The City of Ashland owns a big chunk of property across Interstate Five from town, and there are always ideas floating around for uses for the land.
The Imperatrice property, as it's known, has been proposed for the location of electricity-generating solar panels, among other ideas. Which thrills people who favor renewable energy, but poses some issues for bird fanciers.
Because the land is home to a colony of grasshopper sparrows, a bird species that has mostly disappeared in some parts of the region. Dennis Slattery is a city council member, Pepper Trail is an ornithologist; they give us a sense of where the discussion is going.