Sisters parcel dropped from land swap

A giant land exchange between Crown Pacific and the U.S. Forest Service is 16.2 acres smaller after a parcel inside the City of Sisters was removed from the swap.

The supervisors of the Deschutes, Fremont and Winema National Forests announced their decision on the controversial land swap on Thursday, March 19.

Crown Pacific was expected to sell the dropped parcel to Bill Reed, owner of the nearby Ponderosa Lodge.

"This parcel was not consistent with the overall purpose and need of the Crown (Pacific) land exchange," said Sisters' District Ranger Bill Anthony.

According to Forest Service documents, the exchange intended "to consolidate land ownership and enhance long-term resource conservation and management" of public lands.

The Sisters parcel currently lies within the administrative site of the Sisters Ranger District.

Reed planned to develop the property by expanding the motel and adding conference facilities currently absent from the Sisters landscape.

"I'm disappointed," said Reed. "I feel the proposal to expand the motel facilities is mutually beneficial to the community as well as the motel.

"I feel the Forest Service recognized the tremendous amount of local support for the inclusion of the 16 acres in the exchange," Reed said. "However, as the draft proposal was finalized, the (property) technically did not meet the stated purpose of the exchange."

The Sisters City Council and a variety of community organizations supported Reed's project and the inclusion of the land necessary for the motel's expansion.

However, concerns were raised about whether the Forest Service would receive appropriate value for the 16.2 acres in the Sisters City Limits.

"The property was originally appraised as (urban area reserve), allowing limited land use," said Sisters Planning Director Neil Thompson. "It was then reevaluated based on the likelihood or ease with which it could change zones.

"The swap (itself) would not have affected the zoning," Thompson said. "(Reed's) intention was to expand and this would have necessitated a zone change. It would have been a difficult process to go through."

As the parcel's local administrator, Anthony was comfortable with the assessed value.

"We can assure that if the 16 acres had stayed in the land exchange, the Forest Service would have received fair market value for it," said Anthony. "Bill Reed was agreeable to this as well."

Anthony noted other reasons for dropping the Sisters parcel.

"It has become apparent to me that there are many different ideas for the highest and best use of National Forest land within the City (of Sisters) and how the land could be used to the community's benefit," he said.

Some of the uses described by Anthony include: Forest Service administrative purposes; an inter-agency fire center; an intergovernmental campus; a transportation route through town; and expansion of the Ponderosa Lodge.

"(The Forest Service) needs to take a fresh look at the long-term needs of our administrative site and decide what we need and what we don't need," Anthony said. "The community needs to take a look at its long-term goals to manage growth and how we can work cooperatively towards our highest mutual benefit."

Reed would like to be a part of this process.

"I'm willing to sit back and let the Forest Service work through the administrative review of their site," Reed said. "In retrospect, it probably would have been better to have our proposal considered separately, but I don't know if the Forest Service is willing to do that."

Anthony noted that such exchanges can be burdensome for the Forest Service.

"For the Forest Service, engaging in a land exchange year after year is very consuming on the limited human and financial resources we have available," he said.

Also dropped from the Crown Pacific exchange was a controversial piece of Forest Service land near Tumalo Reservoir. This exchange is one of the largest ever in the United States with a total of 65,575 acres to change hands.

A 45-day appeal period begins March 25. Copies of the final Environmental Impact Statement, summary, and record of decision can be obtained by contacting the Deschutes National Forest in Bend at 388-2715.