By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews
Proponents of the preservation of Yachats Ridge lobbied the Oregon Parks & Recreation Commission on Wednesday to purchase the 1,100-acre property from two forest landowners.
The commission met in Cannon Beach where they held an executive (closed) session to discuss real estate and legal issues before continuing with a public meeting where people were invited to comment about issues not on its agenda.
The property’s appraisal or possible purchase of Yachats Ridge by the Oregon State Parks & Recreation Department was not discussed during commission’s executive session or on its agenda.
The meeting marked the third time supporters of preserving the ridge, spearheaded by the Yachats land trust and conservation group View the Future, testified to the commission.
The four who spoke via Zoom to encourage the purchase were View the Future co-chair John Theilacker, Lincoln County Commissioner Claire Hall, Yachats Mayor Craig Berdie and Yachats resident Christine Orchard. All touted the natural wonder of the property along with its benefit to wildlife – which include elk, bear and fish in the Yachats River, as well as for property values and recreational opportunities.
“As part of the Oregon state park system, Yachats Ridge would offer many recreational opportunities, especially for tent campers who would appreciate a camping place where they would not have to contend with motorized vehicles and generators,” Orchard said. “Yachats Ridge is also an excellent area for hiking, biking and enjoying magnificent coastal views. There are natural water sources in this area that could be used by park visitors and for emergencies. Please decide to add this beautiful ridge to the Oregon park system.”
Berdie made clear he was speaking as a private citizen and not on behalf of the city before mentioning his surprise at how small a footprint the state park system has on the central Oregon coast.
“On a personal note, my son and his wife are avid hikers who spend most weekends enjoying the wonders of Oregon, including the exceptional parks,” Berdie said. “However, they and their friends rarely come to the central coast because there are few opportunities to hike or camp in the area. The existing parks are small, with limited primitive camping and few substantial hiking areas.”
Conserving the ridge would provide both, he said, punctuated by “world class views” that would benefit local businesses and serve as an anchor and “jewel” in Oregon’s park system.
“I cannot overemphasize the value of Yachats Ridge to me as a resident,” Berdie said. “My home, as well as the homes of many in the city, faces directly towards the ridge. It is a view that I wake up to every day. Without a doubt, preserving the ridge preserves the value of my home as it does to many other Yachats’ residents.”
View the Future has been lobbying state parks officials to purchase the property and is working with local governments, legislators and tribal leaders to help persuade the commission.
Hall touted the property’s geological and botanical features along with its educational opportunities and shared memories of her visit to the ridge last July.
“It was breathtaking,” Hall said. “There are not enough superlatives to describe the experience of standing at the edge of the forest, looking out at the Yachats community and to the sea … State acquisition of the site will provide wonderful camping and recreation opportunities. I think you’ve seen the evidence of strong local support at both the city and county government levels as well as in the Yachats community … I encourage you commissioners to work with staff to find a way to preserve this natural treasure.”
Theilacker shared enthusiastic feedback for preserving the ridge exemplified by the nearly 50 people who have toured the property along with the 110 people who attended a Yachats Academy of Arts and Sciences presentation about the ridge at the Yachats’ Commons Sunday.
“Our hope is that someday soon your commission and staff will find favorably on ownership of this property for a future state park and formally initiate the land acquisition process,” Theilacker said. “View the Future continues to build community and regional support for this possibility and pledge our time and resources to aid you in your efforts.”
Supporters are urging the parks department to proceed with negotiations with Manulife, a Canadian insurance and real estate investment firm that owns the majority of the property, and Weyerhaeuser which owns two smaller parcels.
View the Future co-chair Joanne Kittel of Yachats told the Commons’ audience on Sunday that if state parks buys the land it would be the most acreage “in their history — and that’s scary.”
“But they’re tremendously interested in it,” Kittel said during an hour-long presentation on View the Future, its goals – and it’s push to find a buyer for the heavily logged and long-neglected property.
Industrial logging
The property has had 11 owners in 37 years. View the Future has attempted to arrange purchase of the property from three of the last four owners, but negotiations stalled because of ownership changes and differences over asking prices and appraisals.
Manulife owns 950 acres bordering the Siuslaw National Forest and private residential property. There is a 40-acre island of Bureau of Land Management forest in the middle of it. Once state parks staff began looking at the Manulife property they approached Weyerhaeuser to see if it would be interested in selling two parcels it owns – 40 acres and 142 acres – on the west and south sides. Weyerhaeuser is, the commission was told in November.
All of the properties were heavily logged starting in the 1940s, again in the 1960s, and some in the during the 1980s, according to Kittel. It was last logged in 2016.
And because it’s been logged so regularly and neglected after that, Kittel said Sunday, Manulife is interested in selling.
“They can’t log it right now,” she said. “They can’t make money on it. They’re a real estate investment trust … and need to make money.”
In answer to a question, Kittel said the last purchase price offer from Manulife was for $4 million, but a follow-up appraisal of timber and what it would cost to harvest it was “less than that.”
“It’s a game,” she said. “You negotiate back and forth and come up with a price.”
Connect to Perpetua?
View the Future is trying to convince the parks commission that if the state buys the property it can help raise the money to help manage and rehabilitate the property – and advocate for its long-term future.
“This property has had a history of industrial logging,” Kittel said, and needs substantial restoration.
The land is criss-crossed with creeks, emerging wetlands, an old quarry that holds water, Kittel said, and has former gravel logging roads that can be used by hikers and bicyclists.
But it’s future and best long-term outcome, Kittel and co-chair John Theilacker said Sunday, would be to eventually work with the Siuslaw National Forest to join the property with the adjacent 2,700-acre Cape Perpetua Scenic Area, connecting its 27 miles of trails and eventually creating a national scenic area.
“But this will require significant management and long-term restoration,” Theilacker said, something his group could undertake with state and federal agencies and other conservation partners.
Kittel asked Sunday’s audience to compare the land to a neglected child.
“Just think of a child who goes through 37 foster homes. Think about that outcome,” she said. “I want to find a parent for this land … to finally find parents to take care of this ridge.”
- Garret Jaros is YachatsNews’ full-time reporter and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com. YachatsNews editor Quinton Smith contributed to this report.
A better world is possible. It only takes a well conceived plan, long term dedication, organization and effort. It is very unfortunate the entities rich enough to purchase, restore and protect these ecologically important properties are the government and private equity firms at this time.
To clarify Waverly Hayner’s comment, View theFuture is not a private equity firm, it is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit land trust who has been working to preserve this property for nearly two decades. The
private equity firms are the sellers who are not into restoring and protecting these properties for preservation of the forest, watershed and wildlife. With frequently changing ownerships and sale prices being higher than yellow book appraisals in the past, View the Future, with partners, was not able to purchase it despite well conceived plans and organization, long term dedication and efforts. If State Parks does purchase this property, it will be a wonderful neighbor to this community as it already has owning two Parks in Yachats. I know too since they have been a wonderful partner to me personally owning the Amanda Trail easement across my property for the past 30 years and new the AmandaTrail Bridge. View the Future has not and will not give up saving this property. The long term planning, dedication, organization, and efforts with partners have been ongoing and will continue.