House: Skyline bill, yes; Metolius bill, no

The Bend Bulletin covers the passage of Skyline legislation out of the Oregon House.

Two bills dealing with protecting Central Oregon land met different fates Tuesday afternoon in the Oregon House, where representatives approved the Skyline Forest bill but voted down a destination resort ban in the Metolius River Basin.

The Skyline Forest bill, House Bill 2228, will allow Fidelity National Timber Resource Inc. to build a subdivision on forestland, if it sells the largest portion of the Skyline Forest west of Bend, plus more acreage in southern Deschutes County, to a land trust that will preserve it as a community-owned forest.

“This is a huge step,” said Brad Chalfant, with Deschutes Land Trust. “The land trust has really been running a marathon on this project. … This has been one of the largest, most complicated forest conservation projects ever attempted in this country.

“This puts us one very big step closer to forever conserving 30,000 acres at Skyline and another 35,000 acres on the Little Deschutes.”

The bill passed by three votes.

Nancy Craven, with Fidelity National Timber Resources Inc., agreed the bill’s passage was good news.

“We’re pleased,” she said. “We’re going to continue to evaluate as the market changes and see if the project will be economically feasible.”

The bill now needs the governor’s signature.

The Skyline bill also has an effect on potential destination resort building in the Metolius River Basin. A provision of the bill limits the developers of the Metolian resort to building two homes in the river basin. They would like to build more than 600 units. Instead, the Skyline bill offers them a chance to relocate elsewhere in the state, like the Bandon Dunes area.

The Metolian developers, who could not be reached for comment, have not been in favor of the bill.

House Bill 3298, which would ban two destination resorts in the area, including the Metolian and the 2,500-unit Ponderosa Land and Cattle Co. resort development, was voted down Tuesday. The bill would declare the basin an Area of Critical State Concern. Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem, who authored the bill, said he plans to make a motion to reconsider the bill today.

Clem said a member of the House was out ill, and he would like Rep. Betty Komp, D-Woodburn, to return before another vote is taken.

“I’ll make a motion to reconsider. If that passes, it will come to the floor again, and then we’ll make a motion to table it until we get everyone there,” he said.

The bill fell one vote short of passing, according to Clem.

Lauren Dake can be reached at 541-419-8074 or at ldake@bendbulletin.com.