The Empty Corner of Oregon (Portland, Burns: purchase, construction, tax)

[surfer778]

Originally Posted by SETabor

There's a phone book but they don't know what to do with it. Somehow or another they have to use a card catalog at a library. And the tv in the hotel room doesn't have a remote.

This is starting to sound like a horror story

[Hawk J]

Originally Posted by hamellr

Yep! In the 1910 to mid 1920 time frame there was a huge land grab throughout Harney County because the US Corp of Engineers was looking to build a canal from the Columbia River down into the area to irrigate it.

There were dozens of towns platted, and parcels sold across the US. The Depression killed any talk of the canal being built, but about 8 or 9 towns were actually built. Lonerock, Christmas Valley, Summer Lake, Fort Rock were all built during this time frame.

It's too bad they didn't build the canal. By now you wood probably be able to catch some nice sized sturgeon in a forebay. If they had built one.

In CA they built the CA Aqueduct canal from the Delta, by Tracy(I used to fish some around there). It ran in & out of San Luis O'Neill Forebay by Santa Nella. Someone caught a 99lb sturgeon. Another man caught a 66lb Striped Bass. These fish must have come through the canal when they were small. They had to pass through many gates along the concrete canal.

[Yuptag]

Originally Posted by tablemtn

It's probably too remote for a prison. Can you really recruit 500 employees (or however many it takes to run a major prison) to go live out in the emptiness past Burns Junction?

Anyhow, if you want to see some very interesting and remote scenery, there is actually a dirt/gravel road with no services that runs along the Oregon/Idaho border about a mile north of the Nevada border.

This region is VERY remote. Just to get there, you need to take unmarked backroads for about 50 miles from the tiny OR/NV border town of McDermitt. You cross the McDermitt Indian Reservation and then head out onto a series of rural roads with no services until you reach the border with Idaho. The scenery is incredible, but in order to do this, you need:

-Extra gas for your vehicle, just in case

-Extra food, water, and cold-weather clothes, in case you get stranded

-A full-sized spare tire, and maybe another donut spare along with it

-If you can, bring a radio and antenna with you so you can call for help in case of emergency, since there is no cellphone service. Combined with a GPS unit, you will know your own location.

-A GOOD atlas of the region. At LEAST the De Lorme Gazateer for Oregon, but maybe also more detailed topo maps of the area.

-A shotgun and ammunition for animal defense.

-A camera! You'll want to take photos of this scenery that few people in America have ever seen before.

-Snow chains. Believe it or not, you can find patches of snow on some of the mountainous areas even in the summer.

-A tent and firestarting materials, along with a camp stove, in case you need to spend a few nights sleeping outside.

-Water purification tablets or filter. If you get stranded and find a natural water source, you'll want to use that before dipping into your emergency supply.

-A fishing pole. Not really for survival, but just for fun.

-A raft, if you are into that. There is some good whitewater out there, but make sure you scout ahead for hazards.

-A bike. It's an amazing feeling to go shooting down the slope of a dunelike hill through the cool fresh air, without a single sign of human habitation in sight.

If you take these precautions, you can safely explore this remote region of Oregon, and you will have some tales to tell when finished.

One of the best posts.

[karlsch]

In the very corner: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/tr...?emc=eta1&_r=0

[rdickers]

You are talking about my playground. I lived in the 1940's/50's at the former Hart Mountain CCC camp in Warner Valley, Oregon. I lived with an uncle who was charged with bringing to the US and re-introducing bighorn sheep to the lower 48 states. No electricity, no telephone, no paved roads, no schools, no running water, but a lot of adventure and freedom.

As for no development in south eastern Malheur and Harney County, all that has been said is correct, except that there has been some development across the state line in Nevada where similar conditions exist. Why that is so has been the subject of several studies, all of which point to Oregon's restrictive land use rules, and opposition from major environmental groups that stop all scratching of the surface by making it too expensive to get started.

BTW, the largest prison in Oregon is located in Ontario, Oregon on the Idaho border. The majority of the 1000 or so staff live in Idaho, because the town of Ontario could not expand because of land use restrictions to accomodate the growth the prison brought. Virtually all of good went to Idaho and the stink remains in Oregon

[tablemtn]

It's also worth noting that the southeast quadrant of Oregon is pretty big. It has different landscapes and environments and climate zones throughout its expanses. There are some common elements (it's fairly arid the whole way through), but the Owyhee Canyon area is quite different from the spine of the Steens Mountains. The Alvord flats are quite distinct from the area around Hart and Crump lakes. Some of the land is valuable for grazing or agriculture; some would just kill your herd.

To put it another way, if we draw a rectangle from Bend to Ontario, Ontario to the Oregon/Nevada/Idaho triborder, from there to Klamath Falls, then from Klamath Falls up to Bend, it covers an area about the same size as the entire state of South Carolina. There's a lot of geology and biology in that space.

[Yeah I've been there]

Originally Posted by tablemtn

It's also worth noting that the southeast quadrant of Oregon is pretty big. It has different landscapes and environments and climate zones throughout its expanses. There are some common elements (it's fairly arid the whole way through), but the Owyhee Canyon area is quite different from the spine of the Steens Mountains. The Alvord flats are quite distinct from the area around Hart and Crump lakes. Some of the land is valuable for grazing or agriculture; some would just kill your herd.

To put it another way, if we draw a rectangle from Bend to Ontario, Ontario to the Oregon/Nevada/Idaho triborder, from there to Klamath Falls, then from Klamath Falls up to Bend, it covers an area about the same size as the entire state of South Carolina. There's a lot of geology and biology in that space.

And not a lot of people

[rdickers]

Cliff Bentz, District 60 State Representative serves 63,400 residents, which includes all of Baker, Grant, Harney, Malheur and part of Lake Counties. I haven't done the math, but I'd guess there are not many places in the US where the population density is equally thin. Aside from that, however, the residents who do choose to live in this vacant quarter of the state are not well served by Salem policies.

I'd suggest that anyone reading this follow the advice of tablemtn and go see for yourselves the beautful lands. Take a Safari tour of Malheur Refuge south of Burns, visit Frenchglen, take in the beauty of Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge; drive the Owyhee Canyons; check out Baker City; tour Hells Canyon; visit some of the old towns like Richland or Halfway, Burns, Harper, Juntura, Jordan Valley; visit Diamond, the Alford Desert, the Steens, John Day and Fossil. We could use the revenue on our side of the state and for the visitor it is an experience they shall never forget.

[Yeah I've been there]

Originally Posted by rdickers

Cliff Bentz, District 60 State Representative serves 63,400 residents, which includes all of Baker, Grant, Harney, Malheur and part of Lake Counties. I haven't done the math, but I'd guess there are not many places in the US where the population density is equally thin. Aside from that, however, the residents who do choose to live in this vacant quarter of the state are not well served by Salem policies.

I'd suggest that anyone reading this follow the advice of tablemtn and go see for yourselves the beautful lands. Take a Safari tour of Malheur Refuge south of Burns, visit Frenchglen, take in the beauty of Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge; drive the Owyhee Canyons; check out Baker City; tour Hells Canyon; visit some of the old towns like Richland or Halfway, Burns, Harper, Juntura, Jordan Valley; visit Diamond, the Alford Desert, the Steens, John Day and Fossil. We could use the revenue on our side of the state and for the visitor it is an experience they shall never forget.

Are they friendly toward liberal Portlanders?

I'd love to live there (Harney County) . Buy some land, homestead it, small-scale farming and ranching and hunting (yes I said hunting. I'm a left-wing pro-gun Democrat ).

All solar-powered, off-grid, self-sustainable living.

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

I doubt I will ever live out that way, but I am glad it is empty. I gives me peace to know there is a place that will not be crowded and despoiled in my lifetime. Long live Oregon's outback!

I'm going to build a Starbucks in Burns just for you!

[Fiddlehead]

I doubt I will ever live out that way, but I am glad it is empty. I gives me peace to know there is a place that will not be crowded and despoiled in my lifetime. Long live Oregon's outback!