Anyone driving along Highway 20 midway from Bend to Sisters on a typically clear day experiences remarkable southwest views of the area's signature peaks—from Broken Top to the Three Sisters. As the highway straightens for several miles west of the Innes Market Road intersection heavily forested land, punctuated by buttes, slopes upward in ridges toward the rugged mountains.
To most casual observers the immediate, and perhaps logical, assumption is that most of this is public land—maybe part of the Deschutes National Forest. However, some 33,000 acres or more than 50 square miles of the scenic property is in private hands.
But this large tract of private land between Bend and Sisters continues to be in the spotlight of negotiations involving the legislature in Salem, a major timberland holding company and a number of conservation groups.
Fidelity National Timberland Co, an affiliate of Fidelity National Title Company led by chairman Bill Foley, in 2006 purchased the property from creditors of bankrupt Crown-Pacific timber company. Fidelity initially proposed developing several thousand acres of the tract into estate-size lots, a private golf course and other amenities. To most casual observers the immediate, and perhaps logical, assumption is that most of this is public land—maybe part of the Deschutes National Forest. However, some 33,000 acres or more than 50 square miles of the scenic property is in private hands.
But this large tract of private land between Bend and Sisters continues to be in the spotlight of negotiations involving the legislature in Salem, a major timberland holding company and a number of conservation groups.
The proposal ignited opposition from traditional environmental organizations and many individuals to preserve what is now being called Skyline Forest. Fidelity attempted to mollify the opposition by opening a dialogue with the Deschutes Basin Land Trust to protect most of the acreage from development in exchange for reserving a portion for homes concentrated in one section on larger lots.
The Land Trust has suggested an agreement with Fidelity, operating as Cascade Timberlands on the Skyline projecty, may be the best alternative to preserving much of the 33,000 acres and guiding sensitive development on the remaining acreage. Partition of the forest-zoned property is now restricted to a minimum parcel size of 240 acres under “conditional use” standards of the Deschutes County land use regulations, which in effect would mean fewer than 140 homes could be built.
A bill passed in the 2009 Oregon legislature gave Fidelity the right to develop 282 homes on 1,200 contiguous acres in exchange for selling the remaining 31,800 acres for conservation through the Land Trust. But in 2011 Fidelity, citing the unfavorable economy, has returned to the legislature with a attempt to increase the number of homes, although it has not publicly revealed how many it seeks.
The Land Trust is now facing deadlines for fundraising to match grants totaling about $4 million which could be applied for the conservation purchase. Uncertainty over the development plans has complicated the effort, Land Trust officials acknowledge.
In provisions of the 2009 legislation Fidelity and the Land Trust have until 2014 complete a purchase agreement. Land Trust executive director Brad Chalfant said in early March that reports of an “impasse” in the negotiations, after Fidelity went back to the legislature, were misleading.
“There’s never been any expectation that we would wake up one day and the whole property would be subdivided,” Chalfant says. The question, he says, will be what development scenario will work for Fidelity and how to reconcile the company’s financial objectives with the conservation effort.
“My gut feeling tells me the parties are going to come to terms,” Chalfant adds.
A critical player in the negotiation milieu is Central Oregon Land Watch, which has been involved in the effort to prevent or minimize development on the property since former owner Crown Pacific went into receivership. A Land Watch attorney has expressed opposition to revising the number of homes that would be allowed in Skyline.
Altogether Fidelity acquired more than 250,000 acres once owned by Crown Pacific in Deschutes and Klamath counties. The company and the State of Oregon were near an agreement for the state to purchase 68,000 acres spanning the county lines for a state forest. Along with $15 million from the legislature to purchase 43,000 acres, The Conservation Fund, a Virginia group, was to purchase the other 25,000 acres and sell it back to the state over five years.
Fidelity chairman Foley has already established a precedent for a conservation-oriented development with the 80,000 acre Rock Creek Cattle Co., part of an historic ranch enclave with a private 18-hole golf course near Deer Lodge, Montana.
At Rock Creek, Foley has planned 200 exclusive homes while donating much of the sprawling ranch for open space and continued ranch operations. Foley reportedly has 40 investors in the Rock Creek project while maintaining 60 percent control.
Foley has also become a significant factor in the western United States wine industry by acquiring through his Foley Wine Group more than a dozen producing vineyards and associated wineries in California, the Pacific Northwest and New Zealand. Among these are the well-known Firestone and Sebastiani labels.
