The self-described militia members occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters building south of Burns, Ore., don’t seem to be getting much support from groups that might otherwise share their political views.

The Oath Keepers, a group of current and former military, police and other “first responders” who pledge to “defend the Constitution” against government intrusion, is telling its followers that the Oregon ranching family at the center of the issue doesn’t want an armed confrontation.

“We cannot force ourselves or our protection on people who do not want it,” Oath Keeper founder and President Stewart Rhodes said in a post.

“Dwight and Steven Hammond have made it clear, through their attorney, that they just want to turn themselves in and serve out their sentence. And that clear statement of their intent should be the end of the discussion on this. No patriot group or individual has the right or the authority to force an armed stand off on this family, or around them, against their wishes. You cannot help someone who does not want your help, and who are not willing and ready to take a hard stand themselves.”

The discussion takes an odd turn, however, in a “false flag” post carried on the Oath Keepers website (www.oathkeepers.org). It alleges some of the militia members are actually federal “provocateurs” whose role is to provoke a shootout that will justify “citizen disarmament” by the Obama administration, which it refers to as “the regime.”

“My initial reaction was to observe that at least afterward we’ll know who the federal snitches are because they will be the only ones who survive the raid to take back the building,” wrote a poster identified as Mike Vanderboegh.

“For the regime, this could not come at a better time. The old Roman adage ‘cui bono’ (a Latin phrase meaning “To whose benefit?”) applies here. There is nothing on the talking heads channels as yet, but by Monday, when Obama meets with his Attorney General on the subject of citizen disarmament, you can bet the farm that this will play right into that narrative. Perfect timing. You’ve got to give the federal handlers of these pukes credit. This is precisely the sort of offensive action on the part of the ‘militia terrorists’ that they needed.”

Meanwhile, Harney County Sheriff David Ward, criticized by militia members for not taking up their cause, made his thoughts clear:

“On January 2, 2015 in Harney County, Oregon, a group of men and women seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters located in Harney County, Oregon. The refuge headquarters was empty at the time of the seizure due to it being the weekend.

“These men came to Harney County claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers, when in reality these men had alternative motives to attempt to over throw the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States.

“We are currently working jointly with several organizations to make sure the citizens of Harney County are safe and this issue is resolved as quickly and peaceful as possible. At this time we do not have any information that any other areas in Harney County are in immediate danger.

“We ask that people stay away from the refuge for their safety. We also ask that if anyone sees any of these individuals in the area to please contact law enforcement and do not confront the individuals themselves.”

BURNS, Ore. (AP) — People in this rural eastern Oregon town are used to worrying about friction between the federal government and locals, but the armed takeover of a nearby national wildlife refuge is raising concerns to a new high.

Keith Landon, a longtime resident of Burns and employee at the Reid Country Store, said he knows local law enforcement officials who fear their kids will be targeted by angry militia members.

The mother of one of his kids is now involved with an officer, and they decided to send their children to another town after feeling threatened by an angry protester, Landon said.

“I’m hoping most of it’s just muscle, trying to push,” he said. “But it’s a scary thing.”

Armed protesters, whom authorities say are coming from outside the area, took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge south of Burns on Saturday after participating in a peaceful rally over the prison sentences of local ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond.

The Hammonds were convicted of arson three years ago for fires that burned on federal land in 2001 and 2006. They served their original sentences — Dwight, three months and Steven, one year — but an appellate judge ruled in October that the terms were too short under federal minimum sentencing laws.

Both men were ordered back to prison for four years each. They have said they plan to turn themselves in Monday.

The decision to send the men back to prison generated an outcry and plays into a decades-long dispute between some Westerners and the federal government over the use of public lands.

Brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy are among those occupying the refuge. Their father, Cliven Bundy, was involved in a standoff with the government last year over grazing rights in Nevada.

Ryan Bundy told The Associated Press on Sunday that he hopes to turn over the land to local authorities so people can use it free of federal oversight. He said he hopes the takeover will prompt others to take action across the country to seize control of federally managed land.

Ammon Bundy has previously called on members of militia groups to take a stand with those at the refuge.

The FBI is working with local and state authorities to “bring a peaceful resolution to the situation,” the bureau said in a statement late Sunday. It said it is the lead investigative agency and would not release details about the law enforcement response to ensure the safety of officers and those at the refuge.

At the property, several pickup trucks blocked the entrance and armed men wearing camouflage and winter gear used radios to alert those at the refuge buildings when reporters were allowed in.

Ryan Bundy declined to say how many people were at the site.

“The end goal here is that we are here to restore the rights to the people here so that they can use the land and resources. All of them,” Bundy said.

That means ranchers can graze their cattle on the land, miners can use their mineral rights, loggers can cut trees, and hunters and fishers can shoot and cast, he said.

The Bundy brothers say the group plans to stay at the refuge as long as it takes.

“We’re planning on staying here for years, absolutely,” Ammon Bundy told reporters over the weekend. “This is not a decision we’ve made at the last minute.”

If the situation turns violent, Ryan Bundy contends that it will be because of the federal government’s actions.

“I mean, we’re here to restore order, we’re here to restore rights and that can go peacefully and easily,” he said.

Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward said the group came to town under false pretenses.

“These men came to Harney County claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers, when in reality these men had alternative motives to attempt to overthrow the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States,” Ward said in a statement Sunday.

Landon, the longtime Burns resident, said he sympathizes with the Bundys’ frustrations. Landon was a logger until the federal government declared the spotted owl a protected species in the 1980s, damaging the local logging industry.

“The spotted owl started the downfall of our community, then (President) Clinton made the Steens Mountains a wilderness area or whatever. Five generations of ranchers that had been on the Steens, kicked them off,” he said. “It’s hard to discredit what they’re trying to do out there. But I don’t want anybody hurt.”

He said that on the surface, it doesn’t look like much has changed in Burns, a high desert town of about 2,700 people.

“It’s weird — I woke up this morning expecting the town to be crawling with this and that agency. But you don’t see any of it. They’re keeping a low presence,” Landon said Sunday.

However, most of the hotels in the area are booked, and he’s noticed that officers are doing their patrols in pairs instead of alone. The biggest difference since the takeover is the undercurrent of worry, he said.

“I’m glad they took the refuge because it’s 30 miles away,” Landon said. “I mean, they could have took the courthouse here in town.”

BURNS, Ore. (AP) — A family previously involved in a showdown with the federal government has occupied a building at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon and is asking militia members to join them.

Ammon Bundy — the son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who was involved in a standoff with the government over grazing rights — told The Oregonian on Saturday that he and two of his brothers were among a group of dozens of people occupying the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

The protest began as a rally in support of Oregon ranchers facing jail time for arson.

Ammon Bundy posted a video on his Facebook page asking for militia members to come help him. He said “this is not a time to stand down. It’s a time to stand up and come to Harney County,” where Burns is located. Below the video is this statement: “(asterisk)(asterisk)ALL PATRIOTS ITS TIME TO STAND UP NOT STAND DOWN!!! WE NEED YOUR HELP!!! COME PREPARED.”

In an interview with reporters late Saturday night that was posted on Facebook, Bundy said he and others are occupying the building because “the people have been abused long enough.”

“I feel we are in a situation where if we do not do something, if we do not take a hard stand, we’ll be in a position where we’ll be no longer able to do so,” he said.

Bundy said the group planned to stay at the refuge indefinitely. “We’re planning on staying here for years, absolutely,” Ammon Bundy said. “This is not a decision we’ve made at the last minute.”

Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward told people to stay away from the building as authorities work to defuse the situation, the Oregonian reported.

“A collective effort from multiple agencies is currently working on a solution. For the time being please stay away from that area. More information will be provided as it becomes available. Please maintain a peaceful and united front and allow us to work through this situation,” Ward said in a statement.

An Idaho militia leader who helped organize the earlier march said he knew nothing about activities after a parade of militia members and local residents in Burns walked past the sheriff’s office and the home of Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son Steven.

Ammon Bundy’s father, Cliven Bundy, told Oregon Public Broadcasting on Saturday night that he had nothing to do with the takeover of the building.

Bundy said his son felt obligated to intervene on behalf of the Hammonds.

“That’s not exactly what I thought should happen, but I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “You know, if the Hammonds wouldn’t stand, if the sheriff didn’t stand, then, you know, the people had to do something. And I guess this is what they did decide to do. I wasn’t in on that.”

His son Ammon told him they are committed to staying in the building, Cliven Bundy told Oregon Public Broadcasting.

“He told me that they were there for the long run. I guess they figured they’re going to be there for whatever time it takes—and I don’t know what that means,” Cliven Bundy said. “I asked him, ‘Well how long can ya, how long you going to stand out there?’ He just told me it was for long term.”

Beth Anne Steele, an FBI spokeswoman in Portland, told The Associated Press the agency was aware of the situation at the national wildlife refuge. She made no further comment.

Some local residents feared the Saturday rally would involve more than speeches, flags and marching. But the only real additions to that list seemed to be songs, flowers and pennies.

As marchers reached the courthouse, they tossed hundreds of pennies at the locked door. Their message: civilians were buying back their government. After the march passed, two girls swooped in to scavenge the pennies.

A few blocks away, Hammond and his wife, Susan, greeted marchers, who planted flower bouquets in the snow. They sang some songs, Hammond said a few words, and the protesters marched back to their cars.

Dwight Hammond has said he and his son plan to peacefully report to prison Jan. 4 as ordered by the judge.

Dwight Hammond, 73, and Steven Hammond, 46, said they lit the fires in 2001 and 2006 to reduce the growth of invasive plants and protect their property from wildfires.

The two were convicted of the arsons three years ago and served time — the father three months, the son one year. But a judge ruled their terms were too short under federal law and ordered them back to prison for about four years each.

The decision has generated controversy in a remote part of the state.

In particular, the Hammonds’ new sentences touched a nerve with far right groups who repudiate federal authority.

Ammon Bundy and a handful of militiamen from other states arrived last month in Burns, some 60 miles from the Hammond ranch.

In an email to supporters, Ammon Bundy criticized the U.S. government for a failed legal process.

An influx of new or beginning farmers who need feed for goats, llamas, alpacas and sheep in addition to cattle prompted Oregon State University Extension to offer a class Thursday, Jan. 14 on Growing Quality Hay.

The class is scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Josephine County Extension Auditorium, 215 Ringuette St., Grants Pass. The cost is $15. To register on-line, go to https://secure.oregonstate.edu/osuext/register/968, or contact Sharon Evans at OSU Extension, at 541-476-6613.

The class is offered through OSU’s Small Farms Program. Paula Burkhalter, assistant to the area’s Small Farms Agent, Maude Powell, said a good number of beginning farmers attended the class when it was offered two years ago in neighboring Jackson County, and 20 to 25 are expected this year. With many new farmers in Southwest Oregon, there appears to be an ongoing need for understanding what quality hay is and its role in producing healthy livestock, Burkhalter said.

The class will cover types of hay, nutritional content, the process of cutting and curing hay, required equipment, soil management and the importance of having a forage analysis done. The impact of poor quality hay on livestock health will be covered as well.

The extension office also is offering a series of classes on farm management in January, February and March. The series follows a sequence intended to help farmers in their first five years, with sessions titled Dream it, Grow it, Do it, Sell it, Manage it and Keep it. More information is available at http://extension.oregonstate.edu/sorec/farms.

ONTARIO, Ore. — Many farmers and others in Eastern Oregon fear efforts to significantly raise the state’s minimum wage would result in businesses moving across the border to Idaho.

Townhall meetings will be held in Eastern Oregon next week to inform people about the different proposals to raise the state’s minimum wage and discuss the impacts they could have.

One proposed ballot measure would increase Oregon’s minimum wage from $9.25 to $15 an hour over three years and another would raise it to $13.50 over that same period.

Idaho’s minimum wage is $7.25.

The meetings are being organized by Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, who said he has heard from many people that the current $2 an hour difference between the two states’ minimum wages makes it extremely difficult to create new jobs in Eastern Oregon.

The unemployment rates in Malheur, Grant, Harney and Baker counties in Eastern Oregon are 2-4 percentage points higher than the rates in Idaho’s Canyon, Payette and Washington counties, which border Oregon.

Bentz believes the difference between the states’ minimum wages is a big reason for that disparity.

“It’s been difficult just to attract jobs” in Eastern Oregon, he said. “It’s going to be impossible if (the minimum wage) goes higher....”

Several proposals to raise the state’s minimum wage were introduced in the Oregon Legislature last year, including one that would have increased it to $15 in 2018.

Passing legislation that increases Oregon’s minimum wage is expected to be a priority during the upcoming legislative session.

Farmers and agribusinesses in Eastern Oregon said they couldn’t compete against their colleagues on the Idaho side if the state’s minimum wage is increased substantially and Idaho’s stays the same.

“I guarantee you there will be packing sheds in this valley that move to the other side,” said farmer Paul Skeen, president of the Malheur County Onion Growers Association. “They’ll have to. They won’t have any other choice.”

Owyhee Produce General Manager Shay Myers said his onion packing plant in Nyssa couldn’t compete against its Idaho counterparts if Oregon’s minimum wage is raised to anywhere near $15 an hour while Idaho’s doesn’t change.

“There are only two ways to cut labor costs: moving or automation,” he said. “It might be easier for me to move across the border.”

A minimum wage proposal by Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, recognizes the different costs of living between Portland and rural Oregon and seeks to head off the proposed ballot measures.

Dembrow, chairman of the Senate Workforce Committee, proposes to create three minimum wage zones in the state, with the highest rate being in the Portland area and the lowest in rural areas such as Eastern Oregon.

“It makes more sense to me to have the minimum wage more closely tied to the cost of living in the different parts of Oregon,” he said. “Clearly, the cost of living here in Portland is much higher than it is in Ontario.”

EAGLE POINT, Ore. (AP) — Medina Russell pulled an antique medicine bottle from a zippered pouch belted to his waist.

Although the label was burned off by a Christmas Day fire that gutted the historic Butte Creek Mill, the unbroken bottle was still filled with decades-old pills and its cork stopper was intact.

“My pouch runneth over,” Medina Russell said to mill owner Bob Russell (no relation) of the vintage treasures gradually filling his pouch.

“You did find some stuff!” Bob Russell said to his friend and fellow antiques collector. “I had all my pharmacy stuff stored under the eaves.”

Volunteers, many of them antiques experts, began sifting through the charred rubble of the mill Wednesday. The last working, water-powered flour mill west of the Mississippi was also home to the office and personal antiques collection of Bob Russell, a lifelong collector. The volunteers are combing through a completely collapsed section of the building, staying away from the unstable sections that are still standing.

Bob Russell and Medina Russell looked through more of the vintage finds — some blackened and some almost unscathed.

A poker chip. An American-Indian ax head made of stone. A black-and-red woven Navajo rug. A glass paperweight bearing the image of President William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901. A Pluto-the-dog toy made of wood and string. A pocket mirror with a picture of a newfangled toilet promising “A Tank of Everlasting Quality.”

“They are finding things that miraculously have survived,” Bob Russell said.

He said there are many more objects that could be found, including an Alexander the Great coin dating from 336 B.C.

“It really is a needle in a haystack — or worse,” he said of the chances of finding the small coin in the mounds of rubble.

Dried beans once sold at the mill are scattered throughout the site. Bob Russell said the beans were cascading out of the mill’s doors like waterfalls as firefighters battled the blaze with their hoses.

He said the historic property was “barely insured” through Lloyd’s of London, an insurance firm in England known for insuring unusual and costly items.

With the historic mill stones and foundation in place, Bob Russell is hoping to rebuild. Many of the walls and part of the roof still stand, but the architectural features are unstable. Fire investigators have not been able to enter the main part of the building yet.

Investigators and Jackson County Fire District 3 staff walked the site and used a crane to get a bird’s-eye view of the burned mill.

The company Epic Scan is creating a three-dimensional map of the structure that is accurate to within one-hundredth of an inch, Bob Russell said.

The 3D imagery could help in the reconstruction of the mill and is also helping fire investigators.

“We want to know how big the rooms were, where the fire originated and how it spread,” said Ashley Lara, public information officer for District 3.

Investigators are interviewing people and gathering evidence, but the investigation could take anywhere from two weeks to a year, she said.

“This mill is a huge piece of history,” Lara said. “It’s heartwarming to see how many people are supporting Bob Russell.”

More than 100 volunteers have stepped forward to help, and donations are coming in from around the globe. Area businesses such as Eagle Point Hardware, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Home Depot have donated materials. A vase filled with white flowers from well-wishers stood out against the blackened building.

“The support has been overwhelming,” Bob Russell said.

With the fire so recent, Medina Russell said the loss of both the mill and Bob Russell’s antiques collection is raw and painful.

“I still wake up in the middle of the night almost crying because of knowing what he had,” Medina Russell said. “I never in my wildest dreams thought I would see the mill in this condition.”

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Voters in Hood River County will decide the fate of a proposed bottled water plant in Cascade Locks.

The Oregonian reports that county officials have approved a ballot measure that would stop Nestle from building the plant. The measure is set to appear on primary ballots in May.

The measure would ban commercial operations bottling more than 1,000 gallons of water a day in the county. The proposed Cascade Locks plant would bottle and sell 100 million gallons of local spring water each year.

Critics of the plant say water shouldn’t be trucked out of state in the wake of one of Oregon’s driest summers ever recorded.

Cascade Locks city officials largely support the plan, saying it could create 50 jobs and nearly double the city’s annual property tax revenue.

Two Oregon ranchers convicted of setting fires on federal lands say they will report to prison Jan. 4, though militia organizations with ties to Nevada cattleman Cliven Bundy are rallying supporters to protect them.

Dwight Lincoln Hammond, 73, and his son, Steven Dwight Hammond, 46, were resentenced Oct. 7 to five years in prison for the fires on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property near Diamond, Ore.

Bundy has had multiple disputes with the BLM in Nevada for more than 20 years.

In 2012, the federal government filed a lawsuit against Bundy, alleging that he allowed cattle to graze on BLM property, despite an earlier injunction barring him from the land.

When the BLM tried to remove Bundy’s cattle, armed militia members surrounded the ranch and began a tense standoff with federal agents.

Bundy’s son, Ammon, posted a Facebook video asking Bundy Ranch supporters to come Saturday to Burns, the county seat of Harney County, where the Hammonds live. Bundy said the Hammonds are being persecuted by a land-grabbing federal government and that their case was “in many ways more important than the Bundy Ranch.”

In an earlier video, Ammon Bundy said, “I feel justified in defending the Hammonds, even they don’t have the strength and courage right now to stand for themselves.”

The Hammonds’ attorney, Alan Schroeder, said Wednesday that the Hammonds appreciate the support they’ve received from groups and individuals, but reaffirmed that militia members do not speak for them and that they intend to serve their time.

Montana resident Ryan Payne, an associate of Bundy’s and who participated in the tense standoff with federal officials at the Bundy Ranch, said Wednesday he hoped the Hammonds will reconsider and accept “protection.”

“They’re not in prison yet,” Payne said.

Payne said he expected “a lot” protesters Saturday. Organizers have asked protesters to bring pennies, nickels and dimes to toss at a county office building to symbolize how county authorities have “sold out” the Hammonds by not offering refuge.

Harney County Judge Steve Grasty said he’s highly sympathetic to the Hammonds and believes their sentence was too severe. But militia groups’ anger at county officials over a federal prosecution is misplaced.

“It doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t know why we’re suddenly the bad guys,” he said.

He said militia members have come into the county, openly carrying firearms and creating an intimidating atmosphere.

“I can’t get in and out of Safeway in less than an hour because people are stopping and asking me about it,” Grasty said. “I just can’t discern local support for what their doing, with very little exception.”

Payne and Ammon Bundy recently spoke at a meeting in Harney County attended by about 60 people, mostly local residents. From that meeting emerged a new group, the Harney County Committee of Safety, with the stated mission of safeguarding individual liberties.

Committee member Melodi Molp, a Harney County rancher, said Bundy “kind of woke a bunch of us up.”

The committee, however, planned to meet Wednesday evening to discuss its relationship with outside militia members.

“The Bundy group seems to be rubbing quite a few people the wrong way,” she said.

Their tactics may be too aggressive for a county heavily dependent on government employment, Molp said. “Bundy’s direction would put more than half of the people in this county out of a job,” she said.

Molp said she planned to watch but not take part in Saturday’s rally. “I’m hesitant to participate. I’ve never been to one of their rallies. It might be a little more aggressive than I’d like to see,” she said.

Payne said that if the local committee asks outside groups to leave, “I think we’d have to have a conversation.”

Payne said the issue was important to the entire country, not just Harney County residents.

“If we allow this to happen then the federal government will be encouraged to label anyone a terrorist,” he said.

The Hammonds were convicted of arson in 2012 after a two-week jury trial. Both were found guilty of starting a 139-acre fire in 2001. According to the U.S. Justice Department, Steven Hammond said he started the fire on private land to burn invasive plants and it spread to public lands. Prosecutors said the fire was set to cover up deer poaching on BLM land. Dwight Hammond also was convicted of setting a backfire in 2006 that burned 1 acre of public land.

The Hammonds originally received much shorter sentences from a U.S. District Court judge, who said the mandatory minimum sentence of five years was far too long. The lenient sentences, however, were overturned by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, leading to the Hammonds’ resentencing.

Harney County Farm Bureau President Rusty Inglis said he doubts outside militia groups will generate much local enthusiasm.

“We don’t support them, simple as that,” he said. “I hope they have their little rally and it stays peaceful and nobody gets hurt,” he said.

The Oregon Farm Bureau has denounced the Hammonds’ punishment, but its president, Barry Bushue, said Wednesday that armed militia members won’t help their cause.

Bushue, a longtime family friend, said he expects the Hammonds will want to return to ranching.

“They want to do it peacefully. They want to move forward, instead of clinging to the past,” he said. “From my perspective, that’s where the community can be most beneficial, instead of making it into a public spectacle.

“I fear it reflects badly on the ranching community and the local community, or at least has the potential to,” Bushe said. “We are incensed by the fact that (the Hammonds) have to go back to prison, but in the end, the rule of law has to be followed.”

PORTLAND — Saying the state acted prematurely, three environmental groups on Dec. 30 challenged the removal of Oregon Endangered Species Act protection for gray wolves.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Oregon Wild and Cascadia Wildlands have petitioned the Oregon Court of Appeals to review the November decision by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission to remove gray wolves from the state’s endangered species list.

The groups are not seeking a stay or injunctive relief, only to have an impartial review of the decision, said Nick Cady of Cascadia Wildlands.

“What we’re challenging is that rule wasn’t based on science,” he said.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife will have to provide all records leading up to the decision, Cady said. He could not estimate how long it would be before the review takes place.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife did not immediately return a phone call.

Oregon currently has about 82 wolves, most of them in the northeastern corner of the state. Ranchers there have faced livestock losses because of wolves attacking cattle, sheep and guard dogs.

“We always knew any decision would be appealable,” said rancher Todd Nash, chairman of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association Wolf Committee. “Our response will be to seek legislation to back up what the commission voted on and put it in law.”

He said the state wolf management plan already dictates how wolves are managed.

“If (the review) doesn’t change what the wolf management plan is, what will it do?” he asked.

In the eastern one-third of the state, wolves are not protected under either state or federal endangered species laws but are managed under the state’s wolf management plan.

In the western two-thirds of Oregon, wolves are also protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The environmental groups allege state wildlife managers violated Oregon’s Endangered Species Act and ignored the best scientific evidence available and the overwhelming number of people who commented against the delisting proposal, said Rob Klavins, northeast Oregon field coordinator for Oregon Wild.

“By their own analysis, wolves are extinct in 90 percent of their range in Oregon,” Klavins said.

BEND, Ore. (AP) — A Canadian renewable energy company is planning to create a solar farm in Oregon.

The Bend Bulletin reports that Saturn Power Corp. of New Hamburg, Ontario, submitted a permit application to Deschutes County in November for a nearly 10-megawatt facility east of Redmond.

The plant could potentially generate enough power for about 1,500 homes a year.

County planners have requested more information from Saturn Corp. before they can consider the application complete. The company is expected to submit additions by early January.

Klamath Falls-based environmental consultant Andrea Rabe says Saturn Corp. has several renewable energy facilities in Canada, the United States and Turkey.

The application says the land was developed for agriculture but not productive because of “marginal soils.”

Two similar solar farms have been approved east of Bend.

TIMBERLINE LODGE, Ore. – Making her way on cross-country skis to take a snowpack reading near this historic lodge on Mount Hood, hydrologist Julie Koeberle stopped to admire the sight of big firs bent silent with weight.

“It’s so awesome to see the snow hanging on the trees,” she said. “We sure didn’t see that last year.”

Irrigators, wildlife managers, hydro-power operators and others throughout the Pacific Northwest and Northern California are expressing similar relief. A series of pounding December storms brought unrelenting torrents of rain to the coasts and valleys and, in the mountains, snow at last.

While skiers and snowboarders celebrate abundant snow for its

recreational aspects, it is the snowpack’s stored water that will help irrigate crops, cool salmon and spin turbines in the summer months to come.

“Snowpack is the lifeblood of the West,” said Koeberle, who works with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Portland. “This is such a relief from last year.”

As of Dec. 29, nearly 7 feet of snow had accumulated at Timberline Lodge, elevation 5,960 feet, and it contained 21.5 inches of water, Koeberle said. The water content now is greater than the 20 inches measured at the peak annual snowfall in April 2015. The past season’s Northwest snowpack was largely gone by May.

With three to four months of additional snowfall possible this season, the region may ease the grip of drought that’s stunted crops, killed fish and left forests and rangeland dry and vulnerable to fierce fires.

“This is a great way to start,” Koeberle said. “To be already better than last year is a little bit comforting.”

The NRCS maintains 730 SNOTEL monitoring sites in 11 states, 82 of them in Oregon, that electronically report snowfall and water content information. The Oregon sites as of the end of December were reporting water levels that were 150 percent of normal for that date.

Last year, nearly half of Oregon’s long-term monitoring sites measured the lowest snowpack level on record.

Koeberle led a news media tour Dec. 29 of the SNOTEL site near Timberline, and demonstrated how hydrologists take samples of the snow and weigh it to measure water content. The same information is available electronically, but the annual media event gives hydrologists an opportunity to discuss the water supply outlook.

Because of the December snow, the water supply in most of the state is likely to improve this coming year. But Koeberle said it’s too early to declare the drought over.

Some complications remain. The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) said the rest of the season will be warmer than normal in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California.

Koeberle said the region may have “dodged the El Niño bullet” for now.

“Normally, during most El Niños, it would be warm and dry and we just would not have gotten any precipitation at all,” she said by email. “I am concerned that January could bring us warm and dry conditions based on the CPC forecast.”

The Oregon Farm Bureau has made several staffing changes, including hiring two new employees, after a longtime lobbyist for the group left for another organization.

Katie Fast, formerly the Farm Bureau’s vice president of public policy, took a job as the executive director of Oregonians for Food and Shelter, an agribusiness industry group, earlier this year.

The Farm Bureau has since promoted Jenny Dresler from government affairs associate to director of state public policy, which is a new position, said Anne Marie Moss, OFB’s communications director.

“It’s more a restructuring than a direct replacement,” Moss said.

Dresler joined the Farm Bureau a year ago after previously working for Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, in legislative and campaign operations. She holds a master’s degree from Oregon State University in environmental science.

Stepping into the role of government affairs associate is Tyler Alexander, who recently graduated from Lewis and Clark Law School and has previously worked for OFB as a law clerk.

Alexander and Dresler will join Mary Anne Nash, who will serve as public policy counsel, in representing the Farm Bureau’s interests at the Oregon Legislature.

The group’s other new hire is Jacon Taylor, who will be traveling to county Farm Bureau organizations level to assist volunteers as a regional coordinator and field representative.

PRINEVILLE, Ore. (AP) — The two single-engine air tankers stationed for the first time this summer in Prineville ended up dropping a large amount of fire retardant around Oregon.

The Bulletin of Bend reports that according to Oregon Department of Forestry data, the two firefighting planes dropped nearly a quarter of all the retardant used to fight fires around the state in 2015.

The planes were part of a $5 million program to increase Oregon’s firefighting fleet. In previous fire seasons, the department used three or four large takers. This year the state used six small tankers and only one large airliner.

The Prineville planes provided air support on about two dozen fires, flying about 250 times this year. Oregon Department of Forestry spokeswoman Christie Shay says they will likely be back next season at Prineville.

COOS COUNTY — Oregon State University has announced students who have earned honors for fall term 2015. To be included on the honor roll list, students must have carried at least 12 graded hours of course work.

Selina Heppell, a conservation biologist, is the new head of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University.

Heppell is the first woman to head the department in its 80-year history. The department is the largest within the College of Agricultural Sciences, with nearly 800 students, and among the largest natural sciences department on campus.

Heppell replaces Dan Edge, who earlier in 2015 was appointed the college’s associate dean. Heppell had been serving as interim department head since Edge’s appointment.

In a prepared statement, ag college Dean Dan Arp described Heppell as a distinguished researcher and teacher who had provided “terrific leadership” as interim head of the department.

Heppell has been on the OSU faculty since 2001. She has specialized in studying slow-growing species such as sturgeon, sea turtles, sharks and West Coast rockfish. Among other work, she has used computer models and simulations to study how fish respond to human impacts and climate change — and how they may respond to future climate change.

Heppell and her husband, Scott Heppell, teach a conservation biology course in Eastern Europe and have done fish research in the Caribbean.

EAGLE POINT, Ore. (AP) — The owner of a historic Oregon grist mill that burned in a holiday fire says rebuilding may be possible.

The Mail Tribune newspaper reports the landmark water-powered Butte Creek Mill was deemed a total loss after the Christmas morning fire.

Owner Bob Russell says his first impression is that rebuilding would not be possible. But when he took another look over the weekend, he changed his mind.

He says the new mill would be smaller and won’t produce as much flour, but it may be possible to open in some capacity.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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