Steens Mt. Wind Farm

[Hiker of the Woods]

Not sure if this is too late. Get your comments in fast.

"Harney County has cleared Columbia Energy Partners of Vancouver to build a wind farm on the mountain's north slope. By year's end, 415-foot turbines could start rising from the juniper and sagebrush, among thousands of towers that developers are stampeding to build across eastern Oregon.

In addition, Columbia Energy has two more wind projects in the works for the Steens slope, plus another for Riddle Mountain to the northeast. A Houston company is scouting 18,000 acres to the south for a wind farm in the Pueblo Mountains, and more could follow."

For those of you who have Google Earth installed, here is a link to show the visual impact and location of the first proposed farm.

http://www.onda.org/defending-deser...ss/steens-mountain-propsed-wind-power-project

 

[bull_n_rut]

Not sure if I am correct on this, but I remember something about the Steens becoming a wilderness back in the Clinton administration? Then again I am not surprised since there is a freeway to the top now. So many other places they could stick those damn things,,,,like up their arse. Just when I think they could not ruin it anymore, there they go x(

 

[STIKFLIKER]

These first 3 projects are on private land so I think ONDA and everyone else ought to keep their noses out of places they don't belong. Just when does it end when idiots from somewhere else feel they have the right to tell you what to do with your own property? You won't see any of this from any legally drivable road on the steens.
I'm sure all these onda people live in wood houses cut from trees in the forest, and have concrete foundations with rock taken from someones pit, and drive cars powered by petroleum pumped from some prarie or desert, but.........now that they have theirs,.... no one should the right to do what they wish with their own land.
What a bunch of hypocritical idiots !!

 

[Jazz]

Good points! Everyone should remember that groups like ONDA are also NOT likely to support hunting.

By the way Stik is any of this on Hammonds?

 

[WapitiBob]

I don't see a problem with it.
There are thousands of turbines up the Gorge.

 

[gunguy]

Think they would make good treestands?
gotta watch out for the blades though.

 

[troutcrk]

Will the wind farms help with our lion problem?

Troutcrk
"Livin the Dream"

 

[hkm]

onda is a group of enviromental nuts. They are running out the cattle ranchers and they will turn on hunters and fishermen next. All they want is to have one big wilderness that they have control over. Hunters need to think twice befor they belong or suport groups like this.

 

[Hiker of the Woods]

I can't wait to hear all the hunters complain in the future about how the wind farms are affecting our wildlife like the dams did and still do to our fish. It makes me think that people who are for wind farms are anti-hunters.

 

[STIKFLIKER]

Jazz-
None of these are on Hammonds ground, and hkm, you are absolutely right! ONDA is the enemy to anything you, me, and many other people hold near and dear to our lifestyle. A bunch of preservationist idiots that want everything east of Bend, of course!, to be their own little wilderness. Void of any human or livestock inhabitants. They don't give a dam_ about anyone who lives there or makes their living there. They just want to have their own little piece of the woods where their houses set in Bend, Sisters, Black Butte Ranch, Camp Sherman or on the Metolius River, but be dam_ed if anyone east of there out on the desert should have a road, a cow, or heaven forbid, a wind turbine!
Like I said before, They are the enemy! your hunting will be next!

 

[Hiker of the Woods]

So wind farms are not fragmenting the landscape and taking away habitat or blocking migration of wildlife across the U.S? So these wind farms are good? Do you all not think you will be crying in the future about these wind farms like the people who fish cry about the dams? Really?????

 

[Hiker of the Woods]

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/02/oregons_steens_mountain_could.html

 

[bull_n_rut]

So, does anybody know who Oregon will outsource the energy to? ie..California... Gunguy, you took the words out of my mouth. I would only add a feeder, (since that is REAL hunting), a tv camera crew and we would have a hunting show

 

[Extrapale]

Oregon does not "outsource the power.". Oregon does not have much say in the power.

The company who builds the farm puts the energy on the grid and sells it to whoever they want.

 

[gunguy]

OK, I'M not real sure the windfarm is going to help out the folks in the county, maybe a few jobs etc. It should help by putting some electric power into the grid.
BUT the other problem I see is putting up a bunch of houses/cabins around Fishlake. all the development, roads, sewer,power lines, etc. would ruin the landscape forever.
I hunted the steens last year, and it is a big country with a lot of land most of which is real high alt. NO ONE could live up there during the winter with 8-10 ft. of snow. AND drive 90 miles back to Burns for your food and supplys, just wont work. absolutey terrible idea.

 

[STIKFLIKER]

A few turbines are going to "fragment the landscape" about as much as turning a undeveloped 2 track road into a overdeveloped gravel runway to the top of the mountain, or the radio antennas and substation buildings at the top of the mountain, but you didn't hear anyone whinning about that as long as it gives them better access, which is what that mountain needs less of, is better access by greenies driving priuses, suburus, and shiny new ford crew-cabs with the rust and mold from the left side of the state growing on the under-carriage. The fact is what ever a wind turbine does, it isn't going to affect the migration of anything on the Steens. The deer population is down 70%,. and the sheep population is down 60% in the past 10 years. ONDA's goal is to stop the migration of anything east of Bend, and I won't support any group trying to tell a private land owner what they can and can't do on their own land. When they come to my land and try to tell me what I can't do it'll be time to change the species I hunt for my survival

 

[bull_n_rut]

Ah Fliker, you just had to go and start the left "west" side vs right "east" side bs. I really hope its not to be taken as everyone from the "left" side is a greenie driving a subaru. By the way, I drive a Cummins with little shine under the sage scratches, no moss, and a little rust, blowing black smoke I do agree with most of what you're preaching but you need to get over the profiling cause of a persons choice of where to live. Currently I live on the "left" side and not even close to a "greenie", and get to deal with these subarus daily. Not to mention dodging all the bicycles in the middle of the highway. The "right" is about the only sane place to get away for now and I hate to see places like the Steens get asphalted.

I have lived on the "left" and the "right" and Bend is starting to get pretty "greenie" like too. As far as private land, hell ya they should be able to do what they want with it. And the runway to the top of the Steens, it would be great if it was still a 2 mph road. I didn't get the page to load that blacktail provided so I assumed the wind mills would be running right through the head of Big Indian. Glad I was wrong.

 

[need2hunt]

Sounds like they are going to have to upgrade the road system there big time for anything to work. The way I see it, nothing negatively impacts wildlife more than a road! This is the Monster Muley website, i'd start being concerned about even more disappearing Monster Muley's in the Steens because of the improved road access, if this project becomes reality.

For those of you pushing for or are taking sides with the project but love your hunting too....you'd better push for some big time mitigation measures/funding to go towards enforcement, and big game habitat improvement, etc.....

 

[Hiker of the Woods]

New Wind Farms in the U.S. Do Not Bring Jobs
Millions Have Been Invested in Wind Farms, but That Hasn't Brought Jobs
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/wind-power-equal-job-power/story?id=9759949

An interview with the head of the company doing 26 miles worth of windmills along the CR saying that most of the money and jobs are NOT staying in the US, let alone in Oregon and Washington.
http://www.10news.com/video/22505300/index.html?taf=sand

House votes to rein in tax breaks for green energy projects
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/02/house_votes_to_rein_in_tax_bre.html

Steens Mountain Wind Farm Permit Applications Withdrawn
http://audubonportland.org/news/steens

 

[Burnsscout]

Does anybody else find it ironic that the deer and sheep numbers have steadily declined since it was turned into a wilderness area? It Seems like the Steens were much better off, wildlife wise, when they "preserved" from all of us igonorant hillbillies that have lived here for the past 140 years. So far the only things that seem to be doing really well on the Steens are wildhorses (shitters), lions, and anti's.

When every body talks about the heyday on the Steens, they are refering to pre-wildernes designation. Only time will tell how well this all really works out. The more notority the Steens get, the more screwed up it will become.

To actually think that some wind towers are going to ruin the Steens, or to think that they are going to go anywhere in the wilderness area, is ridiculous. But I guess doomsday speculation makes one's point of view seem all the more appealing to ignorance.

PS ONDA sucks.

 

[HKShooter]

I wouldn't want to see one from any road near any hunting areas or from any mountain top. I drive by them out in the middle of nowhere OR and don't mind seeing them in some wheat field. Just my .02

HK

 

[Hiker of the Woods]

Well it doesn't look like very many responses after the truth about how wind farms DO NOT bring jobs to Oregon was posted. Oh well. I wonder if those people in that county still want wind farms brought in and started?

 

[STIKFLIKER]

The "Do Not bring jobs" you posted, or have read about, is Absolutely False. No one said it was going to solve all of the unemployment problems in the areas they would be built, but it will help. It takes approximately 80 full time employees, 2 years (5 months/year) just to construct the towers involved in just 1 of the proposed projects on the steens. That's because access to the site is limited by snow for a large portion of the year. That doesn't include the man-hours and equipment it takes to build roads to the sites (which are already built on private land), and after they are built there will be +/- 13 full time employees dedicated to each project. Let see,.......3 projects, 80 jobs per, 2 summers per project? now,.....13 full time employees per project after completion,.......sounds like allot of work/JOBS to me ! Not only will it bring jobs, but the revenue to the land owner for the lease of the ground (same as a job), but the revenue the county and local educational system recieves as a portion of the income from the electricity sold baqck to the grid is huge, and very much needed in harney county.
Do your homework, and quit reading that daily fish-wrapper that call it's self the oregonian newspaper! Just another example of a bunch of do-gooders trying to influence what another man, on the other side of the state, does on his own private property.

 

[bull_n_rut]

So, does anybody know who the company is that is doing the windmill install? Are they from Oregon? If not, will they hire locally or bring their own workers? Just seems to be the norm lately.

 

[Hiker of the Woods]

http://www2.wjtv.com/jtv/ap_exchang...nPoisedToReinInWindEnergyIncentivesOr/100855/