vpranch's comments:

on What Wind Means for the Gorge

One of the great benefits about living where we do is the open space and the importance we as ranchers put on the quality of life our culture provides not only for our families, but for society as well. This industrial complex (Antelope Ridge Wind Project in Northeastern Union County, Oregon), not wind farms so amicably named, will forever change our landscape and lifestyle. When these industrial sites are allowed, they devalue not only the land, but our community and culture as well. Regarding private property rights, this goes beyond the individuals right to do as they please and land use planning is not "meddlesome" but a protection for the entire community. Although this county somehow has allowed the zoning change, specifically for this wind industry, it definitely opposes the original intent of maintaining the land, and our values, both economically and culturally.

Wind projects are not self-sustainable. If it were not for the monetary incentives coming from our federal, state and possibly county taxes again (Strategic Investment Program), this industry would never exist. As seventh generation Ranchers, we are proven stewards of our resources, and we CAN speak to passing on healthy and vital property. If the Antelope project is allowed, it will damage the land with erosion by the boulevards constructed, water quality will be impaired with sediment loading, the invasive weeds that such tremendous soil disturbance will allow, loss of open space and the damage to the Big Game habitat, as the previous Elkhorn site has demonstrated.

This industrial complex, if allowed, will change our community forever, and the heritage that has been passed down through preceding generations will be lost. The Antelope Wind project is not about preserving the family ranch, local jobs, or economic benefits. It IS about a company, based in Lisbon, Portugal, taking millions of our dollars and depleting our quality of life forever.

Curtis W. Martin

V P Ranch

51840 Hwy. 237

North Powder, Oregon 97867 

posted 1 year, 12 months ago
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on Blowin' in the Wind

On our eastern horizen our once open space rangeland view has now been forever changed by the recent completion of the Elkhorn Valley Wind Farm, near North Powder, Oregon. In the day these sanitary white pillars stand out in horrific contrast to the surronding grassland, and at night we are enlightened by the multiple blinking red lights. It used to be a beautiful moon rise to see, but no more. It seems somewhat curious that all of of these energy production facilities are in our rural landscape, and none near urban areas where the aesthetic value would be compromised, but the highest electrical usage occurs.

If it were not that this "Green Energy" is so politically correct and the huge tax incentives to the parent companies, there would be no logical or economical merit to the 1.3+ million dollar per tower cost. There is no way that this form of energy
will ever cost effective, and I am sure that our future electricity rates will bear this truth. If any other segment of the economy would have attempted this kind of footprint, Hell would have frozen before it would have been allowed. Bio-fuels generation, using the aftermath of much needed thinning in our surronding forests before we loose our watersheds to catostrophic fire, would be productive power generation and an economic stimulus for our rural communities by creating family wage employment.

Our ranch goes back seven generations, and we are stewards of our resources. We believe that one of these resources we protect is the "Open Space" that all humanity can enjoy. If these production facilities continue to expand, we all will loose forever the landscpe we cherish.

Curtis W. Martin, V P Ranch


posted 3 years, 9 months ago
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