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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend October 28, 2005 Buyers sought for Boise Cascade property By GREG STILES Mail Tribune Four former Boise Cascade parcels in Jackson County and one just across the California border are being auctioned off with sealed bids next month. Forest Capital Partners, with offices in Boston and Portland, paid Boise $1.65 billion last year for 2.2 million acres, including 145,000 in Southern Oregon. The timber management firm decided the approximately 460 acres of forest reserve land in Jackson County and 800 in Siskiyou County didn’t fit into its strategic plan. The parcels are among 60 parcels in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California being auctioned by Realty Marketing / Northwest of Portland in November. Sealed bids for the Forest Capital properties are due Nov. 16. The jewel of the lot is 95-acre Katydid Ranch off Bald Mountain Road three miles south of Prospect. Boise Cascade acquired Katydid Ranch when it bought Elk Lumber Co. holdings in the 1960s. Forest Capital, a holding company, transferred title to its Meriwether Southern Oregon Land & Timber LLC unit. Advertisement There is a $485,000 reserve for the L-shaped ranch with two houses, a shop, a bunkhouse, barn and pond. Ken Cummings, region manager for Forest Capital and a former Boise employee, says the ranch was a strawberry farm before Boise decided to turn it into a tree nursery in the 1980s. Boise planted five or six acres of seedlings, retrofitted the barn with a cooler to store trees when they were taken out of the ground. That practice continued for about 10 years. "In the early 1990s, we realized it was a business we shouldn’t be in," Cummings says. "If you are partly in it, you are partly efficient. We figured growing trees is not something we do best and left it for the nurseries and growers." Boise considered selling the property, but couldn’t pull off a deal. "You can site a (new) house in the woods, but you can’t break one out" as a subdivided property, Cummings says. "Boise could never sell it. Even an attempted lot-line adjustment in the 1990s went for naught. When Forest Capital acquired the land, its objectives and tax structures were different, making it easier "There’s a lot of timber, but not anything you’re going to log," Cummings says. Both houses are two stories. One is 1,776 square feet with a heat pump, large shed and deck. The other is 1,673 square feet with a wood stove. The property will be open for inspection by appointment from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 7. "It’s definitely worth the drive to see the property," says Sharon Peede of Realty Marketing/Northwest. "The craftsmanship is really something." Realty Marketing/Northwest, whose clients include timber companies, colleges and private individuals, holds real estate auction each May and November. It last handled Southern Oregon land in 1998 when it disposed of 25 properties for Los Angeles-based Faydrex Inc. Just down Highway 62 from Katydid Ranch, lies a 153-acre tract a mile north of Lost Creek Lake with frontage on Lewis Road. That property has a reserve price of $195,000. Two more properties are near Howard Prairie and Soda Mountain Road. A 40-acre tract north of Howard Prairie straddles Keno Road and is a five-minute drive from Grizzly Creek Campground. A 160-acre tract with a potential view homesite carries a reserve of $295,000. The 796 acres in Siskiyou County bump up against Secret Spring Mountain and are contained in two rectangles. The reserve on that property is $350,000. To obtain a bid package telephone Realty Marketing/Northwest at 800-845-3524. The firm’s Web site is rmnw- auctions.com. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail Buyers sought for Boise Cascade property ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Cheap Website Hosting Discount Hotel Reservations Online Pharmacy Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Student Loans High End Computers Online Casino News Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Salvia Divinorum Online Casino Fundraisers Advertisement s