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LAND PRESERVATION Proposed Rogue River preserve in line for lottery grant Comment By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Apr. 7, 2016 at 4:48 PM Updated Apr 7, 2016 at 5:44 PM By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Apr. 7, 2016 at 4:48 PM Updated Apr 7, 2016 at 5:44 PM » Social News EAGLE POINT — Plans to buy and preserve a 352-acre ranch along the upper Rogue River is on the cusp of securing an Oregon Lottery grant that would account for more than half the purchase price. An Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board review committee proposes that the full $1,385,255 requested by the Southern Oregon Land Conservancy toward buying the MacArthur Ranch and turning it into the Rogue River Preserve be granted. The staff recommendation for meting out Oregon Lottery funds through OWEB was made public Wednesday and lays the foundation for the full board to review and vote on the proposal when it meets April 26-27 in LaGrande. It touts the acquisition as an "excellent opportunity to achieve significant ecological outcomes" by preserving the ranch's wild nature, which includes rare vernal pools and other riverside habitats unaltered by humans on a stretch of river known for development. "It's one of the last extraordinary natural areas privately owned along the upper Rogue," says Craig Harper of the land conservancy. "We're glad the OWEB staff and review committee saw it the same way." The staff recommendation scores the grant as earning 56 out of a possible 60 points. However, the proposal does include some "yellow flag" issues involving reservations and easements on the land's aged title that must be resolved. "Yellow flag concerns are incredibly common, resolvable, and OWEB will work with the applicant to alleviate the concerns during the granting time frame, if indeed the grant is awarded by the board," says Mark Hartstein, OWEB's senior policy coordinator. The OWEB grant is the largest sought by the land conservancy toward the project and was considered the linchpin of its $3.5 million "Heart of the Rogue" capital campaign. That amount would cover the $2.4 million purchase price, pay for some improvements and create an endowment that would fund protection and enhancement of its myriad unique habitats in perpetuity. Patrick and Carlyn Duffy, who have lived across the Rogue from the MacArthur Ranch for 25 years, are the campaign's chairs. The MacArthurs, descendants of former Mail Tribune publisher Robert Ruhl, offered the initial $600,000 donation to the project in the form of a discount sale on the land appraised for $3 million. The conservancy is up against a Dec. 31 deadline of its agreement with the MacArthur family. The property is a mosaic of the different types of habitats that once dominated the upper Rogue River Basin but largely have given way over time to cleared cattle pastures, ranchettes and dream homes. The lands near Upper River Road contain chaparral and buck brush that help draw black-tailed deer and Roosevelt elk. Vernal pools dot the landscape and eventually become meadows sprinkled with natural springs, extremely rare white fairy poppy plants and surprisingly few blackberries. Much of the ranch is unblemished by non-native vegetation, but even some of the invasive plants that are present are losing ground naturally. The property's brightest gem, however, is its mature and largely streamside oak woodlands, the second-largest intact riparian forest along 100 miles of the Rogue. The only larger one is the publicly owned and primarily unreachable oak woodlands around the now-removed Gold Ray Dam impoundment. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman . By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Apr. 7, 2016 at 4:48 PM Updated Apr 7, 2016 at 5:44 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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