Forest Service considers shrinking office site

Changes are afoot at the ranger station. photo by Jim Cornelius Forest Service officials are thinking about changing their Sisters headquarters at the Pine Street location the agency has occupied since the 1950s.

At an October 7 Sisters City Council workshop, Sisters District Ranger Bill Anthony outlined details of the just-released "Preliminary Analysis of Development Alternatives for the Sisters Administrative Site."

A team headed by Jerry Carlson, Regional Facilities Engineer, had been asked to develop a 50-year projection on the disposition of land and buildings. Team members from Sisters were Jeff Simms, Sisters Ranger District Special Use Administrator, and Ron Bonacker, Sisters Ranger District Realty Specialist.

According to Anthony, the study was done for three reasons:

• The Forest Service mission has changed since the administrative site was originally developed. Many of the existing buildings do not meet current and projected needs.

• Because of the growth of the City of Sisters, the Forest Service is reconsidering the best use for its property.

• The current Sisters Transportation Plan puts the couplet through part of the site.

The current 80-acre site was received in a land exchange with Brooks Scanlon, Inc. in 1947. Two offices, six dwellings and two warehouses were developed in the mid-1950s. A tree cooler was added later, along with facilities for engine storage and flammable materials storage.

Anthony said that present thinking is to reduce the site to 15 acres. Within that area the Forest Service would locate an office and work center together with all employees under one roof. Residential housing would be eliminated.

The Sisters Ranger District uses 42 temporary and 20 seasonal employees. The plan calls for quarters capable of housing 24.

The two current crew quarters are 1960s-era bunkhouses moved to the site from the Allingham Guard Station (Camp Sherman) then remodeled to provide space for eight employees. They are in substandard condition and are at the end of their economic life.

The 6.1 acres currently leased to the Oregon Department of Transportation under a Special Use Permit will be re-evaluated.

A major consideration is to maximize the sale of excess assets to pay for the cost of new development.

The report considered 12 site plans, in and out of Sisters, with a recommendation for three Sisters sites: In the northwest corner of the existing acreage, north of Barclay Drive and along Highway 20 west of town. General recommendations included decommissioning of all residences, replacing the crew quarters, developing a site plan for 15 acres or less and disposing of parts of the site.