Guest commentary from Maya Giddings:
June 24
Starting off bright and early this morning. We went to the biomass center and took a tour around their facilities. It was a small mill, but it was impressive how many products were made here. Using low value timber, they create three different products including posts and poles, wood chips for fuel, and pre-packaged, dry firewood. They were creating a new product called Whole Fire where there is only a log with two holes cut into it. It comes with pitch sticks, so you can start a fire almost immediately and also use it as a stovetop.
Following this stop, we went to the Nez Perce Department of Fisheries Resource Management, where they track and help manage salmon and other types of fish that swim up the Lostine River to spawn every year. Next to the rail of the weir, we saw some salmon just chilling out. It was really neat seeing all the fish there! We also got to hear a lot about the history of the fish from the Nez Perce perspective.
Shortly after that, we headed out to Vern’s house where he has a small hydroelectric plant (called a microhydro) on his ranch. For this, he creates power and then the energy is put onto the grid. Vern get credits for the electricity that he produces and the excess energy credits he doesn’t use at the ranch is put aside for low-income families. In addition to this, his wife has a greenhouse, so their home is almost self sustainable.
For lunch we all gathered at the Lostine Tavern in Lostine. All of us had a delicious meal that was made from local food produced in the county. There was also a big beet cake that Yasu ordered and some of us had to help us finish before we left.
In Lostine we also checked out a local market, that used to be a general store, but is now more of a cover for an online, high end business. 
We also went back to the Wallowa Resources building in Enterprise and learned about their pellet stove heating system and plans for incorporating a similar heating system to a network of buildings downtown.
