Suttle Lake project faces delay

The staff at Suttle Lake Resort is all smiles -- despite what could be a long delay in construction of a new lodge.

After another meeting with Forest Service officials last week, Suttle Lake Resort managing partner Mike Abbott was very discouraged about his company's chances of starting construction on the new Suttle Lake Lodge.

"Everybody wants to know when the new lodge is getting started," Abbott said.

The answer, as it has been for the past several years, is "probably not this year."

As in past years, Suttle Lake planners once again experienced a series of setbacks in obtaining Forest Service approvals for a new lodge to replace one that was burned back in the 1970s.

"We'll have to wait for the master plan to be reworked and then be approved by the Forest Service," said Abbott.

"We have a few more details to iron out."

Abbott was clearly disappointed. The resort owners had expected to build the lodge last year, but the plans were mired down in repeated delays. Now it seems that more red tape has brought the project to a halt and will cost them yet another year.

"The deal is," said Abbott, "I just don't think we'll have time to start the lodge this year at the rate things are going. There's a possibility we could start working on the new full-service cabins."

Forest Service representative Maret Pajutee seemed to share Abbott's concern but tried to accentuate the positive.

"After the decision memo was released last fall, the next step was to complete the master plan," Pajutee said.

"It's a complex document that has to look at a lot of different things....We're all hopeful that it will happen soon. I think they can get there."

Pajutee explained that the master plan includes not only the lodge design but revegetation of riparian areas, water monitoring, protection of old growth trees and a host of other issues to protect the ecological and aesthetic features of the Suttle Lake site.

"So, it's taking some time to pull it all together," she conceded, "but they're doing well. There are many things that they can start implementing this year."

One of the "partnership" activities already underway involves the relocation of numerous native plants.

A key aspect of the resort project is a road safety realignment that will tie the resort's highway access to the primary road into Suttle Lake, thus eliminating the present dangerous intersection.

Pajutee said that construction of the new road is expected to begin within the next month.

Plants from the new road path have been moved to a greenhouse at Sisters High School, where they will be cared for until they can be transplanted back to areas under rehabilitation at Suttle Lake.

In the meantime, the resort's 12 "rustic" camping cabins are still in use, as well as the two existing full-service cabins.

Business at the resort has been steadily picking up for the summer, and the restaurant has been busy.

A bright spot for Abbott has been the success of the new Suttle Lake Tackle Company, which he and Mark McIntire started this past year. Sales have been growing, and two new lures are now the leading sellers. One, the "Kokanator," is designed specifically for Suttle Lake's popular kokanee.

The other lure, the "Red Hot Hooker," is designed for all trout species, but has the unexpected bonus of being great for bass, too.

For now, however, fishing is the only thing that's likely to be hot; the pace of construction will be heating up any time soon.