LOCATION
Ochoco Ranch is located in Central Oregon and just 45 minutes from the Redmond/Bend commercial airport (Roberts Field - RDM). The property is 11 miles east of Prineville, OR on Highway 26. Prineville, which also has a municipal airport, is located 30 minutes from Bend and 20 minutes from Redmond.
ACREAGE
The property consists of approximately 42,428 acres of timbered high country in one contiguous block. The ranch is unique in many ways; 1) there is no public access, 2) a high percentage of forested lands, 3) the character and lay of the land is very appealing with smooth, gently rolling terrain with deep soils allowing the ranch to be very usable and productive, and 4) very secure, easily controlled and inexpensive to operate. The ranch borders the Ochoco National Forest and Lookout Mountain Roadless Management Area along its east border with a number of private ranches surrounding the other sides. In addition to the deeded acreage, Ochoco Ranch controls the cutting rights on an adjoining 3,111+/- of private land under a timber for grass trade use agreement.
The ranch is accessed by three private easements or right-of-ways, known as the primary roads. These primary roads are raised bladed gravel roads adjoining the highway and cut through the ranch north/south and east/west. Secondary and limited use roads cut through in various directions over the property and are accessed off the primary roads. This road system makes the property readily accessible and provides a major value enhancement. A well-developed road system such as this cannot be found on comparable properties. The topography of the ranch grades upward from west to east reaching its highpoint near Lookout Mountain and has elevation range of 3,600 feet to 6,000 feet. The vegetative habitat for the lower southern exposures consists of intermixed Ponderosa Pine, Cedar/Juniper, brush, browse and grass. The higher elevations and northerly exposures consist of Douglas Fir, White Fir, Ponderosa Pine, Aspen, Tamarac (Larch), Willows and lots of grass. The varied habitat is ideal for the diverse wildlife that inhabits the ranch.
HISTORY
The name Ochoco comes from the Paiute Indians and means “willow”. Over time as the area was settled the meaning changed to “tall pine” reflecting on the old growth pine trees in the Ochoco Mountains. Range wars between cattle and sheep ranchers account for some graphic attacks in the early settlement days. The Ochoco Ranch was assembled beginning in the 1930’s by the Ochoco Lumber Company of Prineville and was an inventory property for the mill and managed on a sustainable basis over the decades. Remnants of early logging days can be found which include a flowing spring and a City of Prineville water storage tank that was used to fill the tanks for the water cooled brakes on the old-time log trucks which carried payloads to Prineville. The property is well stocked with merchantable timber consisting of a wide variety of ages and sizes. One can expect, on average that the trees are growing at the rate of approximately 3 to 3.5% annually, providing a growing renewable investment for future generations. Through the years the harvesting of the larger trees has opened up the land to more sunlight, thereby producing more grass and forage for the fauna. Additional information about timber as a resource is available the State of Oregon Forestry Department website http://egov.oregon.gov/ODF/index.shtml
RECREATION AND WILDLIFE
The Ochoco Ranch is a haven for Rocky Mountain Elk, Mule Deer, Antelope, Grouse, Quail and Turkey. Rainbow and Brook Trout can be found along Wolf Creek and Horse Heaven Creek. In addition there are approximately 35 miles of spring fed creeks and 65 mapped springs located on the ranch. Fishery enhancements along the main tributaries would be beneficial to the trout populations and would improve the value. Historically, the ranch provided summer grazing for 800 to 1,000 head of cattle. The current owner has not allowed commercial hunting or cattle grazing for the past five years. The combination of hunting control and removal of livestock grazing has created greater forage production causing the wildlife resource to improve both in quantity and quality. The ranch is a safe haven to large elk and deer populations and has a reputation of producing trophy quality animals. The Ochoco Ranch qualifies for eight landowner permits each for deer and elk. The bird species of quail, grouse and turkey offer multi species hunting opportunities in addition to the big game. For more information see www.dfw.state.or.us
LOCALE
Central Oregon is a rapidly growing area highlighted by natural beauty, pleasant year around weather (300+ days of sunshine annually), and an abundance of recreational opportunities. The area is characterized by the snow capped Cascade Range to the west (Deschutes National Forest) and a series of mountains to the east (Ochoco National Forest). A variety of springs, creeks and streams drain this geographic area with the Deschutes River capturing flows from the Cascade Range and the Crooked River draining the Ochoco National Forest area. The elevations below the tree line are typical high desert ecosystems composed of grasslands, Sagebrush and Cedar/Juniper while the higher elevations contain Ponderosa, Firs and Aspen. These ecosystems provide a variety of fish and wildlife species and allow for a multitude of recreational activities including big game and bird hunting, lake and river fishing, boating, river rafting, golfing, climbing, snow skiing, snowmobiling and many others. A number of recreation activities take place at Ochoco Lake State Park, Prineville Reservoir Stare Park and Mount Bachelor Ski Area and Lake Billy Chinook (Round Butte Reservoir). The communities of Redmond, Bend and Prineville offer all major services and a multitude of cultural activities. Notable is the Old Mill District (a shopping area rejuvenated from the old lumber mill site) as well shopping in downtown Bend which offers a variety of shops and restaurants. A smaller scale Old Mill District is being planned for Prineville. Concerts, music and arts festivals fill the calendar for the area. Populations for the local communities are as follows:
Bend – 75,000
Redmond – 24,000
Prineville – 10,000
The population for Deschutes County (including Bend and Redmond) is just over 150,000 while Crook County (including Prineville) is estimated to have over 20,000 residents.
WEATHER/CLIMATE & ELEVATION
The elevation of Prineville is 2868' at the Courthouse steps.
Crook County enjoys the dry climate of the high desert. Sunny days, low humidity and cool nights characterize the semi-arid climate in the high desert. The temperature can drop more than 30 degrees in one day during the year. Like all of Oregon east of the Cascades, generally the Prineville and Crook County's weather is characterized bright sunshine, hot days and cool nights in the summer, and sunny days and cool and cold temperatures in the winter
The warm days and cool nights of the high desert is due to the air mass from the west which gives up most of the moisture over the Coast Range and Cascade Mountains, before reaching Crook County. There is approximately 11" of rainfall and between 9" to 14" of snowfall each year. Half of the precipitation falls between the months of October and February, much of the precipitation is experienced as snow in the higher elevations. There is between 9" to 14" of snowfall. The higher elevations of the Ochoco Mountain range average 18” to 20” of annual precipitation.
Listed below are the monthly mean maximum and minimum temperatures:
Month High/Low
Jan. 41.9/21.0
Feb. 48.1/23.7
March 54.5/25.3
April 60.7/28.0
May 68.5/34.1
June 77.0/40.3
July 85.8/42.8
Aug. 85.7/41.6
Sept. 77.8/34.7
Oct. 65.7/28.6
Nov. 49.4/25.2
Dec. 49.4/20.7
DEVELOPMENT/CONSERVATION POTENTIAL
Ochoco Ranch would be an ideal candidate for many types of development or conservation. In addition to its physical characteristics, the property offers a remarkable panoramic view of the Cascade Mountain Range and the Deschutes River valley to the west. The property offers a myriad of recreation potential including:
Hunting and fishing
Horseback riding
Mountain biking
Camping and backpacking
ATV, motorcycle and snowmobile trails
Snowshoeing, mountaineering and cross-country skiing
Guest ranching and cattle drives
Wildlife viewing and bird watching..and just relaxing
Opportunities to capitalize on these amenities and its physical location include the following possibilities or a combination thereof:
1) A private and secure retreat for family/business recreation purposes, possibly incorporating a conservation strategy for tax savings benefit.
2)A buy and hold strategy allowing the value of the land and timber to continue growing.
3)Splitting the property into 4 to 10 smaller ranch properties for resale.
4)Developing a small area into a clustered development with “common access” to keep the remainder a large, open, natural property protected by a conservation easement.
5)A Resort Overlay designation for a world class destination involving mountain recreation.
The Ochoco Ranch is zoned F-1, Forest Zone.
A detailed list of permitted uses and conditional uses is found at Crook County, Oregon website:
www.co.crook.or.us/Departments/Planning/tabid/77/Default.aspx
or www.codepublishing.com/OR/crookcounty.html
SUMMARY
The large deeded acreage of timbered high country comprising the Ochoco Ranch makes this an exceptional resource. This resource combined with its excellent location nearby to a rapidly growing area along with the multitude of recreation possibilities allow the Ochoco Ranch to be well positioned for future value enhancement. The property is a blank canvas, available in its raw natural form, allowing it to be taken in a variety of directions by the new owner. It is a fact that there is no other property available in today’s market place that is comparable. The opportunities for Ochoco Ranch are endless; however, the opportunity to purchase the Ochoco Ranch is not.
TAXES $70,000 +/-/2006
OREGON AGENCY DISCLOSURE FORM
Click here to view the current Oregon Agency Disclosure form as a pdf document.