Tag Archives: cathedral rock wilderness area

Cathedral Rock Access Debated – By Dylan Darling – Bend Bulletin

Frank,
Here’s my story.
Dylan
—–
Cathedral Rock access debated • Backers aim to open up the John Day; critics say the plan hampers non-floaters…

By Dylan J. Darling / The Bulletin The question surrounding the proposed Cathedral Rock and Horse Heaven Wilderness Area Act is clear on a map. Just west of the planned 8,686-acre Cathedral Rock Wilderness Area runs Muddy Creek Road, a dusty and bumpy Jefferson County byway. The right angles of the proposed public land boundary mimic the curves of the old road, leaving a ribbon of private land between the public road and the wilderness. Supporters of the federal-for-private land swap that would make Cathedral Rock a reality say the buffer benefits the public and wildlife, creating a wilderness focused on access from the John Day River. Critics of the plan say it makes access difficult for members of the public who would recreate on public land, particularly hikers and hunters. “One of the major goals is to expand the amount of public ownership along the (John Day River),” said Brent Fenty, executive director for the Bend-based Oregon Natural Desert Association. The group has been working with the private landowners and advocating for the wilderness designation for more than three years. He said the plan would make public a four-mile stretch of the river, adding about a dozen campsites for rafters on an increasingly popular run. While the river would provide a route into the wilderness, it wouldn’t be an easy one, said former Madras mayor Rick Allen. He said anyone looking to hunt or hike the land would have to first float the river unless they had permission from the landowners to cross the private land between the road and wilderness. “I don’t understand why anyone would be supporting this,” he said. Wilderness push Sens. Ron Wyden, and Jeff Merkley, Oregon Democrats, are co-sponsors of the Cathedral Rock and Horse Heaven Wilderness Act, which could be lumped together in an omnibus bill for congressional approval with two dozen other wilderness bills spread around 12 states. The Campaign for America’s Wilderness, a program of the Washington-based Pew Environmental Group, called for combining the separate bills into an omnibus bill in November newspaper ads. While he had heard the question about access before, David Dreher, manager for the Pew Campaign for America’s Wilderness, said Cathedral Rock would be a part of the omnibus. “It would be a great win for Central Oregon,” Dreher said. The bill has not been introduced in Congress, which has about a week left in its session, he said. The 112th Congress could be only the second Congress to designate no new wilderness areas since the 1964 Wilderness Act established the process. The 113th Congress is seated in January. Spokespeople for the two Oregon senators said they also are aware of the concerns about access, particularly from elected leaders in Jefferson County, but they still support the plan. “(Sen. Wyden) believes it addresses multiple land ownership challenges presented by the current checkerboard while giving the public more access than it currently has now without the problem of trespassing on private land,” wrote Tom Towslee, Wyden’s spokesman in Oregon, in an email. The Cathedral Rock segment would be named after a rock along the John Day River, and the Horse Heaven segment would be named after a mountain. Both of the geological features would be in the new wilderness. Merkley’s spokeswoman expressed qualms about the access issue. “Senator Merkley believes the proposed Horse Heaven and Cathedral Rock wilderness area has numerous merits, including improved road access to Horse Heaven, and he continues to support the proposal,” wrote Courtney Warner Crowell, his deputy communications director. “He does believe, however, that legitimate concerns have been raised about public road access to the Cathedral Rock portion and that it would be to considerable public benefit if this concern could be addressed.” Trespassing and poaching On the map, private land surrounds pockets of public acres close to Muddy Creek Road. The situation leads to trespassing and poaching issues, said Fenty, of the Oregon Natural Desert Association. Young Life, a Colorado Springs, Colo.,-based Christian group that runs a camp that draws thousands of middle and high school students each summer, owns most of the private acres involved in the swap. Fenty said it has felt the brunt of the trespassing and poaching problems along Muddy Creek Road. Allen said Young Life would be giving up 8,000 acres, including the riverfront land, in exchange for about 12,000 acres overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. Two other landowners would be involved in the exchanges, which would lead to about 18,000 acres of new wilderness. The Young Life camp, the Washington Family Ranch, is the former compound of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and was once known as Rancho Rajneesh or Rajneeshpuram. An Indian guru, Rajneesh ran the commune in the 1980s before his followers were caught poisoning salad bars in The Dalles and plotting to kill local and state officials. He was eventually deported. Most of the public land around Muddy Creek Road is surrounded by Young Life property. “As the land is currently configured, it is not accessible and usable by the public,” Fenty said. Young Life officials directed calls to Rich Ellerd, ranch manager, who did not return messages left Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday by The Bulletin. Craig Kilpatrick, land use consultant for Washington Family Ranch, in an email response to questions posed by The Bulletin, stated that creating two wilderness areas would bring “greater legal public access than now exists.” Consolidating private holdings presents opportunities for “workable land management” with clearly defined borders for rangeland, agricultural and recreational uses, he wrote. Kilpatrick pointed out that numerous conservation, wildlife advocacy and hunting organizations have endorsed the wilderness bill, including Oregon Wild, the Sierra Club and Trout Unlimited, to name a few. An original wilderness proposal, called Coffin Rock, included a parking area on Muddy Creek Road adjacent to Cherry Creek Ranch, Kilpatrick explained. During negotiations that redefined the wilderness into Cathedral Rock, Cherry Creek’s owners became concerned about public access near the century-old ranch headquarters building, he wrote. Cherry Creek and Young Life representatives were concerned, as well, that those property owners would bear the responsibility for rescuing lost or injured visitors along the unimproved Muddy Creek Road, he wrote. The Cathedral Rock portion of the wilderness proposal would only be accessed by the river. Fenty was quick to point out that the 9,200-acre Horse Heaven portion would be accessible by two roads. Pulled support The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners supported the original proposal for the wilderness, with access off Muddy Creek Road. The commission pulled its support in October 2011. Commissioner Mike Ahern said the current plan would make a wilderness that was a “private little playground” for the landowners along the road while the public would be relegated to floating by it on the river and then hiking out of the river canyon. He doubts that the lawmakers in Washington, D.C., are hearing their complaints, though. “I think the train has left the station,” he said. “I think we are going to get screwed on it.” Matt Smith, manager of the Cherry Creek Ranch, said the access issue is overblown; state hunting tag restrictions would limit use of the private land and hunting in the new wilderness. “There should be no controversy here,” he said. The Cherry Creek Ranch is one of the three private landowners involved in the proposal. Smith said it opposed a prior plan for a parking lot along Muddy Creek Road because the lot would have been close to the ranch headquarters, and visitors would have come right through the property. “You literally can bump your side-view mirror on our barn,” he said. He said the landowners tried to put together a plan for access off the road involving seasonal closures, but the county commissioners rejected the notion. Kilpatrick wrote that Cherry Creek and Young Life proposed gate access and seasonal closures that the commissioners endorsed, a position that changed after four public hearings in which local residents sounded their opposition. Now the landowners are only interested in entering into the swap with the federal government, Smith said, because of the limited access to the wilderness area that could stem trespassing and poaching along Muddy Creek Road. He said chances to preserve parcels like the land around Cathedral Rock don’t come along often, and it could slip away. “It would really be a shame to see such a solid deal, such a solid package as this, to go by,” Smith said. —

Reporter: 541-617-7812, ddarling@bendbulletin.com —— From bendbulletin.com – published daily in Bend, Oregon, by Western Communications, Inc. Copyright 2005.

Cathedral Rock & Rock-Horse Heaven Proposed Wilderness – Limited BLM Access

This is about hunting and trying to find a big buck sometimes

Under this proposed Wilderness Act, BLM Access will be limited access to the BLM lands and the parties involved on the private sector would compromise by having a trail-head  with limited access which would now be on their land and not on the once county road they want vacated.   Just think about having arm guards asking for your hunting liscense before entering Public Land!  

Since this involves everyone that uses Federal Lands for pleasure, sometimes a voice needs to be heard and sent out to fellow outdoor enthusiasts!

Over the course of many years I hunted, fished and hiked a great deal of the Oregon.   Some has been on private land with permission, but the majority of it in the last 30 years has been on B.L.M and National Forest. Many that used B.L.M., (Bureau of Land Management-Public Land) know that B.L.M. has some of the greatest opportunities for hunting, fishing, hiking, mining claims, or just looking for rocks and fossils.   We are quite lucky in the Western States to have so much B.L.M. to use for outdoor activities.

A great problem exists in the Western States with B.L.M., land-locked B.L.M. and private. Specifically, I am referring to a large private landing holding in Central Oregon where this has major problem for almost 30 years Recently I spoke with a person (government employee) about B.L.M. lands that are land-lock on this private holding and lack of access.   He commented that you can work the corners (checker board BLM) by using Global Positioning Systems.  To his amazement I told him that it was against the Law to do so.   Regardless of your ability to jump the corners and work them, you still come in the land owner’s air space.

The particular area I am addressing is east of Madras, Oregon and near Historical Donnybrook and borders the John Day River, with both Wasco County and Jefferson County have county roads in the land area.  To many it is known as the “Big Muddy Ranch” notoriously it was known as the Rancho Rashneeshpuram.    Today it is known as the Washington Family Ranch, which is under the direction of Young Life.

This is the sign of the past that were posted on BLM, just not the private! So now we see NO TRESPASSING SIGN w-Washington Family Ranch! Remember if this Act goes through you will find these signs on the Public Road most likely!

There has been a bill drawn up by a couple of Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) to do a Land Swap between a numbers of private property owners with B.L.M. encompassed on their lands. The name of this Bill is S. 2963, Cathedral Rock and Horse Heaven Wilderness Act. I believe the idea of consolidating the B.L.M., which has been land-locked since before my time.  I am not sure though that it should become a Wilderness Area.  After looking at the proposed map of the land swap, there is at least one major issue and that there is no public access to Cathedral Rock.

From what I see one Young Life will have greater benefits then the public would with the present proposal.  The greatest concern is the issue with public access to the lands.   Cathedral Rock or Coffin Rock would be the toughest proposal due to lack of road access touching the land.   There would be on river access on the John Day River and that side of the land is extremely steep and if I remember there is only one real slot to come in from the river.   For years now you could have access to the B.L.M. in the area via the N.E. Muddy Creek Rd.  The public could get to Wagner Mountain (Cathedral Rock) and Horse Heaven via the N.E. Muddy Creek Rd.  Understanding from reliable sources; Young Life has tried to vacate the roads.  What his means is that the county road that goes into the area will become a private road.   The result is a portion of the proposed land swap could only be used by Young Life and that would be for hunting purposes most likely.   In a recent land hearing, the comment by the Director of Young Life is that they would regulate the usage of the road at specific times of the year.   The comment was made that the ranch is has youth on the ranch and want to regulate people in the area.   Young Life themselves have hunts going on the ranch during the big game season and bird season.  Since the Washington Family donated the land to Young Life there is great deal of the money generated from the hunting on the ranch!  It was once said when Young Life took over that land that they made comment that to the effect of wanting to put up a game fence 8’ high to keep the game on the ranch.  It is strange but understandable that you can’t find a link on the Washington Family Ranch (Young Life) page for hunting or even fishing, rest assure they have it and there is a Game Director for the Ranch!

I personally believe in Young Life’s mission statement!

At this point there is no real benefit to the public or others such as Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs who might have sites in the old B.L.M. that are cultural importance to them to have access.

According to Town Meeting it was said, Young Life feels that all hunters want to trespass their lands to gain access to the B.L.M. or just trespass to hunt.  Majority of the public does not realize that Young Life has patrollers during the hunting season patrolling their lands and the B.L.M. (will stop you on the B.L.M.) via truck, ATV or horseback.   It should also be known that much of the B.L.M., lands ATV’s are no longer allowed, and you have walk in.   There is a section of land east of Donnybrook on top of Gosner Road (Horse Heaven) that many hunters and hikers will camp at.   During the hunting season patrollers of Young Life will come into the B.L.M. area that hunters camp on and take vehicle license numbers down and sometimes there have confrontations.   This is a known fact, as I myself have experience a number of times of the years. One such encounter was with handgun carrying patrollers on B.L.M. and be accused of trespassing on their lands.  I find that this person(s) are now a private land holder (Jefferson County Fire Cheif) next to Young Life property and has been involved to have the Muddy Road vacated and how the land should be used.   I made a comment to the Director of Washington Family Ranch at the time, “are you planning to shoot hunters”, his comment back was “we will do whatever is nessacary to protect our lands”.  I then asked him why does he feel he has control of the B.L.M. and have gun carrying patrollers on B.L.M.!

My experience is on public record in the Wasco County Courthouse in The Dallas, Oregon.

Why should Young Life, or any other major land owner be able to determine who can be on B.L.M.   Far as I am concern, it will lead further to major private land holders having even more control of public land.   Just the fact that Young Life wants the road vacated goes along what has happen in many cases in the west with roads being vacated and Federal Lands become permanently landlocked with no Public Access!

Contact to Comment to:    Greg Walden U.S. Congressman

Doc Hastings U.S. Congressman             Natural Resources Committee