One of the jokes Hoyt Wilson tells about his ranch is that you can tell it’s breezy when cows stand on hay bales to keep their food from blowing away.

Wilson didn’t think the wind on his Harney County property would ever generate much except for tall tales.

That is, until he was approached by a renewable power developer, Columbia Energy Partners, about running some tests on the property. He learned that the powerful gusts were no joking matter: They could keep the ranch profitable and help satisfy Oregon’s appetite for clean energy.

“If you’re going to stay and keep things going, you’re going to need to find an income outside of cattle,” Wilson said.

Harney County’s planning commission approved a 104-megawatt wind power project for Wilson’s ranch last year.

The developer is currently building roads and preparing the ground for wind turbines, which are scheduled to be installed by autumn 2009.

Harney County expects to approve two other 104-megawatt wind projects on nearby ranches by October, and a fourth 104-megawatt project on state land is under consideration, said Brandon McMullen, the county’s planning director.

Columbia Energy Partners would operate all four wind projects, if they’re completed, he said.

The Harney County projects could provide a huge boost to Oregon’s wind energy industry, increasing the state’s 964-megawatt wind power capacity by 43 percent, based on data from the American Wind Energy Association.

Oregon is currently the seventh-largest wind energy producer in the U.S., according to the association.

Much of the wind energy development in Oregon is concentrated in the Columbia River Gorge, which is windiest in spring and summer, said Chris Crowley, president of Columbia Energy Partners.

Installing turbines in Harney County, which is windiest in fall and winter, would extend the industry’s power generation capacity throughout the year, he said.

“It’s a gigantic benefit to have geographic and resource diversity,” said Crowley.

Wilson said he hopes the investment in wind power will help reinvigorate Harney County and other rural areas that have struggled due to diminished logging on federal lands.

However, the fact that one developer is behind numerous projects in the Steens Mountain area, which is known for wildlife, has come under scrutiny from environmental groups.

The Oregon Natural Desert Association, the Audubon Society of Portland and the Nature Conservancy have all raised alarm about the projects, largely because they suspect Columbia Energy Partners is trying to avoid state oversight.

In Oregon, development of wind projects 105 megawatts or larger must be supervised by the state’s Energy Facility Siting Council. Smaller projects fall under county jurisdiction.

By proposing four separate 104-megawatt projects in close proximity to each other, the developer is actually trying to build a 400-megawatt wind power facility while circumventing state regulations, according to ONDA and the Audubon Society of Portland.

“No matter how desirable the project might be, Harney County should not be a party to Columbia Energy Partners’ effort to evade the clear jurisdiction of the EFSC,” according to a letter from the two groups to Harney County’s planning commission.

The Nature Conservancy also weighed in on the proposals in a letter, requesting that the commission delay approval of the wind projects until further studies are done.

“Without adequate wildlife or vegetation maps and surveys, or (a) proposed mitigation plan prepared by a professional biologist … we believe county planners lack sufficient information to make an informed decision,” wrote Garth Fuller, the group’s Eastern Oregon conservation director.

Columbia Energy Partners’ plans also caught the attention of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which urged the planning commission to postpone two of the projects due to possible negative effects on migratory birds and sage grouse habitat.

The Oregon Department of Energy, meanwhile, notified the planning commission that it would “need additional information to determine if these projects are in fact fully separate.”

Even if the projects are deemed separate, they may still be subject to state supervision if they “have the effects of a magnitude similar to a single larger jurisdictional project,” according to a letter from the agency.

Despite these concerns, it appears most of the wind projects will move forward.

Development is already in progress on Wilson’s property, and the planning commission voted in favor of two other projects on private ranches in August, though the decision won’t become official until later in September or October, said McMullen, Harney County’s planning director.