January 29, 2008
Mt. Emily Recreation Coalition and Union County
Meeting on Potential Purchase of Mt. Emily Acreage
Tuesday, January 29th, 7pm
Blue Mountain Conference Center, La Grande, OR
The Mt. Emily Recreation Coalition and Union County have scheduled a public information meeting to discuss a recently negotiated opportunity to pursue purchasing 3,669 acres in the Mt. Emily area north of the Cities of La Grande and Island City.
The Coalition approached Union County to assist with exploring purchase
options for the property. Recently, Union County worked with the current
landowners, Forest Capital Partners, LLC, to develop a purchase and sale
agreement that identifies two purchase opportunities should the community
supports public ownership of the property.
Forest Capital Partners owns and manages the property as a working forest
primarily for sustainable timber production. Union County residents also
use the property for multiple recreational outdoor activities including
hiking, biking, running, horseback riding, ATV-riding, archery, hunting
and berry-picking. The property's primary access points are within two miles
of the city limits of La Grande and Island City, providing nearby mountain
recreational opportunities for Union County's largest urban center. The
purchase of this property would secure the public's permanent access to
the property for generations to come.
The purchase opportunity includes two options with an added opportunity to buy-down commercial timber value as follows:
1. The first option of the Purchase and Sale Agreement would allow the County to purchase the property in its entirety including all land and standing timber. This option would require the Coalition and County to secure the full dollar amount from multiple funding sources by September 2008.
2. The second option would allow the County to reduce its capital commitment by purchasing the land in its entirety but only acquiring 1/3 of the standing timber volume. Under this option, the seller would retain 2/3 of the timber to be subsequently harvest over 4 years. However, Forest Capital Partners has agreed to give the Coalition and County the option to pursue funding sources to buy down the commercial timber value on a per-unit basis.
a. The property is divided into eight timber harvest units. Forest Capital Partners' Harvest Plan would commercially thin two units per year over the next four years. If the County is able to secure additional funding for one or more units in advance of each year's harvest then those harvest units would not need to be harvested for this acquisition.
The Mt. Emily Recreation Coalition and Union County would like to share
the purchase options with the community at a public information meeting
scheduled for Tuesday, January 29th at 7:00?p.m. in the Blue Mountain Conference
Center, located at 404 12th Street in La Grande./ Details about the proposed
acquisition will be made available at the meeting. Representatives from
Mt. Emily Recreation Coalition, Union County and Forest Capital Partners
will present details about the purchase opportunities and be on hand to
answer any questions the public may have at the meeting.
A questionnaire will be circulated at the meeting to ask county residents
about their position on the acquisition and to gather their additional input
on the purchase.