Forest Service working on ranger station plans

A Forest Service team is working on plans to relocate the Sisters Ranger Station from its site on Pine Street at the west end of town.

“We have submitted some initial reports to the regional office in Portland, but we are a ways off from announcing any final proposal for public comment,” said Rod Bonacker, team leader for the relocation project.

“One option is to sell the present site in two parcels,” Bonacker said. “The earliest that any sale would be offered would probably be next fall with funds from that sale financing the initial construction of a new facility.”

Until this summer, the relocation plan was being pushed by the proposed one-way couplet plan that the City of Sisters was considering. That proposed plan would have extended Main Avenue through the current ranger station grounds as a one-way street for westbound traffic.

However, that plan was put on the shelf.

Relocating the ranger station from its home of the past 50 years is not a new proposal.

“The whole idea of relocating started several years ago when the Deschutes National Forest did a facilities master plan,” Bonacker explained. “The Forest Service looked at every building on the entire forest, including each warehouse, office, garage and paint shed. The resulting plan serves as a guideline for the whole forest, looking at what the projected future organization is going to be, what is working and not working with each facility, and with recommendations for each unit.”

Several major findings came out of this plan on the Sisters Ranger Station.

“While this office fits the criteria for combining it with other Forest Service offices since we are only 35 miles from Bend, 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,” Bonacker explained.

Other findings were that most buildings are over 50 years old and in need of major repair. In addition, district staff works in several scattered buildings and the value of the land has significantly increased with the rapid growth of Sisters. The entire site is within the Sisters Urban Growth Boundary.

One option is to build a new office in a visible location north of Barclay Drive and east of the Best Western Ponderosa Lodge. Crew quarters and a warehouse would be located adjacent to Pine Street. The administrative site could be reduced from 80 acres at the current location to about 17 acres at the new site on existing national forest lands.

Once proposals are developed, they will be available for public review and comment.