News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Hikers, campers and fishermen will forever be able to enjoy one of the most scenic stretches of Squaw Creek northeast of Sisters after a deal was struck between Ochoco National Forest and the Trust for Public Land.
The trust bought the 840-acre Alder Springs Ranch property from Pioneer Resources, a timber company, for $900,000. The trust then sold the land for $755,000 to Ochoco National Forest, the agency that manages the Crooked River National Grasslands that surround the property.
Portland General Electric contributed $95,000 and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife contributed $50,000 to help purchase the ranch.
The local Deschutes Basin Land Trust took an early and active interest in the property, and was instrumental in putting deal together.
According to Chris Beck of the Trust for Public Lands, the Deschutes Basin Land Trust put together marketing information on the project, helped secure the ODF&W grant, and played a broad role "just keeping the flame burning."
Beck said Pioneer Resources bought the site, then sold it to another party as a home site. That owner changed his plans, and Pioneer Resources bought the property back.
Deschutes Basin Land Trust Director Brad Chalfant said the trust worried that the land could be sold and subdivided.
"We were concerned about it turning into a subdivision in the middle of the national grasslands," Chalfant said.
The Deschutes Basin Land Trust specializes in finding ways for owners to protect environmentally significant properties while not sacrificing the value of their land. That can mean putting conservation easements on properties, or the trust can acquire the land.
According to Chalfant, Pioneer Resources was interested in selling the property, but - being in the middle of the national grassland - it wasn't the kind of property the Deschutes Basin Land Trust could acquire and hold.
The Trust for Public Land is expert at buying properties and turning them around to appropriate public agencies.
"They have a very specialized niche, and consequently they're very good at it," Chalfant said. "They recognized that this is a truly special and significant property."
"It's really a spectacular property and it's been on a lot of people's wish list to see this in public ownership," Beck said.
Chalfant believes the deal is a good example of the way property owners and land trusts can work together.
"We don't try to dictate to property owners what they should or shouldn't do with their property," he said. "We try to come up with creative solutions that work for everybody. We were just tickled to death that it worked out as well as it did."
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.
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