Governor signs Metolius River Basin bill

Governor Ted Kulongoski signed House Bill 3298, designating the Metolius River area as an Area of Critical State Concern last Wednesday at Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery on the Metolius River.

This designation, and the corresponding management plan, prohibits the development of new large-scale developments, including destination resorts.

The signing, which took place on the bridge to the hatchery, drew a large and enthusiastic crowd, which cheered as Kulongoski showed up in waders.

The governor talked about the value and importance of the Metolius to the State of Oregon and expressed his personal passion for the area, noting that he recently christened his granddaughter on the banks of the Metolius River.

"This river represents an environmental legacy for Oregon. It is a river I have fished with my children - and now my grandchildren," Kulongoski said in a prepared statement. "I know I am not the only Oregonian who believes this is a special place... a place that represents the diversity of our natural beauty and a place that we have a responsibility to preserve."

The signing is the culmination of a long legislative battle that ignited when Jefferson County designated two areas in and adjacent to the Metolius Basin as suitable for destination resort development. An "eco-community," called The Metolian, was proposed for the smaller site inside the basin by Camp Sherman resident Shane Lundgren and development partners Dutch Pacific. A larger development was proposed for Green Ridge by the Ponderosa Land & Cattle Company.

The proposed resorts drew significant grassroots resistance.

Linda Thomas, a Camp Sherman resident, was on hand for the signing. Friends said she made significant contributions to the campaign to stop destination resort development in the area.

"I didn't do anything but write a million letters," she said.

Thomas is fiercely committed to protecting the Metolius River from what she sees as threats posed by development.

"I just think that this is an area that just needs protection," she said. "It's fragile. The river is important; the water is important. I just think that this is a resource we can't afford to mess up for our future. Houses are houses."

Thomas, who has lived for nine years in Metolius Meadows, said she includes her own home in the "houses are houses" statement.

"If they told me I had to level my house or give it up to save the river, I would," she said.

It was that kind of passion that drove the argument over development in the basin, although proponents of The Metolian argued that their plan would actually enhance an area four miles from the river that has been heavily logged and is in rough shape.

Ultimately, the legislature used a little-known provision of Oregon land-use law to block large-scale developments in an area, although development is not to be halted entirely (see related story, page 15).

House Bill 3298 represents the first time that the designation of an Area of Critical State Concern has been legislatively adopted, although the statutory authority has existed since the creation of the state land-use program in 1974. Other areas considered for designation, such as the Columbia River Gorge, have been protected instead through the use of special statewide land-use planning goals, by the federal government, or through other specialized state and federal designations.

Opponents of destination resort development in the Metolius Basin area celebrated a resounding victory last Wednesday as Governor Ted Kulongoski signed legislation barring such development into law in a ceremony at Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery (see related story, page 1).

However, House Bill 3298 does not prohibit all development in the area.

Ponderosa Land & Cattle Company still has rights to develop 120 units along Green Ridge at the edge of the basin - a significantly scaled-down version of their original concept, which included a golf course and 2,500 homesites.

According to Ponderosa Land & Cattle Company spokesman Rick Allen, plans will get underway over the next couple of years to develop the property.

"We're going to start planning on what kind of project that we're going to build up there based on the legislation," Allen said.

The project can consist of 100 houses and 20 other units such as cabins and/or rooms in a lodge. A restaurant is likely part of the plan. There will be no golf course.

Allen said that the scaled-back plan actually allows the developer - the Colson family of Portland - to move forward much more quickly on creating a project.

"With the large-scale resort, the market is 10 years out - and that's wishful thinking," Allen said. "We could have done nothing for a decade."

Allen declined to give any timeline for turning the first spadeful of earth.

"There is no timeline," he said. "Just the process will take a couple of years."

Allen said that that process will include meetings with Camp Sherman residents and with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs to a discuss things they do and do not wish to see in the development.

The 120 units will be sited in clusters on 2,400 acres.

"We have 2,400 acres to work on and we can put them in 25 different clusters," Allen said.

There may not be that many clusters when plans come to fruition.

"Logistically the more clusters, the higher the cost," Allen said.

Road access will be from Forest Road 11.

Allen also said that the development team will begin to work on treatments to protect the property from wildfire. The area was threatened by the Black Butte II fire, but none of the private land was burned.

Meanwhile, developers of The Metolian are looking at options outside the Metolius Basin.

Shane Lundgren, a principal in the team developing The Metolian, reported that other legislation passed this session creates "a "Transferable Development Opportunity," allowing the group to pursue the possibility of creating an "eco-community" elsewhere in Oregon.

"Our current situation is the following," Lundgren reported: "Our existing property is now zoned for 25 houses and a 10-unit lodge. If a workable TDO is presented, we can transfer 240 units of development rights out of the basin somewhere else statewide. If we transfer, we are down-zoned to two lots."

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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