Blowin' In The Wind
Wind Farm Construction Likely Near Portland
Portland, wind-farm developers want you to look a lot more like the Bay Area.
Because wind farms having been an established figure in the eastern areas of the Columbia River Gorge for many years, developers continue to eye locations near more populated areas in the Pacific Northwest, particularly Oregon’s largest city. What that means for people living in Portland suburbs is that their surroundings will start resembling areas such as Dublin near San Francisco, an area where wind farms cover hills along crowded highways like red dots on a child with chickenpox.
At least two wind-farm developers recently announced interest in building near heavily populated areas in northeast Oregon and across the Columbia in Washington. The push toward urban boundaries comes as a result of the best rural sites, those located in eastern Oregon and Washington, already containing wind farms.
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Western Book Roundup
Two Mystery Bookstores and Proulx’s “Tits-Up” In The New Yorker
Alicia Wallace of the Daily Camera reported this week that a mix-your-own wine store, The Blending Cellar, will move into the space on Boulder's Pearl Street recently vacated by High Crimes Mystery Bookstore, which converted to an online-only operation in February. But another regional mystery bookshop is thriving: Jeff Baker of The Oregonian reported that Portland's Murder By The Book Mystery Bookstore is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary (via Shelf Awarness).
The AP reported that the New York City Opera will adapt Annie Proulx's short story "Brokeback Mountain" into an opera that will debut in 2013. In other Proulx news, the June 9 New Yorker summer fiction issue features a new story called "Tits-Up in A Ditch," which, judging from the title alone, sounds as though it'd make a fine opera, too.
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The Depths Of Depravity
Metal Thieves Strike Western Farms
As if the weather, insects, crop diseases and actual, real-life troubles weren’t enough for farmers in the West to worry about, thieves have started stealing irrigation wire from watering machines so that it can be sold for large profits.
The agriculture community in states from Colorado to Oregon is swarmed with waves of fear and paranoia as scavengers stalk their fields at night hoping to score copper from expensive irrigation machines.
Thieves are stealing the wire so it can be sold to scarp metal dealers for up to $3 a pound. Law enforcement officials are reporting that the swine committing theses crimes can cut and haul as much as 90 pounds of wire at a time.
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u.s. HOUSE WANTS YOUR OPINION ON RECREATION FEES
Congress Looks at Recreation Access Tax
The U.S. House of Representatives has decided to take a serious look at the much-criticized implementation, if not over-implementation, of the Federal Lands Recreational Enhancement Act (FLREA), This is the law that has saddled us the pandemic of new and ever-increasing recreation fees to enter and use our public lands, which is why it's called RAT, for Recreation Access Tax, by its distracters.
Those who pay the RAT to use their own land don't get many chances to voice their opinions, but now, our elected officials want to hear what you think.
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Turn off the Television
Where To Hike, Bike, Fish And Drink In Central Oregon
With the weather forecast finally offering something reasonable, now is the time to get outdoors and take advantage of the variety of recreation opportunities Central Oregon has to offer. The following is the NewWest.Net/Bend guide to getting out of the house and exploring the earth. No excuses. Step outside and do something. Please enjoy.
Hiking
Because it's still early in the summer that feels more like early spring, start with an easy stroll to loosen the legs. We suggest traveling a few miles outside of town to Shevlin Park. Here there are more than 650 acres of hiking trails to explore. Most of the trails follow Tumalo Creek and are spread across fairly-level ground. A mixture of Aspen and Ponderosa trees are host to numerous wildlife species, including deer and bear.
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House Denial
Timber Payments Denied To Rural West
A bill that would have continued to give money to Western schools, roads and public safety for the next four years was denied today by the House because Republicans sided with "already profit-rich oil and gas companies," according to one Oregon senator.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., was vividly distraught when the timber program he diligently supported was denied by the House.
As a result of the bill’s shut down, many counties in southwest Oregon and other areas in the West are about to lay off employees by the hundreds, DeFazio said.
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MAXIMIZING BENEFITS, NOT DOLLARS
Use Stillwater Forest to Mold New Model for State Lands
Last week, I wrote about the dilemma facing the Montana Land Board and other state land boards--what to do with extremely valuable state land near rapidly growing municipalities. A small section of the Stillwater State Forest on the outskirts of Whitefish, Montana, is an excellent choice for establishing a new policy where managing for outdoor recreation, watershed, wildlife habitat and open space trumps timbering and/or subdivision.
The rub is, such non-commercial uses might be illegal even if everybody agrees this option would benefit the most people for the longest time.
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Trash With No Home
Hawaii Plans To Ship Tons Of Trash To The Pacific Northwest
A wise, slightly disturbed and possibly insane friend of mine once told me the following statement when I ran out of beer and asked him for one: “Don’t make your problem, my problem.”
And that’s the first notion that popped into my head when I heard about Hawaii’s plans to start dumping trash in the Pacific Northwest, including a landfill in eastern Oregon.
Hawaii's largest city, Honolulu, is apparently unable to find enough room its trash and is thus looking to barge its garbage to the Northwest and ship it up the Columbia River.
Are you kidding me?
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When Bears Get Shot And Go Bad
Oregon Man Attacked By Bear
It was supposed to be a normal day.
And then things just got strange.
An Oregon man was mauled by a bear during the weekend after a friend of his shot the animal and left it staggering about the wilderness.
An Oregon State Police Trooper tells the Roseburg News-Review that 33-year-old Aaron Wyckoff had bite and scratch marks "on his ankle and on his forehead, and everywhere in between."
The bear that attacked Wyckoff is believed to be the same bear shot earlier in the day by 15-year-old Chris Moen, Wyckoff’s friend.
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Geothermal Power Production
The Gold Beneath Central Oregon
If the West is truly going to make a difference in America’s pursuit for renewable energy, those concerned with protecting every tree, every body of water and every parcel of land from Denver to Portland must step aside and allow certain methods of research and development to begin.
A perfect example of this lies below the Newberry Crater near Bend. Heralded as one of the best geothermal resources in the world, the fiery mother lode resting beneath the caldera could produce enough electricity to light up 80,000 homes in the West (okay, in California).
Geologists and modern-day miners have been researching the potential for renewable energy at Newberry Crater for more than 30 years. Outrageous financial costs to dig in the area and environmental concerns have always been a road block in tapping into Newberry.
Until now.
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