REGION
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Coping with climate change DOE backs
Umatilla Co. holds
information workshop
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Umatilla County is
feeling the effects of climate
change, and has been for
years.
But Jeff Blackwood said
there are ways all of us can
adapt.
Blackwood is a former
supervisor of the Umatilla
National Forest and a core
member of the Umatilla
County Climate Change
Focus Group, which held
public workshops Saturday
in Pendleton at Blue Moun-
tain Community College to
discuss climate change and
what we can do about it.
Temperatures in the
Paciic Northwest have
increased .09 degree Fahren-
heit per decade since 1985,
Blackwood said, and while
that creep may seem slow,
it means native plants are
having a harder time living
while invasive species are
thriving.
And temperatures have
increased while spring and
summer stream lows have
dropped since the early
1900s, he said, plus peak
lows in local streams are
coming 14 to 30 days earlier.
Staff photo by Phil Wright
Jeff Blackwood with the Umatilla County Climate
Change Focus Group discusses the rise in greenhouse
gases in the earth’s atmosphere at the group’s work-
shop Saturday in Pendleton.
The
challenges
are
daunting, but Blackwood
said climate change has
brought about opportunities.
Researchers are working
on how to make crops
drought
resistant,
for
example, he said, and there
are government incentives to
invest in renewable energy.
Haley Meisenholder said
that includes the Solarize
Pendleton program. She
is the AmeriCorps intern
in charge of the city of
Pendleton’s no-interest loan
program to help residents
install solar panels. And
EnergyTrust of Oregon was
on site promoting ways to
energy-help home owners
and new home buyers curb
their energy costs.
Roughly seven billion
people now live on earth,
Blackwood said, and that
amount can make anyone
question what difference
they can make. But each
individual effort, each
contribution, can add up.
The Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners
established the focus group
to gather data and advise the
county. Blackwood said the
group is about information,
not advocacy. The focus
group in March drew about
30 people to a workshop
on how to better manage
forests in the face of climate
change.
Saturday’s event, though,
was its irst real foray into
getting information to a
general audience. A dozen
or so members of the public
checked out the workshop
during its four hours, and
the lash thunderstorm that
dumped rain over Pendleton
may not have helped the
outreach.
Still, focus group member
Robert Hall said this is a
start. And the next project
is to get a website going
and then hold a another
workshop this year on how
climate change affects
public heath.
To ind out more about
Pendleton’s program, visit
w w w. p e n d l e t o n . o r. u s /
solarize or call 541-966-
0248. Also check out
energytrust.org or call the
nonproit at 1-866-368-7878
or email info@energytrust.
org. And Umatilla Electric
Cooperative offers free
home energy audits. Call
UEC at 800-452-2272 or
visit online at www.umatil-
laelectric.com.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
Spray gears up for rodeo, running
East Oregonian
The small Eastern Oregon town
of Spray will swell with people as the
69th annual Spray Rodeo kicks off the
Memorial Day weekend.
Slack performances start Friday at
11 a.m. at the Spray Rodeo Grounds.
There’s no charge for the day and
concessions will be sold.
In its 52nd year, the 13.2-mile
Eastern Oregon Half Marathon — the
longest running half-marathon in
Oregon — is Saturday at 8 a.m. On-site
registration is $40 and $5 for a T-shirt,
if available.
The race begins 1/4 mile north of
Service Creek on Highway 19 and
follows the scenic John Day River
Valley, inishing in Spray. Bus trans-
portation to the starting line departs at
7 a.m. at Spray High School. The event
also includes a 5K and 10K run.
The parade starts at 11 a.m. at the
Spray General Store. Serving as grand
marshals are the Ellen Geissel family.
Geissel follows in her father’s footsteps
— Hubert Asher, one of the event’s
founders, who was grand marshal in
1974.
A lifelong resident of Spray, Geissel
began working at the Spray Post Ofice
in 1968 and became postmaster in
1975. She retired in 2012. Geissel
enjoys traveling with her husband, Lee,
who also is a retired postmaster.
Geissel has worked behind the
scenes at the Spray Rodeo for many
years, selling tickets at the admission
gate with her daughters, Allison Spur-
lock, Jaimie St. Laurent and Mystie
Grover.
Bella Yanez of Corvallis is queen. A
member of the Corvallis High School
Contributed photo
Ellen Geissel, far right, along with her daughters, Allison Spurlock, Jaimie
St. Laurent and Mystie Grover, are being recognized as grand marshals for
the 69th annual Spray Rodeo this weekend in Spray.
equestrian team, Yanez is also active in
church, youth group and 4-H. She is the
fourth member of her equestrian team
to be named queen of the Spray Rodeo
— a tradition that began six years ago
when her coach was the rodeo’s royalty.
Saturday and Sunday rodeo perfor-
mances begin with a grand entry at 1
p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for
children 6-12 and free for kids under 6.
In addition, a Buckaroo Breakfast
will be served both mornings from 6
a.m. to noon in the Spray High School
cafeteria. Money raised will beneit
the school’s athletic teams. A cowboy
church service is open to everyone
Sunday from 9-10 a.m. in the arena
grandstands.
For more information, call 541-468-
2442 or visit www.sprayrodeo.com.
———
Contact community editor Tammy
Malgesini at tmalgesini@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4539.
BRIEFLY
Helix, Echo receive
big grants
PENDLETON — Two
small Umatilla County cities
this week received several
thousand dollars in local
grants.
The Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners
during its meeting
Wednesday approved a
$51,000 grant for Helix to
buy a new building and a
$25,000 grant for Echo for a
walking trail.
Helix received $51,000
as part of the 2014 and 2015
Helix Enhancement Launch
Program, or HELP grants,
toward the purchase of an
equipment storage building.
The city, population about
190, negotiated the purchase
of property that included a
storage facility for $65,000.
The city, though, was
short funds and asked the
county to pay the $51,000
grant directly to AmeriTitle,
which closed the sale Friday.
County attorney Doug
Olsen in a memo on the
deal noted the county has
advanced grant funds in
similar situations.
The board also approved
a $25,000 grant on the
recommendation of the
Echo Community Beneit
Plan Committee. The funds
will go toward the irst half
of creating a walking trail
that includes a bench at the
cemetery, exercise stations
and signs.
The grant money comes
from the Echo Windfarms
Project, which the county
noted has an approximate
balance of $74,000.
Echo, a city of about 700,
plans to complete the project
by 2018, according to the
May 3 minutes of the beneit
plan board, and raise the
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other grants.
Umatilla County
enacts immediate
burn ban
PENDLETON —
Umatilla County changed
Monday’s burn ban status
from “good burn day” to a
complete ban, effective at 2
p.m.
The county at about 2:15
p.m. Monday issued the
change after a large wildire
burned hundreds of acres on
the Umatilla Army Depot site
near Hermiston.
Anyone who started
burning before the ban must
make “reasonable efforts” to
extinguish and/or minimize
smoke from open burning,
and no one may start new
ires.
For more information, call
the Umatilla County Planning
Department at 541-278-6300.
———
Briefs are compiled
from staff and wire reports,
and press releases. Email
press releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
500-megawatt
wind farm
Wheatridge facility would span
Umatilla and Morrow counties
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Energy has recom-
mended approving the site
certiicate for a proposed
500-megawatt wind farm
in Umatilla and Morrow
counties.
Wheatridge
Wind
Energy LLC wants to
build up to 292 turbines
between two main project
areas, known as Wheat-
ridge East and Wheatridge
West. Wheatridge West
would be located entirely
within Morrow County
about seven miles north-
west of Heppner, while
Wheatridge East would
be 16 miles northwest of
Heppner and extend into
Umatilla County. The two
areas would be 25 miles
away from each other,
connected by a pair of
230-kilovolt
overhead
power lines.
Before
that
can
happen,
the
project
must be approved by
the state Energy Facility
Siting Council, which
has jurisdiction on wind
developments
greater
than 105 megawatts.
ODOE staff recommended
approving
Wheatridge
in a draft proposed order
issued April 27, and the
siting council held its irst
public hearing May 19 at
Boardman City Hall.
More than 50 people
packed inside the city
council chambers, though
just a handful spoke on the
record. Dana Heideman, of
Ione, said he owns prop-
erty within the neighboring
Shepherds Flat Wind Farm
and would support adding
Wheatridge to the region.
“It’s good for the
economy in our area,”
Heideman said. “In the
long run, I feel it’s well
worth the while.”
Lois Duvall, of Lake
Oswego, said she wants
to see more wind power
to help wean the state
off fossil fuels. But not
everyone who spoke was
in favor. Irene Gilbert, of
La Grande, took issue with
the project’s design, saying
Wheatridge East and
Wheatridge West ought to
be treated separately in the
permitting process.
“They function inde-
pendently of one another,”
Gilbert said.
Gilbert also criticized
the developer’s plans to
have a third party — specif-
ically, Umatilla Electric
Cooperative — construct
and own the transmission
lines that Wheatridge
would use to connect onto
the energy grid. Currently,
UEC is looking into a route
that would run 230-kilovolt
lines up Bombing Range
Road to a substation at the
Port of Morrow.
In a letter sent May 13
to UEC, Gilbert questioned
what ratepayers are getting
in return for building the
line, and who would use
them if Wheatridge stalls.
“Either you plan to
build this line and the plans
“It’s good for the
economy in our
area. In the long
run, I feel it’s well
worth the while.”
Dana Heideman, Ione
are not being inluenced by
Wheatridge, or these lines
need to be included in the
site certiicate evaluation,”
Gilbert wrote.
UEC spokesman Steve
Meyers said the co-op
is looking into building
a transmission corridor
not only for Wheatridge,
but that could serve other
projects as well, including
Idaho Power’s Boardman
to Hemingway proposal.
No inal decisions have
been made, and Meyers
said they are continuing to
talk with property owners
who might be affected.
Another route had been
considered in Umatilla
County, though Meyers
said that is no longer in
the discussion. Umatilla
County Planning Director
Tamra Mabbott said they
were concerned about
transmission
permitted
separately from the devel-
opment itself, and how that
might impact local farms.
Wheatridge CEO Jerry
Rietmann said a single
transmission
corridor,
carefully chosen by a local
utility such as UEC, would
be better for the area than
having multiple trans-
mission lines for multiple
projects criss-crossing the
landscape.
Rietmann said they have
conidence in UEC coming
up with the best possible
plan for transmission, and
not forcing a path where it
doesn’t belong.
“I think we’re going
to go where folks want us
to go,” Rietmann told the
East Oregonian. “That will
be driven by the market.”
Wheatridge
Wind
Energy initially submitted
its application with ODOE
in 2013. With the depart-
ment’s analysis in the draft
proposed order, Rietmann
said he is conident they
will be able to satisfy
the state’s requirements
moving forward.
“I think we’ve addressed
those concerns through the
process,” he said.
If permitted, Wheat-
ridge would be built on
more than 13,000 acres
of private land. Rietmann
said they are negotiating
long-term leases with more
than 20 landowners for
the turbines. The Energy
Facility Siting Council
will hold a second public
hearing on Monday, June 6
before making its decision.
If the proposed order is
not contested, ODOE will
issue a inal order and
site certiicate that will
allow Wheatridge to break
ground.
———
Contact George Plaven
at
gplaven@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-966-0825.
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