the film forum library tutorial contact

Montana's Whiting Replaces Oregon's Dukes as Chair of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council by Staff Columbia Basin Bulletin, August 17, 2012

Posted on Friday, August 17, 2012 (PST) The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has announced that Montana Council member Rhonda Whiting will serve out the remaining term as Council chair, replacing for Oregon member Joan Dukes.

Dukes' term on the Council expired in January 2011. Dukes was appointed to the Council in 2004 by then-Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber this year appointed Pendleton attorney and rancher Henry Lorenzen to replace Dukes. Lorenzen took part in his first Council meeting Aug. 7-8. The panel's monthly meeting was held in Spokane.

Oregon member Bill Bradbury was elected to replace Whiting as vice chair for the remainder of the current term. Council officers are elected for one-year terms during the first monthly meeting of each new year.

Whiting, from St. Ignatuis, Montana and a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, was vice president of communications and intergovernmental affairs for Salish and Kootenai Technologies, the largest information technology company in Montana, before being appointed by Governor Brian Schweitzer to the Council.

She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in education, and a law degree, all from the University of Montana.

Bradbury was appointed to the Council in 2011 by Kitzhaber.

The Council includes two appointees each from the governors of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. The advisory panel develops and maintains a regional power plan and a fish and wildlife program to balance the Northwest's environment and energy needs. The NPCC's work is funded by the Bonneville Power Administration, which markets power generated in the federal Columbia/Snake river hydro system.