Environmental Engineering Reference
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perspective on that question was to make a series of trips from California
up to Klickitat County and talk face-to-face with the farmers and ranchers
who lived there.
Local government officials in Klickitat County had a good sense of the
potential impacts of having commercial-scale wind farm nearby, but many
of the other locals were far less familiar with these projects. Consequently,
Monkhouse and Hardke spent dozens of hours chatting with local residents
in homes and coffee shops in and around Goldendale trying to educate
community members about wind energy. Residents raised all sorts of questions
about Cannon's proposed project and how it might affect the community:
“How will the turbines affect my ranch?”
“What exactly will these windmills look like?”
“How loud will they be?”
“Will I still be able to hunt on my property after the turbines go in?”
“Why should I believe that Cannon can pull this off, after so many
other developers in the past have failed here?”
One by one, group after group, Hardke and Monkhouse candidly responded
to these numerous inquiries. Rather than giving sugar-coated answers,
they endeavored to be as honest and straightforward as possible. Having
developed wind energy projects many times before, Cannon knew that the
worst thing that could happen would be for residents to be unpleasantly
surprised when new roads, transmission lines, and turbines started popping
up around them.
At the same time, Cannon tried to emphasize to landowners the potential
benefits of entering into a wind lease. The company noted that the new
fences, roads, cattle guards, and wells installed in connection with its wind
farm could actually enhance property values and aid farmers and ranchers.
Some ranchers have even discovered that their cattle like to lounge in the
shade of turbine towers when the hot sun beats down on long summer
days. And then there were the financial benefits of signing a wind lease:
what rational landowner wouldn't want to lock in 20 years or more of
significant additional income in exchange for some very minimal disrup-
tions to existing farm or ranch operations?
The conversion of Ruth Davenport
Although Cannon's proselytizing resonated with several locals in the Windy
Point area, not everyone was easily convinced. The Davenport family
was one influential and tight-knit group that was initially skeptical about
Cannon's plans. The family's land holdings made up a large portion of
Cannon's desired project area. They had been ranching on the land for five
generations and were well known to nearly everyone in the Goldendale
area.
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