Friends of the Columbia Gorge Protecting the Gorge Since 1980 Summer 2010 Newsletter Inside: Boardman Closer to Shutdown Page 4 Gorge Commission Defies Court Page 8 Fall Hikes & Step Up for the Gorge Inserts Friends of the Columbia Gorge The middle ridgeline seen here from Nestor Peak would be lined with turbine towers if this project is approved. Founder Nancy Russell, 1932-2008 Photo: © Chris Carvalho / Lensjoy.com BOARD OF DIRECTORS Bob Hansen* CHAIR Maria Hall CHAIR EL ec T Priscilla Turner VI ce CHAIR Karen Johnson Sec R E TARY /TR E A S UR E R Rick Ray* AT-LARG E Mem B E R Cynthia Winter* AT-LARG E Mem B E R Chris Beck Broughton H. Bishop Bowen Blair, Jr. Ken Denis Aubrey Russell Pat Wall Mark Waller Charlie Webster Polly Wood* FRIENDS OF THE COLUM B IA GOR G E LAND T RUST BOARD OF T RUSTEES Proposed Wind Project Threatens the Gorge Aubrey Russell PR es ID E NT Sec R E TARY /TR E A S UR E R Bob Hansen* Friends of the Columbia Gorge supports Bowen Blair, Jr. DS Lumber Company is proposing Jim Desmond to build massive wind turbines along responsible development of clean renewable Dustin Klinger the scenic ridgeline bordering the energy, but the Whistling Ridge proposal is Christine Knowles* SColumbia Gorge National Scenic Area above not responsible. It is not critical to our energy Rick Ray* White Salmon. needs and not worth sacrificing wildlife and STAFF If approved, up to fifty turbines – 420 the scenic beauty of the Columbia Gorge. Nathan Baker STAFF ATTORN E Y feet tall with blinking lights – would cover Take action: Contact the Washington Kelley Beamer CON se R V ATION ORGANIZ E R more than 1,000 acres of Gorge skyline State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council David Carrasco LE GAL INT E RN Justin Carroll GRANT S & CONT E NT Spec IALI S T and be visible from several designated key today. Urge them to deny this project because Peter Cornelison* FI E LD Rep R ese NTATI ve viewing areas. These ridgelines include of harm to natural and scenic resources in the Kevin Gorman EX ec UTI ve DIR ec TOR designated northern spotted owl habitat Columbia Gorge. Maegan Jossy OUTDOOR PROGRA ms COORDINATOR and support numerous other raptor species. Comment by calling (800) 622-4519 Michael Lang CON se R V ATION DIR ec TOR Marilyn Lipko Deve LO pme NT Ass I S TANT The SDS plan is projected to have far higher or email comments to: efsec@commerce. Kate McBride* LAND T RU S T MANAG E R adverse impacts on wildlife than any other wa.gov. Submit comments before August 27. Rick Till CON se R V ATION LE GAL ADV O C AT E wind facility in Washington. More details at www.gorgefriends.org. Sandy Wright Deve LO pme NT DIR ec TOR * Gorge residents ADDITIONAL SUPPORT Active citizen support makes the difference! Your actions for Legal Counsel: Gary Kahn Gorge protection are crucial to our success. Contact your Senators and Representatives using Newsletter Design: Kathy Fors and Kathleen Krushas / To the Point Publications the information below, or check www.senate.gov or www.house.gov for other offices. Editor: Betsy Toll Oregon Washington PORTLAND OFFICE Sen. Ron Wyden, (202) 224-5244 Sen. Patty Murray, (202) 224-2621 522 SW Fifth Avenue, #720 http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/ http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm Portland, Oregon 97204 (503) 241-3762 Sen. Jeff Merkley, (202) 224-3753 Sen. Maria Cantwell, (202) 224-3441 [email protected] http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/ GOR G E OFFICE Rep. David Wu, (202) 225-0855 Rep. Brian Baird, (202) 225-3536 205 Oak Street, #17 Hood River, Oregon 97031 Rep. Earl Blumenauer, (202) 225-4811 Rep. Doc Hastings, (202) 225-5816 (541) 386-5268 Rep. Greg Walden, (202) 225-6730 Rep. Norm Dicks, (202) 225-5916 Rep. Peter DeFazio, (202) 225-6416 Email your Congressional Representative by Rep. Kurt Schrader, (202) 225-5711 logging on to www.house.gov/writerep/ Link to us on Twitter and Facebook from our website: www.gorgefriends.org Cover photo: Cedar Falls, on our Land Trust’s recently acquired Campfire property (see page 6). 2 Photo: Jozsef Urmos / panojoe.urmos.net Director’s Letter s I write this, I’m in an airplane organizations using both land acquisition somewhere between Chicago and land-use advocacy as tools for and Seattle. The 30,000-foot protection. Land trusts have generally Aperspective is a fitting finish to a conference turned away from the land-use planning I just left that explored steps that Friends of process because of potential controversy, the Columbia Gorge has taken that may be but some are seeing that conservation of replicated nationwide. large landscapes cannot be accomplished I was invited to participate in a group with purchases and conservation of prominent land trust leaders, land use easements alone. Strong zoning must be experts, and academic heavyweights at the part of the equation. Rockefeller estate in New York, to discuss As the conference ended, one leader whether land trusts should engage in the challenged land trusts to engage in the Kevin Gorman with Friends member Dorothy land-use regulatory planning process. Rand world of land-use regulations and zoning, Burdick at Catherine Creek. See page 9 for an Wentworth, the executive director of making the simple statement, “If not us, update on the Catherine Creek Recreation Plan. the Land Trust Alliance, which represents then who?” Photo: Sandy Wright over 1,700 land trusts around the country, That’s a difficult question we often opened the conference by discussing face on the issues we care about most. If could give our organization a $100,000 Friends of the Columbia Gorge founder not us, then who? boost, and it will only succeed if a whole Nancy Russell. He described Nancy as In August, Friends is launching lot of people also embrace that question. a woman who deftly moved between our Step Up for the Gorge Matching Gift Our comfort zones make it very easy advocating for land-use regulation and Campaign, made possible by a visionary to stay in one place. But to stretch, to take championing land conservation. donor who embraced the question “If not a leap of faith for something we believe in Across the country, in the race to us, then who?” This donor has agreed to – that’s the sort of action that can take us to save land from development, Friends of match new and upgraded contributions places we might have never imagined. the Columbia Gorge is one of the few up to $50,000 this year. This campaign Step Up. Stretch. If not you, then who? Friends of the Columbia Gorge works to ensure that the beautiful and wild Columbia Gorge remains a place apart, an unspoiled Kevin Gorman treasure for generations to come. Executive Director [email protected] Washington Sen. Patty Murray, (202) 224-2621 http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm Sen. Maria Cantwell, (202) 224-3441 http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/ Rep. Brian Baird, (202) 225-3536 Rep. Doc Hastings, (202) 225-5816 Rep. Norm Dicks, (202) 225-5916 Email your Congressional Representative by logging on to www.house.gov/writerep/ Photo: Aubrey Russell 3 Shutting Down Boardman Regulatory Agencies Propose 2015 Closure Michael Lang, Conservation Director, [email protected] ederal clean air laws, legal action, the largest stationary source of sulfur dioxide No pollution controls and public sentiment favoring (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in Oregon. In the thirty-year history of Boardman, conservation and clean energy These haze-producing pollutants cloud views PGE has passed up many opportunities to overF aging coal plants are converging to in the Columbia Gorge and eleven other reduce emissions. Instead, the company has press for an early shutdown of Portland federally protected regions in the Northwest, consistently evaded pollution control laws General Electric’s coal-fired power plant in and contribute to severe acid rain and fog ever since the plant was first conceived Boardman. The Boardman plant is the single in the fall and winter months. U.S. Forest in the 1970s, even refusing to install largest source of air pollution affecting the Service studies confirm that the acidity of pollution scrubbers during construction. Columbia Gorge. fog water in the Gorge during those months Friends and our allies have documented The possibility of an early closure is sometimes equivalent to vinegar. Nitrogen that major modifications to the plant made represents a remarkable change, considering and acid deposition are contributing to since that time should have triggered that four years ago, when Friends of the ecosystem damage and probable deterioration stringent pollution controls, yet none Columbia Gorge asked PGE if they would of Native American cultural resources. were ever implemented. Recently, we have consider closing Boardman before 2040, the In addition, the PGE Boardman plant asked a federal court judge to determine answer was an emphatic, unequivocal no. emits up to 5 million tons of carbon dioxide if PGE has violated the Clean Air Act. If The Boardman plant, owned and (CO2) per year, making it the largest point we prevail on these claims, PGE would operated by Portland General Electric, is source of global warming gas in Oregon. be required to install the “best available control technology” to reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, or to shut down the plant. These emission- control technologies are very costly and yet they do nothing to control carbon dioxide emissions. The best option for Columbia Gorge air quality, PGE ratepayers, and the global climate is early closure of the Boardman plant.