Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Page 13
Wind energy more than a breezy idea
In today’s economy, with
the USA’s increasing con-
sumption of electricity and
natural resources, the possi-
bility of an inexpensive, re-
newable and reliable energy
source is seen by consumers
as a breath of fresh air.
That’s where wind en-
ergy comes in.
According to the Dept. of
Energy, modern wind tur-
bines can convert winds in
most U.S. states and coastal
waters into reliable, clean
electricity. While wind today
provides only a small per-
centage of our national elec-
tricity needs, it is an immense
homeland energy resource
and is the fastest-growing
energy supply technology.
The United States has an
abundance of potentially vi-
able wind resources --nshore
and offshore -- estimated at
more than 2,000 giga-watts
(GW). To put this into per-
spective, 350 GW of installed
wind capacity would repre-
sent approximately 20 percent
of our nation’s current elec-
tricity demand.
This is similar to the
level of electricity produced
from the nation’s nuclear or
natural gas-fired generation
today.
Today, the nation’s
“wind farms” generate more
than 9,000 megawatts of elec-
tricity -- enough electricity to
serve more than two million
households. Smaller wind
systems are being used to
generate on-site power and
provide additional power to
local utilities, and the market
is expanding at more than 20
percent annually.
Wind power represents
more than just competitive
electricity. It offers:
*Rural economic bene-
fits from project develop-
ment.
*A hedge against volatile
natural gas prices and
planned use of imported liq-
uid natural gas.
*Cost-effective clean air
compliance option for busi-
nesses and communities.
*Strong potential partner
for other domestic power
industries including coal and
nuclear.
*A renewable option for
producing hydrogen for trans-
portation fuels.
Wind energy is a home-
grown energy source that
contributes to national secu-
rity by reducing America’s
dependence on oil and natural
gas -- most of which are im-
ported from other countries.
In addition, unlike most other
electricity sources, wind tur-
bines don’t consume water.
For instance, irrigation
and thermal electric genera-
tion use 77 percent of all fresh
water in the country. But wind
turbines use no water. That
makes wind energy a great
choice for drought-stricken
communities in rural America.
To learn more about the
benefits of wind energy,
phone (877) EERE-INF or
visit www.eere.energy.gov.
(NAPSA)
Budget approved for school district
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
A $42.4 million budget
for the 2007-08 fiscal year
was approved by the Three
Rivers School District
(TRSD) Board of Directors
during its Monday, June 18
meeting at the district office
in Murphy.
The district has a begin-
ning fund balance of $2.5
million coming into the new
fiscal year, which will begin
Sunday, July 1. Approxi-
mately $442,000 in property
taxes was collected by the
district earlier this month.
That figure combines
with the beginning fund bal-
ance and $40.78 million in
cash receipts for $43.28 mil-
lion in total resources.
However, the ’07-’08
budget contains $42.42 in
appropriations, leaving an
IVSHA (Illinois Valley Safe
House Alliance) officially
Tuesday night, June 12
announced its planned
move to the current Cave
Junction location of Home
Valley Bank. IVSHA Ex-
ecutive Director Chris Mal-
lette (right) accepted a
surprise $5,000 donation
for the project from Zonta
International of Grants
Pass. (Above) Century 21
broker Jim Frick and
Home Valley Bank’s busi-
ness development officer,
Jill Gleysteen, discuss the
relocation. (Photos by Illi-
nois Valley News)
CELEBRATING JESUS and having fun
were the orders of the day at Cross
Quest Expeditions I.V. Extreme Sports
Festival Saturday, June 16. Skating and
BMX competitions, a kids carnival fea-
turing games and prizes, and free hot
dog lunch were among
attractions. Music was
provided by artists includ-
ing the band, ‘Tempest,’
vocalist Rasha Smith, and
Walt Freeman. (Photos by
Michelle Binker/IVN)
Study of Chinook salmon origin continues
A successful pilot pro-
gram launched last year, that
used genetics to determine
the river origin of Chinook
salmon caught off Oregon’s
central coast, has begun its
second season, expanding to
the entire coast off Oregon as
well as Northern California.
The hope is to discover
more about the distribution of
salmon in the ocean so that
fisheries managers can make
in-season decisions and allow
harvesting healthy stocks
while mitigating the harvest
of weakened runs. The ulti-
mate goal is to avoid shutting
down the entire coastal fish-
ery – as happened during
2006 to protect weakened
runs from the Klamath River,
according to Oregon State
University (OSU) researchers
leading the study.
Dubbed Project CROOS
(Collaborative Research on
Oregon Ocean Salmon), the
effort is a unique collabora-
tion among scientists, com-
mercial fishermen and fisher-
ies managers.
“Every piece of the pro-
ject that we experimented
with last year worked,” said
Gil Sylvia, director of OSU’s
Coastal Oregon Marine Ex-
periment Station at Newport,
and a co-principal investiga-
tor on the project. “We have
the protocols down,” he said.
“We know we can identify
illinois-valley-news.com
with a high degree of cer-
tainty the origin of wild or
hatchery fish caught offshore
– and do it within roughly 24
hours.
“Now our goals are to
learn whether Klamath stocks
are aggregated within a spe-
cific area at a certain time,
and whether there are differ-
ences in the catch composi-
tion close to shore and out-
side of 6 miles,” he added.
The 2006 pilot study was
funded by a grant from the
Oregon Watershed Enhance-
ment Board and coordinated
by the Oregon Salmon Com-
mission and researchers at
OSU’s Hatfield Marine Sci-
ence Center in Newport.
ending fund balance of ap-
proximately $860,000.
“The cash available will
get us through ‘08,” said
TRSD Business Manager
Dave Marshall. “The problem
is ‘09.”
Marshall presented pro-
jections for the 2008-’09
budget, stating that the figures
are based on TRSD losing an
additional 100 students dur-
ing the next year as part of a
declining enrollment trend.
Projections for the ’08-
’09 budget find TRSD with
$39.4 million in cash receipts,
combined with the $860,000
ending fund balance, for total
resources of $40.26 million.
Appropriations are estimated
at $44.5 million, Marshall
said, which would put TRSD
$4.24 million in the hole.
Human Resources Direct-
(Continued from page 13)
Water Wells
Pump Sales
Installation
Service
592-6777
1470 Caves Highway
Licensed • Bonded • Insured
Locally owned and
operated in the valley
for over 25 years.
WWC #1504 • CCB #152266 • CPl #7-113
Member Oregon Ground Water Assoc.