2
Wednesday, June 17, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
O
P
I N I O
N
Behind the preservation
of Whychus Canyon
By Janet Zuelke
Guest Columnist
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let-
ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor.
The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be
no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.
To the Editor:
Over 40 years ago, four young couples in
Corvallis got together with the idea of hav-
ing a cabin at Black Butte Ranch. We pooled
our money, chose a lot, and had a Ridge Cabin
built. The partnership exists to this day. The
Ranch is part of our lives, of our history, and
that of the succeeding generations as well.
We remember when the Ranch helped
Sisters merchants build store fronts to resemble
an old Western town, when the Sisters schools
went no farther than the eighth grade, when the
number of restaurants in the area was limited.
Over the years, we watched as Sisters blos-
somed into a tourist town, albeit helped by its
location near the Ranch, but now able to stand
on its own.
It was with pride that we saw the Ranch
help Sisters schools, not just with its tax base,
but also by providing the Sisters tennis, swim,
and golf teams a place to practice and train.
We also appreciate the participation of the
wider community when they eat at the BBR
restaurants and play on the golf courses.
However, as much as we love and appreciate
our relationship with the people in Sisters, we
did not make our Black Butte Ranch decision
over 40 years ago to include inviting anyone
with a bike or the ability to walk to the Ranch.
Not to swim in the pools that we’ve maintained
for all these years, to walk on the bike paths
that we’ve paid for, or play on the tennis courts
that we’ve spent money on. The friendship, up
to this date, has been mutually beneficial. But
inviting non-paying non-invited people into our
homes is not part of that.
As for traffic, does anyone seriously think
that residents of the Ranch are going to bike to
Sisters for their weekly groceries?
If Sisters wants a bike path so much, why
not on the other side of the road? Same view,
but not a route that leads directly into private
property? Why not parallel the bike path with
other area roads? Like Indian Ford? Three
Creeks? Camp Sherman?
I read in The Nugget that Alan Unger said
that the trail option would actually take some
pressure off heavily used recreational paths
inside the Ranch. Unless I have something
wrong, the Ranch’s paths are the Ranch’s busi-
ness, not Unger’s. He thinks that by putting the
Ranch’s residents on the proposed path and the
See LeTTeRS on page 21
Sisters Weather Forecast
Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
76/47
75/42
73/40
80/45
83/48
80/na
The Nugget Newspaper, Inc.
Website: www.nuggetnews.com
442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759
Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com
Postmaster: Send address changes to
The Nugget Newspaper,
P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759.
Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon.
Publisher - Editor: Kiki Dolson
News Editor: Jim Cornelius
Production Manager: Leith Williver
Classifieds & Circulation: Teresa Mahnken
Advertising: Lisa Buckley
Graphic Design: Jess Draper
Proofreader: Pete Rathbun
Accounting: Erin Bordonaro
The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area.
Third-class postage: one year, $40; six months (or less), $25. First-class postage: one year, $85; six months, $55.
Published Weekly. ©2014 The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All advertising which
appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility for
information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as uncondition-
ally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently
available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts.
I read with interest the
article about the Deschutes
Land Trust acquiring 58
acres along Whychus
Creek. As the board chair
of Wolftree I am grateful to
DLT for protecting this vital
section of the Whychus.
However, what the article
failed to mention was that
the time, talent and treasure
that went in to preserve this
special place began long
before the DLT was even
interested.
Forrest Babcock and I
lived adjacent to this prop-
erty for 12 years. In 2006
when the real estate boom
was at its most absurd, we
discovered that it was being
considered for a five-to-
seven-house development.
It was important for us to do
what we could to stop that.
We started with the
Deschutes Land Trust. They
suggested this property was
too small to bother with so
we contacted Wolftree, a
local education, conserva-
tion, and restoration orga-
nization. Dale Waddell met
us at the canyon rim, and
that first walk was all he
needed. We began a series
of Sunday-morning “walk-
abouts” where we hiked
small groups of people into
the canyon from our home.
Very little needed to be said
… we let the place speak for
itself. Everyone who came
recognized the significance
of this property and donated
time or money to help pro-
tect it.
At a pizza parlor in Bend
the owners and Wolftree
agreed on a price. They
agreed to let us fundraise the
money needed to purchase
it, effectively taking it off
the market for the next 120
days. We began a capital
campaign and increased our
“walkabouts.” This effort
culminated in a fundraiser at
Aspen Lakes Golf Course.
Forrest and I gave our entire
charitable giving budget
for that year along with
some friendly, arm twisting,
extended-family money.
Realizing we needed
BIG money, Dale invited
an OWEB representative to
join him in a private walk
to the canyon. I met him
later at Depot Café where a
surprised Dale shared that
the gentleman had “gone
spiritual” down there. He
wrote a check out of his own
pocket and told Dale if he
got the proposal to OWEB
before the deadline he
would personally shepherd it
through.
The process to get a grant
from OWEB for land acqui-
sition is difficult, expensive,
and we only had 4 months to
get it done! It requires a “yel-
low book appraisal” of the
property. The Wolftree staff
worked for weeks to map
and grid the entire property;
do fish counts, bird counts,
plant ID and species reports.
Karen Waddell, Forrest and
I spent hours on the prop-
erty assisting this effort. It
paid off, as in October of
that year OWEB funded our
grant request at 100 percent!
Even though this did not
pay the owners all that was
owed, the property was now
a conservation easement and
could never go back into pri-
vate hands.
The Whychus Creek
Discovery Outpost (WCDO)
was born!
From 2009-2013 the
WCDO welcomed students
every week for 6-10 weeks
in the fall and again in the
spring. We created a parking
area for school busses, and
one group built a trail for
access. Watching students
counting and then planting
fish with the ODFW, track-
ing wildlife, recording plant
species, doing restoration
work and making memories
through learning made us
realize that all of our time,
sacrifice and money had
been worth it.
When DLT began The
Campaign for Whychus
Creek it now made sense
to acquire this property as
part of that vision. Wolftree
stepped aside and DLT nego-
tiated with the original prop-
erty owners and a deal was
done. This was a happy end-
ing to a years-long process.
This story is told to bring
to light all the years of hard
work and sacrifice that had
to happen for DLT’s latest
acquisition to become reality.
Wolftree risked everything
on this, and each of us who
supported Wolftree in this
endeavor had a hand in pro-
tecting this incredible place.
Congratulations to us all!
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.