In honor of the Land Trust’s 25th Anniversary, we’re sharing the stories of our flagship Preserves—the places, the people who have helped care for them, and the power they have to create a brighter future.
My memories of Indian Ford Meadow live in many snapshots.
My nature loving parents fell in love with Sisters where the trees and lakes reminded them of the pine forests of Estonia. My father quickly bought a lot in the new development, and built a summer cabin in 1963. Ours was the only house off the main road for many years.
My mother and the kids spent our summers here and came up nearly every weekend during the school year, a 3 hour drive from Portland. In summer, my dad flew into the small Sisters Airport on weekends buzzing our house in his small plane to let us know he was there and needed a ride.
We explored everywhere, looking for arrowheads on the rocky sage steppe and wandering Indian Ford Meadow which was grazed. Occasionally managers would remove the willows along the creek which in those days were thought to ”steal water”. The disturbance, would stimulate huge blooms of lupine and my wildflower loving mother Leida and I would wander picking bouquets. We picked boletus mushrooms in the aspen groves and jumped across the boards on creek crossings. Harry was proud of the development’s foresight and its Meadow Covenant, which he told me protected the meadow forever.
Both my parents died young and I moved up to the cabin full time, finding work at the Forest Service as the lookout on Black Butte and later as a the first Botanist/Ecologist for the Sisters Ranger District in 1990. Growth in Central Oregon had began to skyrocket. It seemed like everyday, there was a new house on a piece of forest or sage flat. One day I saw signs indicating development of the meadow edge was planned.
As one of the early Forest Service biologists in the midst of the change from a timber producing culture to Ecosystem Management, I was used to writing reports and fighting. They called us “Combat Biologists”. I became a land use activist. I read county plans and policies and started to torment the county planners and landowner with appeals at all levels, including objections to proposed updates for riparian ordinances. We hired the best land use lawyers we could find and many neighbors joined in providing help and financial support. We made a fuss in the local papers. It was tough on the landowners and the county planners and we were finally asked if we were open to mediation.
The experience changed my life. I started working with the idea of collaboration and eventually even teaching other Forest Service specialists across the country the power of working together to go farther. I served on the first Land Trust Board and have watched proudly as the organization has grown over the past 25 years. So many wonderful people of passion and foresight. The original gang is getting smaller by the year. Sadly we have lost Bruce, Bill, and Russ.
Look for more stories of our Preserves and what they mean to our supporters on our blog! Then share your stories, by sending us an email!
Learn more:
- The Story of Indian Ford Meadow Preserve
- The Story of the Metolius Preserve
- The Land Trust Celebrates its 25th Anniversary
- Thanks to Deschutes County Historical Society for use of their photos.