County approves land exchange near Sisters

The first step of a three-way land exchange was approved by the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners on January 28.

Eric Dolson, of Sisters, will give a parcel adjacent to Smith Rock State Park to Deschutes County in exchange for 120 acres of county land in the Cloverdale area where he plans to build a home.

Deschutes County plans to then trade the Smith Rock parcel to Oregon State Parks in exchange for state land that includes a 160 acre piece and part of another 80 acre parcel along Highway 97.

The highway property acquired by the county would provide "either a buffer or access to other property we own," said Patty Mecca, who presented the county staff report at the January 28 hearing on the exchange.

State Parks Program Coordinator Jan Houck saidthe Smith Rock property "fits perfectly into plans we have for the park." That area had been identified in the park master plan as an interpretive area. The home on the property could become a park interpretive center, Houck said.

Testimony opposing the exchange was offered by the Keith Cyrus family of Sisters. The Cyrus' disagreed with the commissioners that an earlier exchange proposal they had made for the Cloverdale piece had been withdrawn.