Siting Study - Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line Project

Siting Study
Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line Project
3.3.3 Umatilla National Forest Region
This region straddles the southern portion of the Morrow/Umatilla County line, spanning from
approximately 7 miles north of Heppner, Oregon, southeast to approximately 2 miles north of Dale,
Oregon. It is also just north of the North Fork of the John Day River and in the southeast includes
portions of the Ukiah-Dale Forest State Scenic Corridor and the Bridge Creek Wildlife Management Area
as shown on Figure 3.3.3-1. Bounding the region along the eastern side is U.S. Highway 395, while the
Blue Mountain Scenic Byway crosses through the southern portion of the region before heading
northwest along the region’s southeastern boundary. Due to the severe topography throughout the region,
agricultural areas are minimal, mainly confined to the narrow valleys as well as along State Route 74,
which crosses the northern part of the region. The southern portion of the region is forested and includes
the northernmost part of the Umatilla National Forest. Numerous drainage areas and rivers can be found
throughout the region. Figure 3.3.3-1 shows the Umatilla National Forest region and the original and
revised CAP routes.
The routes through this region were originally generated during the Central and North PAT routing
sessions. The section of CAP route C6 within this region was refined and designated the West Route
(MO24-UM6), which is approximately 41 miles long. Beginning at the northern end of the region, the
West Route heads south from MO24 located to the east of Sandhollow Road then angles southeast across
State Highway 207. The route continues southeast crossing the southwest side of Freezeout Ridge and
other steep terrain, before turning south and entering the Umatilla National Forest north of Matlock Hill.
The route continues south for the next 8.5 miles, crossing the Blue Mountain Scenic Byway. Angling east
across the Umatilla County/Morrow County line, the route exits the national forest and follows Deerhorn
Ridge to UM6, its eastern common point with the East Route.
The East Route (MO24-UM5-UM7-UM6) was a refinement of CAP route N4 and part of CAP route N16.
Beginning in the northern part of the region, the route heads east passing south of Gleason Butte and
approximately 4 miles north of the community of Lena, Oregon. The route crosses State Highway 74 just
west of the Umatilla County/Morrow County line and continues east for approximately 7 miles to
Whittaker Flats where it turns due south just west of U.S. Highway 395.
The route continues south along the west side of U.S. Highway 395 for approximately 3 miles before
crossing this highway. Approximately 1 mile west of the Battle Mountain Forest Wayside, the route
crosses back to the west side of this highway and continues south for the next 11.4 miles until it crosses
the Blue Mountain Scenic Byway. Angling southwest to avoid the Ukiah-Dale Forest State Park and
Bridge Creek Wildlife Management Area, the route crosses a deep ravine to join the West Route at UM6.
Figure 3.3.3-2 and Table 3.3.3-1 display the results of the permitting difficulty, construction difficulty,
and potential mitigation cost analyses for each route. The results of the analysis show that the West Route
is 9.4 miles shorter than the East Route and crosses 14.3 fewer miles of deer winter range, 14.2 fewer
miles of EFU-zoned land, 20.3 fewer miles of private land, and has fewer miles of both high erosion
hazard soils and slopes greater than 35 percent. For additional detail on constraints crossed by each route,
see Table D-3 in Appendix D. The West Route also crosses approximately 8.7 fewer miles of moderate
and high permitting difficulty areas. For the reasons explained above, the West Route, MO24-UM6, was
recommended as more reasonable than the East Route, MO24-UM5-UM7-UM6.
August 2010 3-19