Land trust works on meadow management

The land trust that owns a 60-acre meadow in Indian Ford is working with the neigboring community to create a management plan that will determine how the land is used and focus the direction of the trust's restoration activities.

The meadow is home to valuable wildlife and plant habitat, water areas and wetlands.

Deschutes Basin Land Trust president Brad Chalfant said, "We want this to be a showcase for natural habitats and open spaces in the Deschutes River Basin."

The Indian Ford community has already participated in the area's stewardship planning. In the fall of 1996 the land trust sent a four-page questionnaire to 276 homeowners in major Indian Ford subdivisions. Almost half of those surveyed responded.

Maret Pajutee, stewardship planner and Indian Ford resident, was excited by the high level of community interest.

"Although the community had some varying opinions on details, three strong messages came across," Pajutee said.

According to Pajutee, the survey indicated that residents think "the area should be left natural with few, if any, recreational improvements," such as benches and trails.

Seventy-seven percent agreed that, "no part of the meadow should be developed for housing." Sixty percent said they were willing to provide the land trust with financial support, and 40 percent said they would volunteer their time.

"There was strong support for allowing controlled use of the area for educational field trips," Pajutee said. "The meadow could be a place for school groups to study -- it's close to town and has birds, wildflowers and riparian areas."

Although the land trust wants to retain some of the fencing in the meadow to discourage use by vehicles, they may remove strands of barbed wire in multiple-strand fences to facilitate deer passage.

According to Pajutee, the land trust will accumulate information regarding the plants, animals and wetlands in the meadow in order to formulate a management plan.

"We need to learn more about what is out there," she said. "There is a high potential there for Peck's penstemon" (a rare plant found only in the Sisters area), "and there is some indication that there may be unusual birds."

The land trust will study historic and current photos of the meadow and Indian Ford Creek, which was called "Swamp Creek" in the early 1900s. The trust may choose to reverse ditching that early farmers and ranchers used to drain the meadow, in order to create a larger, better functioning wetland.

Pajutee said the organization may remove diffuse knapweed, an aggressive noxious weed that overpowers native plant species.

Although the Deschutes Basin Land Trust is not a public entity, Pajutee emphasized that the land trust would be happy to have the community as a partner in managing the property.

The land trust works with private landowners who sell or donate land to the trust, in an effort to protect or enhance the land's natural resources.

For information on how to join, volunteer, or to learn more about how conservation options can benefit property owners and their properties, call 330-0017.