STATE
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
A9
Opposing the Bend retiree priced out of town
solar land rush
By MICHAEL KOHN
The Bulletin
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
YAKIMA, Washington —
Yakima County Farm Bureau
President Mark Herke has
not said a word against wind-
mills, but he has plenty to say
about solar panels.
First, he says, don’t call
hundreds of acres of panels
on steel posts screwed into
the ground “solar farms.”
“We dropped that term a
long time ago,” he said. “We
call them solar-industrial
complexes.”
While cows and sheep can
graze around windmills, solar
projects as confi gured now
blot out agricultural use and
take up far more land, Herke
says.
He has gathered other
objections to solar projects
and presented them to deci-
sion-makers on behalf of the
Yakima Farm Bureau and
Farm Bureau members in
neighboring Klickitat County.
The Yakima Farm Bureau
last year opposed a 625-acre
solar project east of Yakima
on agricultural land, even
though the development had,
judging from public com-
ments, local support.
Herke asserts the pub-
lic has yet to catch on to how
thousands of acres of solar
panels might change East-
ern Washington. When he
became the county Farm
Bureau’s president in 2019, it
wasn’t an issue. It’s become a
top issue in just the past year,
he said.
“The solar is coming on
faster than people realize,”
he said. “We’re not quite a
lonely voice, but we’re close
to that.”
It’s not just the solar pan-
els that will take up land,
Herke said. To make up for
fencing off wildlife migration
routes, developers may have
to buy land elsewhere for the
Department of Fish and Wild-
life, taking more property out
of private hands.
“I very much predict there
will be more pushback,”
Herke said. “I guess we’re on
the leading edge.”
Herke, 65, was inter-
viewed at his home on a
hill outside Yakima and the
northern edge of the Yakama
Indian Reservation.
It’s the same rocky hill
where his great-grandfa-
ther from Germany settled
in 1871. The Herke family
raises cattle, grows hay, har-
vests timber and mines rocks
for construction.
Herke is worried about
the “green rush.” In Western
Washington, the term means
stampeding to recreational
marijuana. To Herke, it means
the race to build renewable
energy.
The Washington Legisla-
ture in 2019 set off the rush by
voting to rid the state’s elec-
tricity of greenhouse gases by
2045. Only one senator and
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Yakima County Farm Bu-
reau President Mark Herke
stands on the rocky hill his
great-grandfather settled on
in 1871 in Central Washing-
ton. Herke says the rush to
build solar power complexes
in the region will take land
from agriculture.
two House members from
Eastern Washington voted
“yes.” Complying with law,
however, depends on land east
of the Cascades.
“The people pushing it the
most would give up the least
— on their livelihoods, their
landscape,” Herke said.
Gov. Jay Inslee and Dem-
ocratic lawmakers this year
moved to speed up the
clean-energy revolution by
expanding the jurisdiction
of the Energy Facilities Site
Evaluation Council to include
energy-related
industrial
developments.
The council is made up
mostly of unelected Inslee
administration offi cials and
is an alternative to winning
approval from counties for
energy projects.
Herke said he fears a
more-powerful state coun-
cil will further distance deci-
sion-makers from the conse-
quences of the developments.
“With counties, at least you
can go and bang on a commis-
sioner’s desk,” he said.
Asked if there’s any good
place to put solar panels,
Herke suggests the Hanford
nuclear reservation.
The Yakima Farm Bureau’s
position on solar projects butts
heads with property rights.
The 625-acre solar project it
opposed was supported by the
two landowners who will lease
land to the solar developer.
S. Martinez Livestock
Inc. told the state site coun-
cil that it was leasing ground
that gets very dry in the sum-
mer and has little value in the
winter as pasture. The reliable
lease payments will diver-
sify income, but not aff ect its
operations, according to the
ranch.
The other landowner said
the unirrigated farmland
already was enrolled in a con-
servation reserve program, but
the payments from the solar
project will be more.
Herke said the county Farm
Bureau wrestled with property
rights, but came down on the
side of preserving farmland
for future generations. “If you
want to protect farmland, you
have to look beyond today
and tomorrow,” he said.
BEND — John spent most
of his career working the line
inside a lumber mill in Red-
mond. Sorting the lumber year
after year was hard work, but at
the end of each day, he had had
a place in Bend he could call
home.
Retired a few years ago,
the Bend resident now col-
lects Social Security and a pen-
sion from the lumber mill. Since
John moved to Bend in the mid-
1970s, he’d always rented a
home, never imagining prices
would one day skyrocket to
unaff ordable levels. That deci-
sion has left him with no place
to live. John asked The Bulletin
not to use his last name because
he’s a longtime resident known
by many locals and he’s embar-
rassed about his current station
in life.
John, 69, has been moving
from house to house over the
past year, staying with friends
for a few weeks or months at a
time while he searches for his
own housing. Not wanting to
impose any more on friends, his
next step was a shelter and he’s
been to a couple around town to
see what that would be like.
Standing outside Fam-
ily Kitchen in downtown Bend
recently, bundled up against the
cold in a green jacket and wool
hat, John described his situation.
For a few hours each week, he
goes to the library, and with help
from the non-profi t Thrive, he
searches the apartment listings.
The search is over two months
now, and still nothing.
“I just can’t understand why
I can’t fi nd a place to live,” John
told a Bulletin reporter, pulling
down his face mask slightly to
reveal a graying beard. “I make
$2,000 a month, and $1,000
should be enough for a one-bed-
room but everything is more
than that. They are up to $1,400,
$1,600 a month.”
There is an aff ordable hous-
ing option for seniors in Bend,
but John was told the wait for a
unit could be two years or more.
He hasn’t had much luck in fi nd-
ing a place in Redmond either.
The chance to retire with dignity,
in the place that has been home
for most of his life, is slipping
away.
After checking online apart-
ment listings and perhaps send-
ing in an application, the rest of
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
Homeless Bend resident John on the steps of the Trinity Episco-
pal Church in Bend.
John’s day is slow. He now stays
with a friend who is disabled and
prefers not to be inside in the
daytime so as not to disturb the
friend’s lengthy naps.
So, he tries to keep busy
elsewhere, helping out friends
with odd jobs or doing some
yard work. He stops by Fam-
ily Kitchen in downtown Bend
on occasion for a free meal. He
brings one home to his disabled
friend. John was married for
a while but never had kids, so
there are few relatives to turn to
in a time of need.
John says he’d just like a nor-
mal retirement, just doing the lit-
tle things that off er a little plea-
sure, without stress.
“That is the way it is supposed
to be,” said John, with a smile.
“A lot of it is my own fault, the
situation I am in because I didn’t
look forward into my future and
never thought about it.”
As a young man growing up
in Grants Pass in the 1950s and
60s, the future wasn’t much on
his mind. It was a time when life
was simple but good. His dad
worked for the state highway
division and his mom worked
for Sears. There was a little
creek near his home where he
fi shed for cutthroat trout. Build-
ing forts with friends and swing-
ing on vines by the creek were
other pastimes.
“That was the best time of my
life,” he said, recalling his youth.
“We grew up with a working
mentality, I started mowing
lawns and worked at Sambo’s,
a pancake house. Then I got into
the lumber industry.”
John moved from Grants
Pass to Central Oregon in 1976
and found work with the lum-
ber mill in Redmond, where he
pulled the green chain — indus-
try-speak for sorting lumber.
“Once I found the job that
was all I needed,” said John.
“Before I knew it, 40 years went
by.”
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John worked the swing shift
for 17 years, coming home at
around 2 a.m. He’d run some
errands during the day then head
back to work. After the lumber
industry took a dive in the 1990s
he got into road construction,
driving a grade tractor and laying
asphalt for a company based in
Tumalo. He stayed in that busi-
ness for two decades.
Camping and fi shing took
up his leisure time. Mushroom
hunting was another hobby. If
it was a rough week he’d kick
back on the couch and watch
sports on TV.
He never bought a house
but came close once. He recalls
a home he considered on the
edge of Bend, on an acre of
land. It was the 1980s and the
place cost $46,000. A bargain by
today’s standards, but at the time
that amount of money seemed
daunting.
“It was always a scary
thought to buy a place,” said
John. “I thought it was a lot of
money so I just rented. That
is all I have done, that was my
mistake.”
John’s predicament is
emblematic of the problems
faced by seniors and retirees as
their fi xed income becomes less
potent as prices rise. It works out
if they already have a home, but
renting can present challenges.
The lowest-priced places he
can fi nd are around $1,400 a
month, which makes up 75% of
his fi xed income. The non-profi t
Thrive helps with the search
because he had no experience
with computers.
“I missed the computer age.
Back in the day you would just
look in the paper and fi nd a place
to rent. Thrive helps with appli-
cations. I am looking for a little
one-bedroom apartment.”
If he can’t fi nd one soon,
John said he would consider
going to Shephard’s House or
the Bethlehem Inn, two home-
less shelters in Bend.
“I have been to Shepherd’s
House to see what that was
about. That could be the next
place I will end up, it’s kind of
scary,” he said. “I am not there
yet, but I see my future as head-
ing that way.”
Bend Mayor Sally Rus-
sell said people in John’s posi-
tion have resources in the city.
She recommends John contact
NeighborImpact, a local non-
profi t that supports many social
services in Central Oregon,
including housing.
“Neighbor impact is incredi-
bly resourceful and creative and
has systems in place that can
help this gentleman,” said Rus-
sell. “I would also ask the aff ord-
able housing committee to lis-
ten to this gentleman’s story, and
reach out to this gentleman and
ask him to share his story.”
John’s fi xed income and
inability to fi nd a place to rent
could get a boost by going back
to work. But full-time road con-
struction is diffi cult on his aging
body, especially in the warmer
months.
“The heat gets to me, it kills
me,” he said. “I am not as young
as I used to be, especially in the
summer I can’t be as active as I
used to be.”
The story he’d like to tell is
one of happy retirement, time to
spend outdoors, and a home to
call his own. Working on a road
crew in his 70s, or taking a bed
at a local homeless shelter was
never something that came to
mind during his long career.
If John does fi nd a place to
live, he plans to settle in and then
head to a lake, where he dreams
of reeling in trout from his favor-
ite fi shing hole.
On his fl ip phone, John
keeps pictures of some of his
prized catches from Ochoco
and Prineville reservoirs. The
real reward comes at dinner
time. Whatever house he hap-
pens to be living at, he makes
use of the oven to bake his catch.
When asked how he likes them
prepared, John thought for
a moment and smoothed his
beard — wrapped in foil and
left in the oven for 20 minutes
at 350 degrees.
A house may have been the
one that got away from John in
his younger years. But he still
holds out hope that he can land
a small apartment soon, then get
on with retirement and live life
on his own terms.
GRANT COUNTY
CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE
TOURISM EXPECTED TO INCREASE
Tourist season is just around the corner. May
will be here before we know it! We are expecting
a busy tourist season this year! We have some
exciting events coming up and we expect to see a
lot of visitors to Grant County!
World Athletic Championships - Oregon 22
A uniquie boutique featuring local
The World Athletics Championships have show-
artisans from Grant County
cased the greatest athletes on Earth since 1983.
133 W. Main, John Day, OR
When the event comes to Oregon in 2022, it will
541-620-2638 • etc.handmade@yahoo.com
mark the first time the U.S. hosts the most
prestigious event in the sport. This celebrated
event will be held at Hayward Field at the Univer-
sity of Oregon in Eugene July 15 - 24. 100,000
tickets have been sold. As we welcome the World
to Oregon, we especially want to extend a heart-
felt welcome to those visiting Grant County! Let’s
be prepared to roll out the welcome mat!
• etc •
Chief Joseph Rally 2022
BMW Riders of Oregon
The Rally will be held at the Grant County Fair-
grounds June 16th to the 19th. This event will
bring up to 600 BMW riders to the Grant County
Fairgrounds. They have rides planned that will
take them all over Grant County.
Cycle Oregon – Ride the Painted Hills
September 11-17
The Chamber is the Coordinator for the John Day
portion of the ride. If you are interested in helping
with the event, please contact us.
CHAMBER TO GET READER BOARD SIGN
Our new sign will be here soon! Watch for
Community events, and Chamber news on our
new reader board!
STRUCTION, LL
N
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C
C
AW
Featuring:
•
•
•
•
•
Roofing
• General Construction
Remodeling
Fences
Decks
Storage Sheds
Andy Wolfer
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and
Much
More!
CCB#186113
PIONEER FEED &
FARM SUPPLY
60561 HWY 26,
John Day, Oregon 97845
541-575-0023
www.dukewarnerrealtyofeasternoregon.com
Lori Hickerson
Sally Knowles
Babette Larson
Principal Broker, GRI
Office: 541-575-2617
Broker, GRI
Office: 541-932-4493
Broker, GRI
Office: 541-987-2363
GRAPE AND GRAIN
The Chamber’s Event Committee has been
working on the Grape and Grain, an event that will
take the place of the annual Chamber Installation
Dinner. The Grape and Grain will be held May
13th at the Grant County Fairgrounds Pavilion.
It willbe from 6 to 9 pm and feature beer and
wine vendors with tasting and product sales as
well as other types of food, local artisans and
entertainment. A limited number of tickets may
be purchased in advance at the Chamber office
beginning April 18th. Proceeds from this event
will be donated to our local museums.
S268191-1
Daily & tes
Ra
Weekly
Budget 8 Motel
711 W Main St, John Day, OR 97845 • (541) 575-2155
www.gcoregonlive.com
S277558-1