"A Working Landscape:" Oregon's Energy Facility Siting Council Tour

Adam Bless of the ODOE, Roger Findley, EFSC member Bryan Wolfe, County Planner Jon Beal, Clinton Kennington, and Larry Price at Trenkel Overlook

Thursday morning, members of Oregon's Energy Facility Siting Council plus several other state agency officials, two Idaho Power representatives, and a number of SIP members boarded a school bus and toured the diverse, intensively cultivated and irrigated "finger lands" of Malheur County's main industry, agriculture.

The Energy Facility Siting Council is the 7-member appointed citizen body that makes the final decision whether a utility's proposed route will be acceptable under state law.

"The best mitigation is avoidance when it comes to linear utility facilities":
Jim Johnson of the Oregon Dept of Ag, EFSC member Cheri Davis, and Bruce Corn of Corn Farms

First we stopped at Farrell Larson's Select Onion facility off of Stanton Blvd and cried as we observed the peeling, cutting, sorting, cooking and packing of onion ring varieties. We got samples, too, and hopefully they will be available retail some day.

Malheur County is the #1 onion producing county in the U.S, with $280 billion in sales at the farm gate. A warm dry climate and irrigated land make it possible to produce the consistently large onions used in facilities such as Select Onion. 70% of the value to Oregon agriculture comes from irrigated land.

As Jim Johnson of the ODA said, "This is not open space. This is a working landscape."

We are glad to say that Stacie Trenkel finally got the chance to see the view from Trenkel Overlook on Hwy 20-26. Maybe she will take her children there some day.

Owyhee Irrigation District settling ponds north of Nyssa

11,000 square miles of Malheur County is irrigated, according to Jay Chamberlin of the Owyhee Irrigation District. There are 1200 patrons of the OID, which costs $50 an acre to deliver water. The Owyhee Dam generates 15 MW of incidental power as well.

Starvation Camp at the Snake River Crossing south of Nyssa

A member of Oregon's Wheat League, Larry Price told us that 10% of wheat grown in Oregon is here in Malheur County. We get some of the highest yields at 178 bushels per acre. 85% of northwest wheat is exported.

Alfalfa seed after defoliation at Price Farms

Malheur County is a seed producing area since it is somewhat isolated, with low humidity and high summer temperatures. Alfalfa seed is pollinated by leaf cutter bees, part of the "ag infrastructure."

Irrigated land alongside BLM land

Driving south through Adrian you can see the stark contrast between highly productive, irrigated land and dry BLM land. "Irrigation is what makes this valley what it is," according to Jim Johnson and Jay Chamberlin.

Looking toward Grassy Mountain, an alternate utility route suggested by SIP

Jean Findley, retired BLM range botanist, pointed out where the BLM has designated utility corridors on public lands. "The sage grouse is stable in Oregon," she said, which is why it is not on the threatened species list as it is in other western states.

The PP&L 500 kV line near Succor Creek south of Adrian

Alternate routes suggested by Stop Idaho Power followed the existing PP&L 500 kV line south of Adrian and then turn north through BLM ground rather than irrigated exclusive farm use land.

We would like to thank Jim Johnson and Adam Bless for their return trip to Malheur County, and to the members of EFSC and other officials who graciously accepted our invitation.