Oregon: Popular rock climbing site gets park status & partial end to logging

The site, currently referred to as the Madrone Wall and located off of Highway 224 near Carver, contains 43 acres currently zoned for timber harvesting. The county intends to stop harvesting timber indefinitely on the lower half of the site and is working on approving recreation and parks activities there. The top half will remain available for logging. The county has estimated the total plan would cost about $880,000 to develop.

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“Opinions expressed at the county-sponsored concept plan meetings regarding the logging of the upper plateau were unanimous in opposition,” said Charlene DeBruin, president of the Eagle Creek/Barton Citizen Planning Organization, in a letter to the county.

“Opposition to logging the site is overwhelming; please listen to the
input you requested and do not log this amazing civic treasure. A
short-term financial gain for a long-term loss will take decades to
recover. Turning the site into a park has a great deal of support from
residents in the Barton and Eagle Creek area, though most of them are
opposed to any logging on the site.

“Our group had some professional cost estimators look at this, one from (the Oregon Department of Transportation) and another works for a consultant with JAL, a firm in Bend that does road construction,” he said. “Our estimate for just doing the work that’s needed to establish a park was around $325,000, and that was the very high end.”

He said he’s also been talking to the Oregon National Guard about doing some of the construction on a road into the park. “Basically the way it would work is the National Guard has people they need to train and they have incredible resources,” Daellenbach said.

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