Trust buys Squaw Creek property

The Deschutes Basin Land Trust has acquired 145 acres of the "Pond Ranch" along Squaw Creek just north of Camp Polk Road near Sisters.

A donation of $800,000 from Portland General Electric was crucial to the $850,000 transaction.

The property was purchased at below market value from the Mary Anderson family, according to land trust executive Brad Chalfant, after nearly a year of effort by the various parties.

A message was left for the Andersons, but they were not available by press time.

The land purchase includes nearly a mile and a half on both sides of the creek, according to Chalfant. In addition to the $800,000 from PGE, $50,000 came from the Oregon Water Trust, Chalfant said. Water rights from the property will be transferred to the water trust.

One goal of the acquisition is to return steelhead and eventually Spring Chinook salmon to Squaw Creek. These runs were decimated by construction of the Pelton and Round Butte dams in the 1960s.

Although the dams were built with fish passage in mind, young fish become lost in the swirl of currents from the Deschutes, Metolius and Crooked Rivers that merge at Lake Billy Chinook, said Mark Fryburg, spokesperson for PGE.

Round Butte, which contains Lake Billy Chinook, can produce 300 megawatts of electricity. Pelton, which creates Lake Simtustus, can produce 108 megawatts of electricity. Together, the two dams produce 1.5 billion kilowatt hours, enough to meet the needs of a city the size of Salem, Oregon, Fryburg said.

PGE is in the process of seeking relicensing the two dams. PGE will share ownership of the dams with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.

Fryburg said the Portland utility has a corporate goal of "protecting the environment where we have hydroelectric projects." PGE has set aside $10,000,000 for this purpose.

The environmental effort also goes toward meeting requirements that satisfy federal regulators in the relicensing process, Fryburg said.

"We are committed to restoring salmon and steelhead above Pelton and Round Butte dams. We are sharing ownership (of the dams) with the (Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs). They too have a commitment to restoring those runs," Fryburg said.

This section of Squaw Creek near Camp Polk is one of the most important in the upper Deschutes basin in terms fish habitat, according to government officials involved with PGE's efforts to relicense its dams on the Deschutes River.

Restoration on the Camp Polk property will include reestablishing the "meander" in Squaw Creek, according to Chalfant.

The Army Corps of Engineers straightened Squaw Creek following the floods of 1964. This dried out the riparian zones adjacent to the creek.

Prior to that work, the meadow acted like a sponge, absorbing high water in spring and releasing it in the summer. Higher flows and shade trees kept the water temperatures cool.

The land trust hopes to restore these conditions, and protect valuable spawning beds for steelhead, which could return to Squaw Creek possibly within five years, according to Rod Bonaker, representing the Forest Service and BLM in the dam relicensing process

PGE's Fryburg praised the land trust for saving this section of land from development.

"This land came very close to being subdivided, which would have made it impossible to restore the creek.

"The land trust was sharp enough to see this land was coming on the market and came to PGE to see this land was saved," said Fryburg.

In addition to the environmental benefits of the transfer, Chalfant noted that Camp Polk was the earliest white encampment in the area. "There are significant historic resources out there. The land trust is interested in restoring those and restoring the Hindemen barn, with possibly a interpretive site out there."

Chalfant said the local Sisters community would be asked to assist in the restoration efforts. One reason the land trust was so interested in the Sisters area was because "Sisters has a history of volunteerism and interest" in community projects."