Wednesday, November 11, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
13
Commentary...
Memories of Indian Ford Meadow
By Maret Pajutee
Founding Member Deschutes Land Trust
My memories of Indian
Ford Meadow live in many
snapshots.
In the early 1960s my
father Harry Pajutee was
awarded a contract to put
in a water system at a new
development in Indian Ford
called <The Hill.= His law-
yer Rockne Gill invited us to
visit his sister Donna Gill9s
Indian Ford Guest Ranch
nearby. As an eight-year-old
from the city and a first gen-
eration Estonian American I
had never seen a place like
this. There were cowboys,
fiddle players, a pool, cabins,
dining room dinners with
fried chicken and corn on
the cob, and horseback rides.
The formidable Donna Gill
presided over it all in cow-
girl boots, jeans, and a long
thick braid down her back.
My nature-loving par-
ents fell in love with Sisters,
where the trees and lakes
reminded them of the pine
forests of Estonia. My father
quickly bought a lot in the
new development, and built
a summer cabin in 1963.
Ours was the only house
off the main road for many
years.
My mother and the kids
spent our summers here
and came up nearly every
weekend during the school
year, a three-hour drive from
Portland. In summer, my dad
flew into the small Sisters
Airport on weekends buzz-
ing our house in his small
plane to let us know he was
there and needed a ride.
We explored everywhere,
looking for arrowheads on
the rocky sage steppe and
wandering Indian Ford
Meadow, which was grazed.
Occasionally managers
would remove the willows
along the creek, which in
those days were thought to
=steal water.= The distur-
bance would stimulate huge
blooms of lupine and my
wildflower-loving mother,
Leida, and I would wander
PHOTO PROVIDED
Deschutes Land Trust founders on the 10th Anniversary at Indian Ford
Meadow Preserve.
picking bouquets. We picked
boletus mushrooms in the
aspen groves and jumped
across the boards on creek
crossings. Harry was proud
of the development9s fore-
sight and its Meadow
Covenant, which he told
me protected the meadow
forever.
As the years passed, I
often walked in the meadow
4 first with family, then
college friends who came up
for a weekend in the cabin.
Sunsets were always magi-
cal: the warm golden light
through pines, mountains
glowing.
Both my parents died
young and I moved up to
the cabin full time, finding
work at the Forest Service as
the lookout on Black Butte
and later as a the first bota-
nist/ecologist for the Sisters
Ranger District in 1990.
Growth in Central Oregon
had began to skyrocket. It
seemed like every day, there
was a new house on a piece
of forest or sage flat. One
day I saw signs indicating
development of the meadow
edge was planned.
As one of the early Forest
Service biologists in the
midst of the change from a
timber-producing culture to
ecosystem management, I
was used to writing reports
and fighting. They called
us <Combat Biologists.= I
became a land-use activ-
ist. I read county plans and
policies and started to tor-
ment the county planners
and landowner with appeals
at all levels, including objec-
tions to proposed updates for
riparian ordinances.
PHOTO PROVIDED
A young Maret Pajutee among the lupine on Indian Ford Meadow.
We hired the best land-
use lawyers we could find
and many neighbors joined
in providing help and finan-
cial support. We made a fuss
in the local papers. It was
tough on the landowners
and the county planners and
we were finally asked if we
were open to mediation.
I had run into trouble at
work as well with my com-
bat tactics and my supervisor
recommended I work on my
attitude. I attended conflict
resolution training and read
<Getting to Yes= and sud-
denly I had a sea change in
how I looked at the world.
When the suggestion of a
land trust was introduced by
Catherine Morrow, County
Planner, I was ready. The
landowner was kind and gen-
erous and made it happen.
The experience changed
my life. I started working
with the idea of collaboration
and eventually even teaching
other Forest Service special-
ists across the country the
power of working together
to go farther. I served on the
first land-trust board and
have watched proudly as the
organization has grown over
the past 25 years.
So many wonderful peo-
ple of passion and foresight.
The original gang is getting
smaller by the year.
I now often teach yoga
and meditation for the
Land Trust on warm sum-
mer nights in a pine grove
overlooking the meadow.
It9s still magical. I am grate-
ful for everyone who made
this miracle of a place
possible.
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TUES
Sisters School District Virtual Event Coping with Grief &
Loss 6 p.m. Learn information and skills to help cope with grief
from Donna Schuurman of The Dougy Center. Zoom meeting at
https://zoom.us/j/93786970017 or phone 1-253-215-8782.
Paulina Springs Books Virtual Event Books In Common
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p.m. For more information call 541-549-0866 or go to
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Paulina Springs Books Virtual Event Books In Common
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