Rural land in central Oregon

Kestrel

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Hello all, back after a few months away from CPF. :wave:

Although I don't really subscribe to the 'bucket list' thing, I've squared something away that I've wanted for, well, pretty much as long as I've been wanting things. In late June, we closed on a purchase of 80 acres of rural land in Central Oregon. It's just on the other side of the Cascade montains (the 'dry' side) and is only about 3 hours from home here in the Willamette valley.

What was exceedingly attractive about this particular spot is that it borders the east edge of Deschutes National Forest, 1.8 million acres of Federal land that contains (among other things), the Metolius wilderness in which we've been spending a bit of time recently. Being able to literally walk right into the wild from our property is something I've been dreaming about for a long, long time. It will also get snow in the winter, which is something else that I've been really missing here on the 'wet' side.

I don't have pics yet (I didn't want to 'jinx' the deal by taking photos before closing), but a quick google search came across this pic (posted on flickr) that's pretty comparable. I do promise to take some pics soon and post them. :eek:




Very close to the eastern edge of our new property is the beginning of 100,000-acre Crooked River National Grassland, another beautiful area.

(a file pic of CRNG from the USDA website that I particularly liked)
CrookedRiverNationalGrassland-1.jpg


(More good sample pics taken in the CRNG are here.)

We don't have plans for a cabin at the moment, financially we'll be spread a bit thin for the next three years. However, it will be a great area to camp, hunt, fish (on the Metolius, Deschutes, and Crooked rivers) and to generally explore from.

And our dog loves it there. :grin2:


I'm happy to be back at CPF to hang out with you folks again. I see that you all have been on your best behavior, lol. ;)
K
 
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AnAppleSnail

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Now's your chance to rent a backhoe, install huge concrete things underground, and do beamshots ANYTIME you want!*

Enjoy the great big outdoors :)





*I want to make one of these and install a spiral staircase and a barbecue. And a stream.
 

Kestrel

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Now's your chance to rent a backhoe, install huge concrete things underground, and do beamshots ANYTIME you want! [...]
That's funny because I've already gotten the 'When are you putting in the concrete bunker?' question from a co-worker, lol.

Beautiful area. Will you be able to do some fishing in streams or lakes?
This area has reasonably good access to trout fishing in the three rivers in the area (Metolius, Deschutes, & Crooked rivers) - my wife has fly-fished on the Metolius in recent years although I haven't yet. :eek: Beyond that, we are starting to learn of a few good spots next to the Metolius for wild morel mushrooms.

Hunting is the big thing that I'm interested in over there: there is ample deer and elk sign all around, but what I'm most excited about are the possibilities for upland game hunting: blue & ruffed grouse to the west, chukar & hungarian partridge to the north, and quail to the east. This property is located in a transition zone of different habitat types, so we can do just about anything depending on the direction we go. :)

Coincidentally, the Nature Conservancy just did a very good article on sage grouse & sage grouse habitat conservation. Apparently sage grouse numbers have declined substantially in recent decades, the problem being their preferred habitat: 70% sagebrush & 30% grasslands. The issue is that juniper tree coverage has expanded considerably outside of its historical range (due to modern fire practices), moving into sagebrush country. Three quarters of our property is ponderosa pine with the remaining quarter being a mix of juniper & sagebrush; this lies within historical sage grouse habitat, so now I'd like to start looking into doing what we can to promote that. Furthermore, this would benefit mule deer in the area as well - they get impacted once juniper have moved in and reduce the understory of forage such as grasses and shrubs. The NRCS is conducting a 'sage grouse initiative' where they are working with the Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife and rural landowners to promote this.
 
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StarHalo

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Looks like there's plenty of trees to start the cabin now; find a nice well and set out a solar panel.. It's not hard to save society's money if you're not on their grid..
 

orbital

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+

I lived in Oregon in the early 90's and was lucky enough to tour alot of it.

From the coast through the wine country, from the endlessly beautiful Cascades
to the somewhat little known dry region of OR, from the rain forest to the,,,well you get the picture:D

After living in a few western states and have at least driven through every state in the west {except Wyoming,}
....Oregon still holds a very special place w/ me.


congrats..
 

MichaelW

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I am sick of Chicagoland, and have been thinking of the PNW.
I am looking hard at Spokane, WA because I've heard that Oregon, in the halls of gov't, was inhabited by eco-nazi types. I'd like for that to not be true, because central Oregon looks stunning.
 

ElectronGuru

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Impressions based on news blurbs and political color maps can be misleading. The reality is pretty diverse and people are drawn to places by their interests. Oregon's capital city (salem), for example, is conservative and sedate. Not because Oregon politics are, but because people drawn to government jobs are. Where I'm at (Eugene) has an invigorating mix of hybrids and 3/4 ton diesel trucks (with auxiliary tanks). Both groups like the trees, just for different reasons.

The key factor in your case is weather. Mountain ranges (going from Northern California all the way up into Canada) 'squeeze' the water out of clouds moving east from the ocean. This elevation increases the rain in the western 1/3 and dramatically decreases it over the rest of the state, creating a personality blanket over the land and the people. Most of the biggest cities are in this wet section. In comparison, the dry section is sparsely populated. So, in general, more rain/people = left, less rain/people = right.

Look'n good K!
 

StarHalo

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Don't forget to take a page from the Hunter S. Thompson playbook: Set a large Asian gong on a distant hillside, and at night, step outside with your largest revolver and fire in that direction, listen for a claaaaaang...
 

Bigpal

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That's some nice land. Should be a lot of stories for the new A&Q forum coming out of there.
 
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Kestrel

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Thanks a lot, folks. :wave:

You did it. Yeah you!
Cheers,
Sarah
Thanks Sarah. :) My guess is that I mentioned we were looking for something like this, like 2 years ago or something and you, naturally, remembered. :eek:

Don't forget to take a page from the Hunter S. Thompson playbook: Set a large Asian gong on a distant hillside, and at night, step outside with your largest revolver and fire in that direction, listen for a claaaaaang...

Actually that's ironic since last year I sold it off lol. But I think I have a few other things around that might work ...

That's some nice land. Should be a lot of stories for the new A&Q forum coming out of there.

Good idea, funny how things work sometimes.
BTW I edited your post to shamelessly add a promotional link, lol. ;)
 
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