Tillamook commissioners approve PUD transmission easement and amend conservation easement for Southern Flow Corridor

The Tillamook County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 22 approved an electric utility easement with Tillamook Peoples Utility District (PUD) and a companion amendment to an existing conservation easement held by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) that allows a portion of a new above‑ground transmission line to cross the Southern Flow Corridor restoration site.

Rachel Hagerty, the county's chief administrative officer, told commissioners the Southern Flow Corridor is a roughly 688‑acre wetland restoration and flood‑mitigation project constructed in 2016–2017; about 504 acres are encumbered by a conservation easement because state funding supported land acquisition. Hagerty said PUD's preferred route includes a southern section that crosses a limited span of the project area. The utility easement under consideration covers an aerial‑span corridor approximately 100 feet wide and 530 feet long where lines will be spanned; no poles will be placed within the most sensitive portion of the restored wetlands, she said.

Because the property is encumbered by a conservation easement, Hagerty said the county and PUD worked with OWEB and county counsel to draft an amendment to allow the limited transmission easement while preserving conservation protections. Hagerty told the board the county reviewed the draft and provided a letter to OWEB on Nov. 22 confirming the county found the proposed easement area consistent with the conservation easement's purposes; OWEB completed drafting and approved the amendment.

Casey Fagan, who participated from planning, thanked staff and noted that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reviewed the materials and "passed it without any comments," reflecting coordination with state and federal partners.

Hagerty said PUD will pay the county for the easement's appraised value and that construction work on portions of the line began in the previous fall (clearing for the substation and installing some foundations); crews expect to pause for the rainy season and resume when conditions allow, with hopes to finish by the end of summer.

The conservation‑amendment approach includes avian protections, monitoring and mitigation measures drafted into the easement language, Hagerty said, and commissioners expressed support for the negotiated safeguards. The board approved both the utility easement and the conservation easement amendment in the same motion sequence.

Ending: The approvals allow PUD to complete a necessary transmission connection while the amendment limits the physical footprint and includes environmental protections negotiated with OWEB and reviewed by federal partners. The county will receive appraisal proceeds for the easement; details about the appraisal value and payment were discussed as part of the review process but are not specified in the meeting transcript.