http://www.bluemountaineagle.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=12&ArticleID=23009&TM=42875.18
Idaho Power’s 500-kV line would “alter the nature and character of the county landscape,” the organization says.
KIMBERLY - The Grant County Farm Bureau is urging Idaho Power to keep its 500-kilovolt power line out of the county.
In a Feb. 4 letter signed by GCFB president Bryan Vogt, the organization said it could not support any of the routes proposed through Grant County.
The letter, sent on behalf of some 150 landowners, businesses and individuals, cited Grant County's "multiple outstanding qualities and important natural, cultural, social and economic resources that ... will be adversely affected by the proposed project."
. . . The powerline would threaten those habitats and improvements, and would be "grossly inequitable in light of the sacrifice, compromise and dedication of our members to protect and conserve the very lands to be affected by the Project," the letter states.
The GCFB said it was particularly concerned about the impacts of the transmission line project on private property rights, property values and agricultural operations.
Idaho Power is considering possible routes through Eastern Oregon for its proposed 500-kV line from Hemingway, Idaho to Boardman, Ore. The proposal has been the subject of several meetings in Grant County since last fall, and similar meetings in Baker and Malheur County since 2008. . .
The GCFB letter supported siting of the line along the original route proposed by Idaho Power, along the Interstate 84 corridor, "as long as this is done in a manner that does not negatively impact high value agricultural land or other areas of resource concern."
The letter urged the utility to seek the input of Farm Bureaus in that area.
