Bulletin E-Edition:
more photosJim Frazee, owner of Lava Lake Lodge, clears snow off the parking lot at Twin Lakes Resort with his snow plow and blower earlier this month. Twin Lakes and Wickiup Reservoir are now accessible, but most other Cascade Lakes could be inaccessible for anglers on opening day.
Photo courtesy Jim Frazee
Denied access?
Little time remains for access roads to be cleared of snow in the Cascade Lakes region for the April 26 fishing opener
By Mark Morical / The Bulletin
Published: April 17. 2008 4:00AM PSTA major fishing season is scheduled to open soon in Central Oregon. But unless a way is found to deal with what remains from an extraordinarily snowy winter in the Cascade Mountains, it could be a disappointing opener for throngs of eager anglers.
If access roads to boat ramps, campgrounds and parking lots at the Cascade Lakes are not cleared of snow soon, many of the popular lakes likely will not be accessible for the lake-fishing season opener on April 26, little more than one week away. And some lakes could still be iced over then.
The U.S. Forest Service, the Deschutes County Road Department and resort owners are working to come to a shared-cost agreement to help get the access areas plowed.
The three groups met last week at the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District office in Bend.
The issue has reached a boiling point because an exceptional snowfall year coincided with a year when the road department lost $3.1 million in timber revenue.
Money from timber revenue has been used to plow the access roads to the Cascade Lakes for the last four decades, according to Tom Blust, director of the Deschutes County Road Department.
County officials say they don’t have the funds this year to plow the lake areas, which they have done in the past under a “handshake agreement” with the Forest Service, according to Blust.
That leaves it up to the Forest Service, which it claims also lacks the funds to plow.
“If we were going to spend money on this, you’d be taking it from something else that is critical,” said Phil Cruz, district ranger for the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District, at the meeting last week. “We’re open to some kind of an agreement, where we’re working together to provide public access. We’re willing to figure something out. We don’t have a lot of time.”
The road department is likewise willing to work something out.
“If the resort owners and Forest Service can come up with some sort of partnership, we’re willing to entertain any ideas they might have,” Blust said.
Cruz said Wednesday that he was still trying to connect with resort owners and fishing guides to work out the details of a shared-cost agreement.
“We want to see what degree they’re committed to work with us on a lake-by-lake basis,” Cruz said. “It certainly looks like we have an opportunity for a three-way partnership.”
Resort owners stand to lose significant business if anglers cannot access their lakes. But the owners are also concerned for the anglers, who without plowing might not be able to access some lakes until July.
"The resorts realize it’s not the Forest Service’s or the county’s responsibility to plow, but the public deserves this,” says Joann Frazee, who owns Lava Lake Lodge with her husband, Jim Frazee. “The public will not be able to go fishing until July. It affects our business, but it also affects the fishermen.”
Jim Frazee has already plowed areas at North Twin and South Twin lakes and Wickiup Reservoir with his snow plow and blower. According to Joann Frazee, roads to boat ramps, campgrounds and parking lots at all three lakes are clear of snow and accessible.
That’s not the case for higher-elevation Lava Lake and Crane Prairie Reservoir. But those lakes are likely to remain iced over through opening weekend and would not be fishable anyway, according to Joann Frazee.
“When it’s ready, then we’ll probably do some plowing (around Lava Lakes),” she said. “But in the past, the county has (plowed) all the way to the boat ramp. (Lava Lake) will still be iced over on opening weekend. We always take care of it when it’s time; the county goes in so far and we take over from there.”
Pat Schatz, owner of Crane Prairie Resort, said he believes Crane Prairie has a “50-50 chance” of being ice free by April 26. But even when the ice melts, he said, the four-mile road into the reservoir from Cascade Lakes Highway likely still will be covered in snow.
“You still won’t be able to get there after the ice goes off,” Schatz said. “I’m just going to wait. If it gets to where I can drive my backhoe through the snow, I’ll do it. But I can’t afford to support the county.”
Schatz was not holding out any hope this week that an agreement would be reached in time to plow access roads to the lakes by opening day.
“Nothing’s going to happen,” Schatz said. “And most of us (resort owners) can’t afford to pay half of (the cost of) opening a government road.”
Schatz agreed with Joann Frazee that anglers stand to be the big losers.
“We feel the public is due access to the boat ramps,” Schatz said. “I think the general public is getting screwed here.”
Schatz has worked at Crane Prairie since 1964, and he became owner of the resort in 1973. As he remembers, the last time that access roads to the lakes were not plowed was 1973 or 1974. He also said that if the county had not plowed all those years, Crane Prairie would probably not be accessible by opening day one in every four years or so.
Even a week of unseasonably warm weather would not help this year, Schatz said.
Farther south, Crescent and Odell lakes are currently inaccessible due to snow, according to Ken Bixler, area manager for Recreation Resource Management.
“I’m not too optimistic about opening day this year,” Bixler said.
Each spring, the Deschutes County Road Department plows Forest Road 42 to Cascade Lakes Highway (state Highway 46) and 46 between Lava Lake and Davis Lake. Both those sections of road are now clear of snow, according to Blust. The section of Cascade Lakes Highway between Mount Bachelor and Lava Lake typically does not open until Memorial Day weekend, Blust said.
He added that plowing will start Monday on Forest Road 21, which leads to Paulina and East lakes east of La Pine. Because FR 21 runs so close to the them, Paulina and East lakes should be accessible by April 26, Blust said, but they likely still will be covered by ice and not fishable.
The plowing situation could affect not only local anglers, but also the many fishing enthusiasts who typically come from out of the area to fish the Cascade Lakes on opening weekend.
“You’re giving the public access to what they own (by plowing access roads),” Joann Frazee said. “It’s a shame we’re telling our tourists to go away.”
Mark Morical can be reached at 383-0318 or at mmorical@bendbulletin.com.
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