The Southern Willamette Forest Collaborative went on a road trip in September to attend the 2021 Sustainable Northwest "Making Energy Work" Symposium. Attending from the SWFC were Sarah (SWFC Coordinator), Laurie (founding Board Member) and Dustin (Outreach Coordinator and RARE AmeriCorps member), and joining from the City of Oakridge was Grace (Economic Development Coordinator). The event lasted three days and featured a large selection of experts on sustainability solutions for rural Oregon. The symposium also showcased an impressive range of innovative and practical projects.
Wallowa Lake as seen from the Chief Joseph National Historic Landmark
Wallowa County is a true Oregon gem. It is the home of Wallowa Lake, Hell’s Canyon, and the “Oregon Alps”. Though tourists find their way here in big numbers, the county is rural and farm based. Wallowa is not a place one might link with cutting-edge climate change solutions. Yet, for hundreds of years, locals have relied on naturally-powered machines like watermills. In modern times, new ways to power communities have found their way to Wallowa County. These advancements do more than reduce greenhouse gasses. They also help to create jobs, slow wildfires, preserve habitat, and lower the cost of energy. During the conference we saw clearly that the county has a winning formula for clean energy. This formula is what Nils Christophersen of Wallowa Resources calls a “Stewardship Economy”, based on delivering “triple-bottom line” (community, environment, jobs) solutions.
You get the strong sense that Wallowa Resources (WR) is a key partner in many of the innovative projects. For WR, balancing habitat, economic growth, and community building is a way to help this rural area survive and thrive. Using the stewardship economy model, WR has become a well-known community building organization. There's a lot of talk about potential in sustainable energy. The projects we saw showed us how ideas become reality.
Community Solar meets Affordable Housing
Solar-powered affordable housing in Enterprise, OR.
Ryan Sheehy of Fleet Development was an engaging tour guide around two inspiring solar projects. The first stop was the site of the soon-to-be constructed Community Solar installation. At first, it looked like an empty hillside in a former asphalt plant. Ryan informed us that, in fact, he considered the work 90% done. The Community Solar program, set in place by Oregon SB 1547 in 2016, was the model for the solar installation. The law allows for individuals to cost-share power from a central solar plant. This solves problems for shaded properties or renters who don’t own their roofs. Government rules require a long approval process, which presents a host of challenges. Connecting to the grid, finding contractors, and gaining community support took up lots of time and energy for Ryan and his partners.
Yet here we stood at a field where in a couple of months, a solar power plant would exist. It will generate enough energy for up to 100 households. 10% of this energy will go to low-income households. It was clear that affordable housing is at the forefront of Fleet Development’s plans. Another project that Ryan has helped to create is a rooftop solar low-income housing block. Once again, the partners involved had to overcome difficulties of the utility system to come up with creative solutions. Now Park Street Apartments is a sustainable and affordable place to live. Enterprise also boasts rooftop solar panels on its hospital, clinic, a local church, and a wastewater treatment plant which is entirely solar powered. The solar arrays in Wallowa are impressive, but the solutions didn’t stop there.
Micro-Hydro: Harnessing Water Pressure In Unexpected Places
Housing for the micro-hydro generator at Wallowa Lake State Park
The next tour took us to a campground in the stunning Wallowa Lake State Park. Nestled up the slope from the RV campground is a small log cabin. This cabin might house the future of rural hydropower: a “Micro-hydro” generator. Presenters from the Energy Trust of Oregon and Wallowa Resources explained that this generator utilized an existing underground spring. The stream was harnessed to power a Pelton turbine. The project only needed some pipe retrofitting to be compatible with the generator. This method leaves above ground stream ecosystems untouched. The project will power 85% of the water and sewage pump for residents who live near the lake.
As discussed by a panel the next day, micro-hydro could be implemented in many ways. They plan on installing similar generators during field irrigation upgrades. These generators double as replacements for pressure regulators. The project team had created maps of the entire county which look at water flow, slopes, and access to legal water rights. There are many potential sites that could tap into this technology. While micro-hydro isn’t going to replace conventional dams any time soon, the potential is promising.
Heartwood Biomass
Finally, we got to see a front row seat to a type of project that holds opportunity for many PNW communities: biomass utilization. "Biomass" can mean many things to many people. Essentially, it is any process that converts organic biological material to another, usable form. For Heartwood Biomass in Wallowa, it means improving forest health and reducing the chance of severe wildfires. Heartwood turns the woody refuse created in the process into an array of products. While they transfer some logs to traditional mills, most become poles for hops growers, posts, firewood, veneer, and more.
Another Biomass product is biochar, which Heartwood has created before. Their facilities still need an upgrade before they can produce it consistently. The promise of new markets like biochar might have to wait for now. But other traditional wood products markets are going strong. For instance, Heartwood produces a lot of firewood, which they kiln dry with other by-products from the process. Yet, they choose to send it all out-of-market, allowing woodcutters to survive. They employ around 25 workers, and are currently hosting another company’s veneer production on their facility. Like others in Wallowa, Heartwood has made the triple bottom line a reality.
Takeaways
We could imagine many ways to integrate these projects into a south Willamette watershed sustainable energy system. We have waterways, sun, and, of course, lots of biological material that could be used. Generating power from micro-hydro in existing springs and wells in Oakridge could certainly be a reality. Imagine powering public buildings and affordable housing with a local source of energy. The potential for increased disaster preparedness from these sources is also exciting. Community building takes time, effort, patience, and leadership.
Each of these projects needs a champion like Wallowa Resources. None of them came to pass without significant inter-agency coordination and private-public partnerships. They each had many phases including planning, funding, site selection, construction, and management. These innovative sustainability projects in Wallowa Co. took at least three years in every instance. Factoring in the social connection that needs to be built to make them work, each of these projects can be seen as decades-long. The Southern Willamette Forest Collaborative is aiming to learn from what Wallowa Resources has accomplished and support sustainable triple bottom line solutions that are the right fit for the local communities.