Windmills On The Oregon Trail

In 1849, Major Cross with the Mounted Rifle Regiment descended the hill entering the Grande Ronde from the south. He had an artist along who made drawings of the things they saw and did for the official Army report which was filed in 1851. The hill looks today much as it did when Major Cross descended, and the ruts of the Oregon Trail are deep and clear going down the hill.

Toady, a developer is planning to place 500-foot windmills on the same hill. There is room on the hill for both the Oregon Trail and the windmills. The developer has chosen to place windmills directly in the line of sight of the three million vehicles that pass this viewpoint. The project will have over 150 windmills. They could move a couple of them over a bit. In February or March 2011 there will be an opportunity to write letters to try to get the State of Oregon to require the developer to move the towers so they will not appear directly in line with this view of the Oregon Trail from Interstate 84 driving from La Grande to Baker City.

Project developer, Energias de Portugal, doing business in the USA as Horizon Renewables and EDP Renewables North America, formally withdrew its application for a permit to build the proposed Antelope Ridge Wind Energy Project on the ridge of Craig Mountain south of LaGrande, Oregon. The project would have crossed and damaged a segment of the Oregon Trail that was described in 1842 in words that still describe the place.

The announcement was made in the Oregonian newspaper on September 24, followed by formal action at the September 27 meeting of the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council. Subsequently, all references to the Antelope Ridge Wind Project have been removed from the Energy Facility Siting Council website.

The developer stated that it was a business decision and did not foreclose the possibility that the company might reconsider if conditions changed.

Thank you for expressing a concern in the direct damage this project would have caused to a high-value segment of the original Oregon Trail in a very visible place.

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2013/09/edp_renewables_withdraws_contr.html