Wednesday, June 3, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
7
DLT dedicates new Whychus acreage
By Craig F. eisenbeis
Correspondent
The Deschutes Land
Trust’s (DLT) “Campaign for
Whychus Creek” continued to
gain momentum last Saturday
with the dedication of newly
acquired acreage that more
than doubles the size of its
Whychus Canyon Preserve.
The addition, which was
actually acquired last fall, is
the product of several years
of planning and negotiations.
More than 100 guests
attended Saturday’s cer-
emony in what will be one
of the last public opportuni-
ties to view the area prior to
restoration activities set to
begin next year. However, it
is anticipated that some free,
guided tours of the area will
be offered later this year.
Brad Chalfant, executive
director of DLT and chief
architect of DLT’s long-
range plans, was “thrilled to
dedicate this new portion of
Whychus Canyon Preserve....
This new part of Whychus
Canyon Preserve is a sig-
nificant step in completing
our key acquisitions along
Whychus Creek.”
DLT’s ambitious cam-
paign for Whychus Creek
has set a goal to protect the
stream and its extensive wild-
life habitat. Acquisition of
this 480-acre property com-
pletes a continuous six-mile
stretch of the local stream that
is now permanently under the
protective umbrella of DLT.
Funding for the new pre-
serve came from the Oregon
Watershed Enhancement
Board, Pelton-Round Butte
Mitigation Fund, Ann &
Bill Swindells Charitable
Trust, James H. Stanard
Foundation, Laird Norton
Family Foundation, The
Roundhouse Foundation, and
other members and individual
contributors.
At the upstream end, the
new addition abuts the DLT’s
2011 acquisition that initially
created the Whychus Canyon
Preserve. Downstream, the
property nestles against
Rimrock Ranch, where the
owners have granted a per-
manent conservation ease-
ment to DLT, thus completing
the six-mile protected stream
segment.
Much of Whychus Creek
was channelized in the 1960s
to control flooding and cre-
ate farm land. In the process,
many miles of fish and wild-
life habitat were destroyed.
Restoring the creek’s flood-
plain to its natural meanders
and wetlands is a much more
difficult — and expensive
— process than the initial
destruction.
In a massive restoration
project that drew national
attention, DLT previously
restored the original stream
flow at its upstream Camp
Polk Meadow Preserve. The
process took several years,
but has been judged to be a
great success.
Dr. Thomas R. Rheuben
General, Cosmetic, Implant
and Family Dentistry
photo by craiG F. eiSenbeiS
amanda egertson points out Mushroom Rock, an unusual in-stream
geological feature in a new section of the Whychus Canyon preserve.
Now that this new piece
has been fitted into the pic-
ture, the DLT plans to begin
the process of restoring
another six miles of impor-
tant habitat. Although actual
on-site excavation will not
begin until next year, the pro-
cess has already begun.
“It’s going to take about 10
years to do the whole thing,”
said Amanda Egertson,
stewardship director for the
Land Trust. “It’s going to be a
little bit different from Camp
Polk. We will be releasing
water and doing the plantings
all in the same year.”
Much was learned from
the Camp Polk project,
and the DLT hopes to put
that knowledge to use in
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