Faced with the surprise announced sale of 33,000 acres of
private timberland it has been trying to preserve from major development the
Deschutes Basin Land Trust says it remains interested in plans of the new Singapore-based
owners.
In February Cascade Timberlands LLC, a subsidiary of
Fidelity National Ventures, announced it had sold the forest land in an
important view corridor between Bend and Sisters to Whitefish Cascade Forest Resources
LLC. That tract was one of several totaling nearly 200,000 acres that Fidelity said
it sold for $63 million. Deschutes County records show an agreement for the sale was completed in October of 2014 with recording on February 17.
The sale culminated nearly a decade of Cascade’s
discussion with the Land Trust on a way to keep much of the acreage in
sustainable timber production while reserving a portion for development of a
residential community of larger home sites.
In a statement in the Land Trust’s newsletter, director
Brad Chalfant wrote that, “However startling as that news may be for some, the
Land Trust actually views the change in ownership as a potentially beneficial
turn of events.”
Chalfant noted that Fidelity had long said it wanted to
sell all its Central Oregon timberland as a package. The company had acquired
the property from investors which had previously obtained
control through bankruptcy proceedings of the former Crown Pacific Partners
timber company.
“Unfortunately the inherently speculative nature of
development values which Fidelity associated with Skyline further complicated
the transaction. Consequently, our efforts to negotiate an economically sound
acquisition had stalled. As a result and given our long-term perspective, the
new ownership presents a new opportunity.”
Chalfant wrote that the Land Trust in early March had thus
far had no direct contact with the new owners but had been informed by the
company’s forester that , “for the time being” they plan to continue allowing
the Land Trust to conduct guided hiking and biking events.
previous post Saturday, February 21, 2015
