simi-
lar to the previous order and will
assure a “very positive outcome
for wildlife habitat,” Jackle said.
“This opinion will assure that
wildlife impacts from the proj-
ect will be off-set, protected and
enhanced on a specific wildlife
mitigation site.”
NW winter wheat outlook
‘considerably more optimistic’
after last year’s drought
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Getti Images
An appeals court has ruled a Grant County, Wash., farmer can have his irrigation case
heard before the state Pollution Control Hearings Board.
Ruling aids Washington farmer
in water dispute with Ecology
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Grant County, Wash.,
farmer Ron Fode won a
court victory May 12 in his
five-year battle with the state
Department of Ecology over
water rights.
The Court of Appeals in
Spokane ruled that Fode was
wrongly denied a chance to
challenge an order to stop
irrigating in 2017. When
Fode kept irrigating, Ecol-
ogy fined him $618,000,
which was later reduced to
$260,000.
The ruling doesn’t imme-
diately change the fine, but
it could allow Fode to get
a new hearing before the
Pollution Control Hearings
Board, an administrative
panel that hears appeals of
Ecology decisions.
Fode’s lawyer, Thomas
Pors, said he planned to
present evidence that Ecol-
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
05/23/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2015 FORD XPL UT
VIN = 1FM5K8D81FGA34796
Amount due on lien $1555.00
Reputed owner(s)
VAUGHN & MARCEEN RAMSEY
OREGON STATE CREDIT UNION
LEGAL
The Harney Soil and Water Conservation
District, as required through its policies, is
informing potential vendors to visit the District
office, website (www.harneyswcd.org) or
Facebook pages frequently for upcoming public
improvement projects. The projects will be
posted to the District office/website/Facebook
at least one week prior to award is made and
includes solicitations using Bids, Requests for
Proposals (RFPs), and Competitive Price Quotes
and Competitive Proposals (as described in
ORS 279C.400). Vendors who have signed up
to work with the district must agree to carry
a contractor’s license and carry a minimum of
$2M in liability insurance. Complete information
on the district’s Resolution Adopting Public
Contracting Rules and Procedures can be found
at the website.
ogy issued the cease-and-
desist order before offer-
ing technical assistance, as
required by law. At a previ-
ous hearing, the board did
not allow the evidence to be
heard.
“Ron Fode’s primary
defense was disallowed
entirely,” Pors said. “The
fine should be completely
wiped out.”
The case has been closely
followed by the Washington
Farm Bureau. In an amicus
brief, the Farm Bureau
claimed Ecology skipped
over trying to get volun-
tary compliance and went
straight to enforcement.
“It’s a very import-
ant issue,” Farm Bureau
CEO John Stuhlmiller said.
“What we’re trying to get is
transparency and equitable
application of the law.
“This ruling was a vic-
tory,” Stuhlmiller said.
“Without it, Fode would
have been dead in the water.
This opens the opportunity
to get a full win for Fode.”
An Ecology spokesman
said the department was
reviewing the decision and
had no comment.
Fode owns 130 acres and
leased more than 400 acres
in 2017, according to court
records. He applied for a sea-
sonal change in water rights
in January, but was denied.
In late June, he received an
order from Ecology to stop
irrigating.
Fode sent 61 pages of
legal documents to the hear-
ings board to support his
appeal. The appeal got to
the board 34 days after Fode
got the cease-and-desist
order.
The board agreed with
Ecology that the deadline
was 30 days and dismissed
the appeal without consider-
ing Fode’s documents.
The appeals court stud-
ied the intent and gram-
mar of the state law on fil-
ing appeals and ruled Fode
actually had 35 days. The
hearings board was wrong
to disregard Fode’s evidence
against the cease-and-desist
order, the court said.
The three-judge panel
also said it’s better to
decide cases on the mer-
its, rather than procedural
technicalities.
The decision was not
complete for Fode or the
Farm Bureau’s position. Just
because the hearings board
erred on the cease-and-de-
sist order, it doesn’t mean it
was wrong to fine Fode, the
court ruled.
“Simply stated, the valid-
ity of penalties issued by
Ecology is not dependent on
the validity of a prior cease-
and-desist order,” Justice
Robert
Lawrence-Berrey
wrote for the court.
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
05/23/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2018 TOYT CAM 4D
VIN = JTNB11HK0J3046408
Amount due on lien $1415.00
Reputed owner(s)
KATHERINE & MICHAEL KELLY
TOYOTA MOTOR CREDIT CORP
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
05/23/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2015 ACURA RLX 4D
VIN = JH4KC1F98FC000507
Amount due on lien $1455.00
Reputed owner(s)
ZACHARY WAYNE SALISBURY
CARVANA LLC
Pacific Northwest wheat
farmers are expected to pro-
duce nearly 56% more win-
ter wheat this year coming
off last year’s drought.
USDA’s National Agri-
cultural Statistics Service
projects the region will pro-
duce nearly 231 million
bushels, up from 148 mil-
lion bushels last year.
“With the crop ratings
inching up week over week
following the steady pre-
cipitation across much of
the state, we are consider-
ably more optimistic than
this point last year,” said
Amanda Hoey, Oregon
Wheat CEO. “The esti-
mates are early for crop
production yields, so they
are likely to still change,
and we remain cautious
given the subsoil moisture
levels.”
“It will be good if the
projected increase in win-
ter wheat is realized,” said
Glen Squires, CEO of the
Washington Grain Com-
mission. “Certainly there
has been more moisture
this spring compared to last
year’s drought. This is the
first estimate of yield and
they often are adjusted as
there is still quite a bit of
time before harvest begins.”
Washington saw the big-
gest jump, with 120.6 mil-
lion bushels, up nearly 70%
from nearly 71 million
bushels in 2021. Average
yield per acre is expected to
be 67 bushels, up from 42
bushels last year.
Idaho is projected to
produce 66.4 million bush-
els per acre, up 46% from
45.4 million bushels last
year. Average yield per acre
is expected to be 91 bush-
els, up from 71 bushels last
year.
That would tie for
third-highest yield of all
time, said Casey Chum-
rau, executive director of
the Idaho Wheat Commis-
sion. Winter wheat yields
in Idaho last year were a
30-year low, she said.
Oregon is expected to
produce nearly 44 million
bushels, up 38% from 31.7
million bushels last year.
Average yield per acre is
expected to be 61 bushels,
up from 45 bushels in 2021.
Across the U.S., produc-
tion projections are down
8%, dropping from 1.28 bil-
lion bushels to 1.17 billion.
Average projected yield
per acre is also down, from
50.2 bushels to 47.9 bushels
this year.
“It has been a cool, wet
spring in Idaho, resulting
in slow crop emergence
and late spring plantings,”
Chumrau said. “Much of
the winter wheat is still
small and we are looking
for warmer weather in the
next few weeks so crops
start growing and farmers
can finish planting.”
“Timely rains are always
critical,” Squires said.
“Hopefully we will not
experience the high sus-
tained heat that we saw last
year in June.”
Conditions that boost
yields are also favorable for
stripe rust, Hoey noted.
“Overall, the increased
precipitation is support-
ing growth of a healthy
crop and if it continues,
we would expect to see a
marked improvement over
last year,” she said.
Burying irrigation lines saves
water at Oregon hazelnut orchard
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
SILVERTON, Ore. — Roy Hari rode on
the back of a John Deere tractor driven by
his son, Dallas, digging a narrow trench to
bury irrigation line between rows of hazel-
nut trees at his family’s orchard near Silver-
ton, Ore.
Last summer, Hari estimated the farm
lost 15% of its water above ground to evap-
oration, particularly during a multi-day heat
wave that saw temperatures as high as 117
degrees.
To make matters worse, thirsty critters
like coyotes and raccoons figured out they
could get a drink by chewing holes in the
plastic tubing. With the water running over-
night, Hari would wake up to find parts of
the orchard submerged.
“There would just be a lake out here,”
he said. “Over the last few years, we’ve
lost well over 1 million gallons water to
varmints.”
Earlier this year, Hari received a $7,500
matching grant from the Marion Soil and
Water Conservation District to buy and bury
13,000 feet of drip line to improve the farm’s
water conservation and efficiency.
Hazel Howell Farms — named for its
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
05/23/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2021 TOYOTA SNA SV
VIN = 5TDKRKEC2MS072141
Amount due on lien $1435.00
Reputed owner(s)
JINGWEI ZHU
location at the intersection of Hazelgreen
and Howell Prairie roads — has 35 acres of
hazelnut trees planted in 2015. Hari said the
orchard is heading into its third production
year, when the trees produce a marketable
crop.
Burying irrigation line will help to combat
both evaporation and animal damage, Hari
said. He doesn’t want to shoot the coyotes
that wander onto his farm, as they and other
predators help control the vole and mice pop-
ulation that can also cause problems.
“We just want to take away the ability for
them to do damage,” Hari said. “We think
this will be a solution to all that.”
Hari figures it will take a few weeks
to bury line among all 4,224 trees in the
orchard. He is using a subsoiler mounted to
the back of his tractor, with a single tooth
plowing 5.5 inches deep as he and Dallas
pass between the rows.
Simultaneously, Hari watches as the drip
line slowly unspools from a wooden spool
into the trench.
The line was previously placed right next
to the trees, but the new one will run down
the middle of the 20-foot rows. Hari said
he believes this will encourage the trees to
develop heartier and more robust roots as
they must reach farther for moisture.
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
05/23/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2016 HONDA CRV LL
VIN = 5J6RM4H77GL015814
Amount due on lien $1435.00
Reputed owner(s)
JAMES & TERUKO SHIRES
FIRST TECH FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
05/23/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2015 NISS JUKE LL
VIN = JN8AF5MVXFT561615
Amount due on lien $1555.00
Reputed owner(s)
CYNTHIA MARGARET NEWMAN
BAXTER CREDIT UNION
