The Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge in Oregon. From Wikimedia Commons. Photographer unidentified.
The company behind Oregon’s newest natural gas pipeline will donate at least $22 million for conservation projects in our state and across the West.
It’s the result of a three-way deal between the Oregon Natural Desert Association, Western Watersheds Project and El Paso Corp. The money will be used to undo some of the environmental damage that results from building the Ruby pipeline, and to preserve sagebrush habitat.
Brent Fenty, ONDA Executive Director, tells me his group is expecting somewhere between $7 and $12 million for conservation projects in the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge in southeastern Oregon and the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Nevada.
The ultimate goal is to restore sagebrush areas and help the species that live there. Some of the projects include:
- Expand the refuges by buying up private land from willing sellers. Could be as much as 10,000 acres.
- Reduce grazing and stress on the land by paying ranchers to retire their grazing permits.
- Remove fences to make it easier for wildlife to migrate through the region.
- Restore habitat around springs.
The money doesn’t actually go to ONDA. The group and the Ruby pipeline company are forming a new non-profit to oversee the work. The donation will be paid out over 10-years.
Western Watersheds has a similar arrangement for about $15 million.
Fenty says between Oregon and Nevada, about 5 million acres of land will benefit. “I can’t think of another agreement in this region,” he says, “with the potential to do as much restoration work as this one.”
About The Pipeline
The Ruby Pipeline runs 675-miles from southwest Wyoming to Malin, Oregon. But only a small portion of the line runs through our state. The pipeline just received right-of-way permission from BLM and is awaiting the final green light from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Construction will probably start very soon. Most of the natural gas will be sold to utilities in California.
But here’s what else makes the pipeline really interesting, from an environmental point of view.
The pipeline competes for the same markets as the proposed Jordan Cove LNG project near Coos Bay. But instead of bringing in imported LNG, Ruby will supply cleaner and cheaper natural gas from domestic sources in the Rocky Mountains. The bankruptcy of Bradwood Landing is a sign that the LNG industry is on shaky ground. The Ruby pipeline just might kill off Jordan Cove.
It really angers me that ultra-left wing “greenies” attempt to stop ANY work on our natural gas infrastructure! As a union member,I am constantly encouraged to support Democratic candidates for office, and those candidates forget about Labor as soon as they’re elected! Bradwood Landing and Jordan Cove would not only offer cleaner fuel options over the next, critical decades, but would provide 100′s of good construction jobs, and dozens of FAMILY WAGE jobs in two areas that badly need work! Right-wingers aren’t any better, as they would build without regard for the environment, and pay minimum wage if they had their way! We need many more projects to reduce our foreign energy dependence as we attempt to become energy independent! The Ruby pipeline should be one of MANY, including new pipelines in Alaska! The original(Alaska) pipeline was and is a wonderful example of environmentally friendly design, and wildlife continues to thrive along side of it! I daresay we could now come up with the technology to BURY future pipelines in Alaska, and leave only the right of way as evidence of any intrusion! Windmills and solar are only a part of our energy solution, and we Americans should be investing in every viable option, including Hemp, available! I know that the paper or cotton industries don’t want to hear of such a thing, but the time has come for change! Hemp is much more efficient for Bio-Diesel production than corn, and the fibers make wonderful cloth and paper! Big oil and other industries just want to milk every Dollar they can out of us! Try and buy a small diesel pick-up or S.U.V.! Europe and Australia have dozens of ‘em to choose from, while we in the U.S. are forced to throw more and more money into gasoline, when we could be saving 40-50% of our fuel costs! Americans need to wake up, and find our common ground before we all end up serfs!
How shameful. Yet another supposed “environmental” outfit willing slice yet another piece off the loaf of bologna. Reminds me of the trade the Sierra Club made in th e’50s regarding Glen Canyon. Mainstream compromisers where the environment ALWAYS loses. $20 million is chump change for the damage this pipeline will cause.
So, we have the USFWS and ONDA being bought off by El Paso/BP. The USFWS head of Sheldon is taking a new position in D.C. Fitting. ONDA gets an infusion of cash and renewed organizational relevance. The natives are next.
Money talks. Someone in the media, really, needs to follow the money for this one.