School land exchange nears completion

Deschutes County will give about 260 acres of land west of Sisters Middle/High School to the Sisters School District -- if the parties can agree on how and by whom the land will be managed.

The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners approved the land exchange on April 23, but the deal will not be final until the commission and the school district sign a letter of understanding and record a conservation easement.

Early this year the school district sought 80 acres for a future educational facility. When the district expressed interest in using the adjoining 180 acres for an ecostudy area for students, it was proposed that the entire 260 acres be transferred to the district.

The boundaries of a conservation easement designed to protect a rare plant located on the parcel, the Peck's penstemon, have not yet been formulated.

The Sisters School District hopes that the easement will not cover all of the additional 180 acres.

"The school district has no interest in developing the land, but we do have an interest in using it for a land lab and educational purposes...and we want viable access," said Steve Swisher, Superintendent of Schools.

He added that the district does plan to extend McKinney Butte Road through the property.

But a draft letter of understanding only allows the school district to use the southern end of the property (the original 80 acres) to site an educational facility and related buildings. The remainder of the property is to be used "for uses consistent with conservation of the existing natural resources on the property."

The Deschutes Basin Land Trust has offered to manage the portion of the land covered by the conservation easement.

Ted Wise, land trust board member and wildlife biologist said, "Our main concern is that the easement boundary is situated such that we feel comfortable that, down the road, we are not going to run into management conflicts pertaining to the Peck's penstemon population."

For this reason the land trust would prefer that the easement cover the entire 180 acres.

According to Maret Pajutee of the Sisters Ranger District, the area has not been surveyed for the Peck's penstemon since 1990, when there were 22,000 plants (10 percent of the global population). Since that time, flooding may have scoured the plants from the area, and Pajutee said there may now be significantly fewer plants.

The precise location of the plants is also not known, although most are probably located in a dry stream bed on the northern section of the land.

There are other groups with a stake in the exchange.

Neighboring landowners, particularly those represented by the Tollgate Homeowners' Association, do not want recreational trails located too close to their common boundaries.

The proposed draft allows pedestrian, bicycle and equestrian trails, as long as the effect on the penstemon habitat is not too great, and provides for road closures, recreational trail limitations and fencing parameters.

Swisher assured the commissioners that the school district has the expertise necessary to formulate a manag

ement plan.

Jim Massey, a Sisters attorney, is assisting the school district in the legalities of the exchange, without charge. Terry Sleiter, a landscape architect with management plan expertise, has volunteered to develop a plan.

The Soil and Water Conservation District will support the management plan both economically and directly in terms of assistance. The Forest Service will assist in development of a management plan and will work with students in maintaining the property and in monitoring the Peck's penstemon.

The National Guard may build fences to protect habitat.

Colin Adams of Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation said the organizations "hope(s) to build walking trails, a nature walk and maybe dry stream beds." Adams hopes to "dress up" the area near the Peck's penstemon so people will walk on the trails rather than damaging the plant