Ranger district sale could start this summer

The recent public announcement of plans to relocate the Sisters Ranger Station at the west end of town has Sisters area residents wondering what will become of this national forest land.

Brief discussion at the first Sisters Community Summit meeting in late January and an invitation in last week’s Nugget newspaper seeking public reaction on the move have both local residents and developers interested in the future of the administrative site, home of the Forest Service for over 50 years.

The site could be offered for sale later this year. The 80-acre site is prime land for development with frontage on Highway 20, Pine Street, and Barclay Drive. A proposed highway couplet plan through Sisters has Main Avenue extended through the site for westbound traffic.

The public will have an opportunity to present concerns and ideas on the move during February and March after the district distributes a scoping letter, according to Rod Bonacker, team leader for the relocation project.

A site plan and potential future uses of the site will be available for review in March or April followed by a complete environmental assessment available for review over the summer. Plans are to reach a decision on how to sell the property and where to construct a new facility by September, Bonacker said

A potential relocation plan is not a new phenomenon, Bonacker added.

“The whole idea started several years ago when the Deschutes National Forest did a facilities master plan,” he explained. “The Forest Service looked at every building on the entire forest, including each warehouse, office, garage and paint shed.

“Several major findings came out of this plan concerning the Sisters Ranger District,” Bonacker said. “This office fits the criteria for combining it with other Forest Service offices since we are only 35 miles from Bend. However, there is such a strong connection between the district and the community that we believe it is important for the district to stay in Sisters.

“In addition, it didn’t make economic sense to move the office out of Sisters and have workers drive from Bend through the city to do forest work north of the city.”

A second finding was that the current facility did not meet today’s needs. Most buildings are over 50 years old and in need of major repair. District staff members are located in several scattered buildings.

Another finding was that the value of the land has significantly increased with the rapid growth of Sisters and the location of the site within the Sisters Urban Growth Boundary.

Urban development has occurred on the east, west, and south sides of the property. The 80-acre site is located entirely within the Sisters city limits.

With tight federal budgets, there is no funding to build a new facility on the same site or to do major remodeling, Bonacker explained. However, several years ago, Congress passed a “Pilot Conveyance Authority” allowing the Forest Service to sell selected national forest lands and to use the receipts to construct new facilities.

This is the funding plan for the future Sisters facility.

The proposed action and preferred alternative is to build a new office in a visible location north of Barclay Drive and east of the Ponderosa Lodge Best Western. Crew quarters and a warehouse would be located adjacent to Pine Street.

The remaining 50 acres south of Barclay Drive, including the East Portal triangle, would be sold.

Another alternative recommended for further study is locating an office at the southwest corner of Barclay Drive and Highway 20 with a work center at the present warehouse location or slightly north. A third alternative would be to develop a complete new site northwest of town on the west side of Highway 20.

Alternatives developed, but not recommended for further study, include placing a new office on the southeast corner of Barclay Drive and Pine Street, using other sites south of Barclay Drive, locating in the East Portal triangle, purchasing or leasing land in the Sisters Industrial Park, moving the office to Bend, or taking no action.

The local work center and cinder storage for the Oregon Department of Transportation also are located on the site under a special use permit. ODOT leases six acres, but uses only two acres. However, ODOT is also considering options for relocating in the local area, possibly adjacent to a new Forest Service site.

The present site most likely would be offered for sale as one unit with provisions to provide a cash flow to fund construction of a new facility. The Forest Service would seek city zoning of the site to maximize its value, but the purchaser would do other legal work for development.

The Forest Service acquired the site in 1947 in a land-for-timber exchange with Brooks Scanlon Lumber Co., a common practice at that time. About 50 acres of the property contains the headquarters office built about 1953, a fire warehouse and work center built and remodeled from1950 to 1964, bunkhouses built in 1960, seven employee houses built between 1957 and 1963, and the East Portal Kiosk for the McKenzie Pass - Santiam Pass Scenic Byway. The remaining 30 acres also is within the city, mostly north of Barclay Drive, and classified as forest resource lands.

Prior to moving to this site, the ranger station was located on two city blocks where the Village Green Park and the Sisters Fire Hall are now located.

“We do want to involve the public and to hear what they have to say,” Bonacker said. “There may be ideas that come out of that for public facilities or open space.

“We don’t have to make a profit on the sale, just have enough funding to build a new facility.”

Interested persons may present questions by calling Bonacker at 549-7729 or emailing him at [email protected]

What is the best use for the Sisters Ranger District land? Let us know what you think. Email [email protected]