The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current, December 08, 2021, Image 1

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The nugget., December 08, 2021, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextThe Nugget Vol. XLIV No. 48 P OSTAL CUSTOMER News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon www.NuggetNews.com PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15 Wednesday, December 8, 2021 More water to flow in Whychus Creek By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief The Deschutes River Conservancy and Deschutes Land Trust have completed a water rights transfer that will help return more water to a local stream, providing a buf- fer for future drought years. They recently completed a transfer to move 40.2 acres of irrigation water rights (up to 0.59 cfs or 214 acre-feet) to instream use in Whychus Creek. This transfer will add over 69 million gallons of water to Whychus Creek from April to October. An acre-foot is the amount of water that Firebusters winner... Sisters Elementary School celebrated their top honors in the Fire Busters program last week. See related story, page 4. See CREEK on page 21 PHOTO BY CHARLIE KANZIG Winter closures protect deer habitat Black Butte Ranch Lodge comes down By Katy Yoder Correspondent By Bill Bartlett Correspondent Deer in Sisters are like those relatives who overstay their visit. They are charm- ing and lovable for a few days and then 4 well, we9ve all been there. Deer are cute and endearing until they start demolishing our gar- den or dismantling tree bark. It9s been said that in Sisters nobody owns their property 4 they just rent it from the deer. Now it9s December and once again time for winter range closures that put lim- its on where we can travel by vehicle in the forest. We grouse about not being able to get onto our usual Forest Service roads, the ones to our See HABITAT on page 24 Planners give green light to development By Sue Stafford Correspondent With a unanimous vote of 6-0 in favor of approval with staff conditions, the Sisters Planning Commission gave a green light to the Sisters Woodlands Master Plan development, tenta- tive subdivision, cottage development, and major Inside... variance request, at their continued public hearing on December 2. Public oral and writ- ten testimony had been closed at the conclusion of the previous hearing on November 10. The con- tinuance was issued to pro- vide additional time for the See DEVELOPMENT on page 8 Black Butte Ranch (BBR) is bidding adieu to its origi- nal lodge, built over 50 years ago. After several renova- tions it was clear it was time to start over and create a space and experience only possible by removing the original structure. The deci- sion wasn9t an easy one. For those who grew up coming to the Ranch or who call it home, imagining the drive in without the iconic building is hard to comprehend. The family dinners, morning cof- fees and weddings enjoyed in and around the building will have to live on in mem- ory alone. Shawn McCance, the CFO and interim CEO for the Ranch, has been a part of the Lodge project for many years. McCance took the helm when the former general manager, Jay Head, left for a new position three months ago. While a BBR hiring subcommittee inter- views six candidates for Head9s job, McCance is moving the reconstruction forward and navigating the PHOTO BY KATY YODER The Lodge at Black Butte Ranch is being demolished to make room for a new, $19.5 million facility. many challenges of a proj- ect of this magnitude. As often happens with construc- tion projects of this size and scope, a delay pushed back the original start date for demolition of the Lodge. <In a nutshell, the proj- ect was more expensive than originally estimated,= said McCance. Inflation and supply-chain problems have made it hard to get construc- tion materials. <In Central Oregon that was exacerbated due to a lack of employees,= said McCance. But hurdles weren9t going to halt progress for long. <The homeowners ral- lied around the project and came back and said not only do we want the project but we9re willing to spend more money for it. It came back with a 71-percent yes vote. So here we are today,= See LODGE on page 30 Letters/Weather ............... 2 Announcements ...............10 Stars Over Sisters ............ 11 Obituaries ................. 22-23 Classifieds ..................27-29 Meetings .......................... 3 Entertainment ................. 11 Holidays in Sisters ..... 13-20 Crossword ...................... 26 Real Estate ................ 29-32