Land Trust makes appeal to the City of Sisters

Last updated 9/27/2005 at Noon

The City of Sisters may weigh in on efforts by the Deschutes Basin Land Trust (DBLT) to secure some 33,000 acres of the Skyline Forest between Sisters and Bend.

The land will go on the market soon and many locals are concerned that the scenic — and heavily used — forest might end up developed.

DBLT Executive Director Brad Chalfant spoke to the Sisters City Council last Thursday, describing the land trust’s effort to purchase the land and keep it operating as a productive forest while preserving recreation opportunities in the woods.

“I hadn’t planned on going to the cities, but I had a conversation with (city councilor) Brad Boyd and he said, ‘you might want to go to the city council on this,’” Chalfant said.

According to Chalfant, the council’s support would be valuable in approaching the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners with a crucial proposal.

“We’re going to go to the county commissioners and ask them to set up a community forest authority,” Chalfant said.

Such an authority, recently authorized by the Oregon legislature, could then issue revenue bonds to be held by the land trust. Chalfant emphasizes that such bonds are not general obligation bonds funded by taxpayers. Rather investors purchase them and are repaid from the proceeds of ongoing sustainable logging on the forest.

Support from the City of Sisters would help demonstrate consensus.

“It demonstrates to the county commissioners that this is not a controversial issue, that this has broad-based support,” Chalfant said.

And the Skyline Forest project does, indeed, seem to have broad-based support — from groups that might generally be perceived as having opposing interests. Environmentalists and recreationists don’t want to see the land developed ... and neither do many developers, Chalfant said.

The development community, especially in Bend, recognizes the forest as a view-shed and playground that helps make the area attractive.

“We’ve had numerous folks say this is what gives value to the community,” Chalfant said. “It’s amazing the way this cuts across lines.”

The city council took no specific action on Thursday, but City Manager Eileen Stein says the council indicates that it is supportive of DBLT’s efforts. That support may take the form of a letter to the county commissioners.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.