NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Oregon State wants Elliott State Forest for research
lic access and conservation.
“We envision this being
the source of critical infor-
mation that we use to
inform conservation man-
agement now and as we
work through the ongoing
changes driven by our cli-
mate,” OSU Interim For-
estry Dean Anthony Davis
told the board.
It would be one of the larg-
est forests devoted to exper-
imentation and research in
the United States, and the
size advantage would allow
scientists to ask questions
that couldn’t be answered on
smaller tracts of land.
“They see a strong
research component that
will inform the future of not
only timber management,
but of climate change adap-
tation and response,” said
Oregon Treasurer Tobias
Read, who voiced enthusias-
tic support for the OSU plan.
“(There would be) signifi-
cant potential for tribal part-
nerships and of course, sup-
port for rural communities.”
Gov. Kate Brown also
voiced support for the
research forest proposal.
“I do think we can move
forward on this path and
keep the forest for the ben-
efit of Oregon school chil-
dren. Probably in a differ-
ent way — maybe less of a
financial resource, and more
of an educational resource
By JES BURNS AND
DIRK VANDERHART
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — After years of
struggling to figure out what
to do with the Elliott State
Forest, Oregon officials now
have a proposal they like.
Members of the State Land
Board voted Tuesday to start
work on a plan to transfer
the 80,000-acre forest near
Coos Bay to Oregon State
University.
The university’s idea is
to create the “Elliott State
Research Forest.”
OSU President Ed Ray
told Land Board mem-
bers that the university’s
“unmatched” experts would
be available to assist with
Elliott regardless of who was
tapped to own the forest.
“The question is, Do you
want to stop there, or do you
want to go further?” Ray
added. “Do you want or do
you aspire for Oregon, the
nation and the world to have
a leading research capabil-
ity that helps all of us under-
stand around this globe how
to manage forest resources
going forward?”
The plan would include
a mix of uses on the forest
including, Ray said, “active
management.” Other uses
would reflect public val-
ues identified by the Land
Board, like recreation, pub-
Amanda Loman/The World via AP, File
In this Oct. 27, 2016, file photo, Joe Metzler walks across a fallen log over a creek in the Silver
Grove surrounded by some trees in the grove that are over 220 years old in Elliott State Forest
near Reedsport.
for the next seven genera-
tions,” Brown said. “This
would be a unique oppor-
tunity for Oregon to lead
the nation, if not the entire
world.”
The state has been con-
sidering what to do with the
Elliott State Forest for years.
It started when endangered
species court rulings lim-
ited logging and the forest
stopped generating money,
as required, for Oregon
schools through the Com-
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
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Showers late this
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Portland
Hermiston
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The Dalles 53/36
Salem
Corvallis
53/33
Yesterday
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La Grande
46/29
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
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Ontario
45/32
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56/35
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PRECIPITATION
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Lake
55/35
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45/29
43/31
Tacoma
Yesterday
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Wenatchee
55/39
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51/34
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SW 6-12
S 10-20
Boardman
Pendleton
WSW 6-12
WSW 7-14
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
49/22
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
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Moonset today
mon School Fund.
Most recently the land
board, comprised of Read,
Brown and Secretary of
State Dennis Richardson,
asked for proposals that
would keep the forest in
public ownership.
Several other entities had
expressed interest in the
forest, including two local
counties, two tribes, the Ore-
gon Department of Forestry
and a nonprofit Christian
ministry group.
Apple pledges nearly $9M to
help Oregon town store water
PRINEVILLE (AP) —
Apple has pledged to spend
nearly $9 million to help
the city of Prineville build
an underground water stor-
age facility to help meet
the demands of the compa-
ny’s two data storage centers
there.
Apple is Prineville’s larg-
est water user and takes huge
volumes of water to cool
their facilities, where com-
puters are in constant danger
of overheating, The Orego-
nian/OregonLive reported
Wednesday.
It’s Apple’s second water
conservation project in
Prineville.
Its first data center con-
sumed 27 million gallons of
water in 2016, based on the
most recent data available,
and the company has added
a second large facility since
then.
Prineville, with just over
10,000 residents, produces
600 million gallons annu-
ally. City officials could not
say Wednesday how much
water Apple used last year,
but suggested it could be
approaching 10 percent of
Prineville’s total production.
The project will collect
water in natural underground
geologic formations during
cool periods and when river
levels are high, and then tap
into it when needed. It will
serve both Apple data cen-
ters and Prineville’s general
needs.
Lisa Jackson, the Apple
vice president who runs
the company’s environ-
mental initiatives, said the
Prineville project will sup-
port the company’s own
needs “while increasing the
availability of clean, sustain-
able water as the community
prepares for the impacts of
climate change.”
Prineville currently gets
all its water from deep wells;
this project will bring water
up from shallow wells, too,
storing them in an aqui-
fer near Apple’s data cen-
ter when demand is low and
tapping them when demand
rises in the summer heat.
The new aquifers will be
available beginning in 2021.
Prineville said it has been
studying the project for five
years and believes it could
store as much as 180 mil-
lion gallons initially, and up
to 400 million gallons with
additional wells.
In 2016, Apple financed
construction of a water treat-
ment facility designed to
save 5 million gallons annu-
ally by recycling water from
the city’s sewage treatment
system and using it in the
data center.
Apple has spent $1 billion
building its 660,000-square-
foot Prineville facilities and
is in the process of expand-
ing by 50 percent. Its data
centers employ 100 peo-
ple altogether, according to
Apple, which has said it off-
sets the effects of its power
use with nearby solar and
wind projects.
7:32 a.m.
4:13 p.m.
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4:55 a.m.
Full
Last
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Jan 13
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 83° in Marathon, Fla. Low -1° in Saranac Lake, N.Y.
Last year, the Legisla-
ture approved $100 million
in bonds to hold the school
fund over while a new for-
est owner could be found.
And on Tuesday, the Land
Board approved a declara-
tion allowing the bonding to
move forward.
But an additional $121
million is needed to com-
pensate the Common School
Fund for the appraised value
of the Elliott State Forest.
As with every applicant,
OSU’s path to finding the
necessary $121 million is
deeply uncertain. The uni-
versity “can’t foresee cir-
cumstances in which the
university could purchase
the forest outright,” Ray told
the Land Board.
Part of that uncertainty,
he noted, comes from the
two-year budget Brown pro-
posed earlier this month.
The proposal would hold
funding for state universities
flat — effectively creating
a budget cut as higher edu-
cation costs rise. The gov-
ernor has promised funding
increases to universities if
state lawmakers are able to
find some $2 billion in new
funding for her education
priorities.
“Under the currently pro-
posed budget, OSU faces a
funding challenge of budget
reductions of perhaps $20
million of operating funds,”
Ray said, noting that the uni-
versity was unwilling to bor-
row against “forest harvest-
ing that cannot be sustained,
or add more controversy to
the university.”
That left a question of
where funding might come
from — something that
will have to be answered in
months to come.
Both Ray and Read
expressed a desire for details
of the plan to be worked out
by the end of 2019.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
The family of Brent Fife would like to thank
Coree Lerjesen for organizing the fund raising,
contribution for items and decorating of the
beautiful Brent Fife memorial tree for this years
Winterfest Gala. We would also like to thank all
of you that donated money and items for the tree.
It was so touching for our family to find out
so many contributed to this wonderful
cause in honor of Brent.
Not only was the memorial tree a wonderful
tribute to Brent’s life, the money raised from
the event will go to benefit so many in our
community. This year the proceeds go to
support Cason’s Place, Pioneer Relief Nursery
and the St Anthony Hospital Foundation.
In the spirit of Christmas giving, our hearts
are warmed by the generosity of those
who helped to make the memorial tree and
the entire Winterfest Gala happen.
We are truly blessed to live in
such a wonderful community.
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
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