In early June, WFI Fellows and staff made an annual visit to Chairman Harry Merlo’s eastern Oregon property in La Grande. This year’s tour included a visit to a bioenergy pilot project supplied with wood residue from MC Ranch.
Deepak Tamang (Nepal), Min Zhao (China), and Namgon Kwag (Korea), joined staff Angie DiSalvo and Sara Wu for a week in La Grande. Every visit brings new surprises. First, it became apparent enroute to La Grande that the unusually wet winter and prolonged rains had left the landscape much more green and lush than in past years. Rex Christenson, MC Ranch manager, commented that it was perhaps the wettest year he’d seen since he was a child. The second surprise came on the second morning, when we awoke to white powder covering the ground. It was snowing in June! One would think that the cool temperatures and moisture would help to reduce the threat of wildfire, but it could also encourage the growth of dense underbrush, which later becomes dry fuel in the summer. For more photos click on Rex.
