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Plan consolidates public land
Former Rajneeshee site deal could be a ‘win-win-win'
By Lauren Dake / The Bulletin
Published: October 26. 2009 4:00AM PST
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A Christian-based summer camp in Antelope is working on a land-swap deal that could create two new wilderness areas and make about 15,000 acres of popular hunting grounds accessible to the public.
Young Life's Washington Family Ranch, about 40 miles northeast of Madras, often has hunters wandering onto its property. The ranch surrounds land owned by the Bureau of Land Management.
Currently, the land owned by the BLM and the Young Life camp is intermingled and scattered throughout the area, creating a checkerboard effect. The ranch, the site of the former Rajneeshee commune, surrounds many BLM parcels, making them islands of federally-owned land.
Aaron Kilgore, with the Oregon Natural Desert Association, has been working with the Young Life camp to make the land trade a reality.
“It started to make sense. The consolidation in this case was really landowner-driven, because there's a history of trespassing onto private land,” he said, pointing out that having hunters on the same property as a youth camp isn't the best situation. “(This deal) makes all these public lands legally accessible. ... This is a popular area for hunting. A lot of elk and mule deer and white-tail deer and antelope live in this area.”
So far, the idea has received an approving nod from the commissioners in Jefferson County, where the bulk of land would be traded.
“It seems like a win-win,” said Jefferson County Commissioner John Hatfield.
But, Kilgore said, the plan would have to be approved by Congress.
Under the proposal, the BLM would give 12,323 acres to Young Life. The Christian camp would, in turn, give the BLM 8,821 acres.
Two ranchers in the area also would be part of the land swap. One rancher would give the BLM 494 acres, for 594 acres in return, and the other landowner would give the BLM 1,057 acres in exchange for 1,158.
Although the number of acres aren't equal, the land traded would be equal in monetary value.
The land the BLM would receive could help create two wilderness areas, called Horse Heaven and Coffin Rock, totaling 18,000 acres, upon congressional approval.
Plus, four miles of the John Day Wild and Scenic River would become public land. Congress has designated 200 miles of the 500-mile river as wild and scenic.
“In the end, it's really about the wilderness protection and leaving high-quality habitat for a wide variety of species, to give to the public, (to) make sure it's protected and leave a fantastic legacy for folks,” Kilgore said.
Young Life is a non-denominational Christian ministry that works with adolescents, according to its Web site.
Forrest Reinhardt, a land-use and entitlement consultant on the project for Young Life, emphasized that the goal of this deal was to make everyone happy.
“The public is getting four miles of John Day River frontage, and that's the goal. It's a win-win-win,” he said. “For BLM, it will help with overall management responsibilities, and for Young Life ... it cleans up the borders and boundaries of the ranch rather than having a ranch that looks like a checkerboard.”
Lauren Dake can be reached at 541-419-8074 or at ldake@bendbulletin.com.
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