Friends and Neighbors of the
​Deschutes Canyon Area: What We Do
Tom Iraci, FANs Board Member and professional photographer, created a video that shows some of our work and play, along with the beauty of the Deschutes Canyon Area public lands.  Enjoy!
Guide to Common Native Plants of the
​Deschutes Canyon Area
written by FANs President Marilynne Keyser

This field guide includes the most common native plants on public lands near Crooked River Ranch in Central Oregon.  This guidebook is small (8.25 x 4.5 inches) and durable, so you can take it on your hikes to identify native shrubs, bunchgrasses and wildflowers on the many trails around Lower Whychus Creek, the Middle Deschutes and Lower Crooked Rivers.  Organized by bloom time, this field guide is especially helpful in February through September.

FANs of the Deschutes Canyon Area member price is $10 and non-member price is $12.  Your purchase helps support FANs projects that preserve and restore public lands in the Deschutes Canyon Area.
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CLICK HERE to learn more and order Guide to Common Native Plants of the Deschutes Canyon Area.
Deschutes-Steelhead Falls Wilderness Study Area:
Public Lands Worth Protecting

Summary of President Marilynne Keyser's Testimony Before Senate Committee, August 2018
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FANs is a local stewardship organization based at Crooked River Ranch (CRR) that was started six years ago by neighbors who love the incredible river canyons bordering CRR and believe in the importance of local involvement in managing public lands. 

With our nearly 400 members and an additional 600 participants and volunteers our mission is to preserve and restore the wild landscapes of the Whychus-Deschutes area, which includes the Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls Wilderness Study Area (WSA) that will be impacted by HR 2075.

FANs has long recognized the need to implement fire risk reduction measures on both public and private lands in and around CRR. 

FANs worked for over a year with others in the community, including the fire chief, the homeowners association board President, and the appropriate federal agencies, to develop a collaborative concept that would ensure CRR is better protected from wildfire while also resolving the status of the entire WSA, one of the most scenic, wild places in Central Oregon.

A concept emerged that is a true win-win solution. This approach would result in fire risk mitigation activities in the form of fuels treatment on BLM lands adjacent to CRR, wilderness protection for certain qualified public lands, and release of certain lands from WSA status. 

Our organization is not opposed to WSA release. In fact it was FANs representatives on the working group that introduced the idea as a part of the collaborative process. But we have several serious concerns about the approach of HR 2075.
  1. Removing 832 acres from the WSA alone will not insure that necessary fuels reduction to reduce fire risk will take place and the fragile rim habitat will be protected. FANs believes that the released lands should be designated as a special management area to prioritize fire prevention and define appropriate and responsible recreation for the area.
  2. Abandoning the local stakeholder process, HR 2075 simply adopts a single recommendation while ignoring the remainder. FANs believes that this action ignores Oregon’s long history of balanced and locally-driven legislation that enjoys broad support.
  3. The bill does not resolve the status of the public lands currently managed as the Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls WSA. FANs believes that the land that would remain after the release of the 832 acres should be permanently protected as wilderness.
  4. The bill does not address protection for lower Whychus Creek, a tributary of the Deschutes River. Many organizations are working to preserve this Central Oregon jewel including the Deschutes Land Trust that has acquired much of the private land holdings. FANs believes that the lower reaches of Whychus Canyon need to be permanently protected as either wilderness or a wild and scenic river.

Although the public lands impacted by HR 2075 are located in our backyard at CRR, Whychus-Deschutes contains outstanding recreation opportunities, one of the highest concentrations of cultural sites and artifacts in our region, and critical habitat for native plants, fish and wildlife. All of these resources are currently threatened by illegal off-road vehicle abuse, recreation overuse, and vandalism. Certain public lands in this area need and deserve permanent protection. 

Finally, we need to ensure land managers have the direction and the resources to tackle these complex and serious issues. We believe a comprehensive solution based on true local collaboration is possible for this area. I urge the committee to expand this bill to address the concerns of all the stakeholders of this incredible wild landscape.
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​CLICK HERE to read Marilynne Keyser's HR 2075 written testimony.

Upcoming Events and Projects

FANs of the Deschutes Canyon Area's
2018-2019 Lens on Learning Series:
Bringing Speakers on the Natural World to
​Crooked River Ranch
Registration opens here one month before each event.
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Deschutes River - Irrigation Canal or Wild River?
Presented by George Wuerthner, Professional Writer and Ecologist
February 16, 2019, 2:00 p.m.
Juniper Room at Crooked River Ranch

THIS EVENT IS BEING RESCHEDULED FOR LATER THIS YEAR.
Restoring the Elwha:
​The World’s Largest Dam Removals
Presented by Jerry Freilich, Aquatic Ecologist
March 16, 2019, 2:00 p.m.
Juniper Room at Crooked River Ranch

The Elwha River is the largest of the dozen rivers draining Olympic National Park. It is the former site of two hydropower dams built in the early 1900’s. Although the dams were built to supply power for the timber industry in Port Angeles, they also blocked the river to five species of salmon. In the 1970’s calls began to consider the dams be removed and the river and salmon restored. After lengthy study, meetings, and debate, Congress passed the Elwha Restoration Act of 1992 and plans began to remove the dams. Demolition of the two dams was begun in 2011 and completed in 2014. This is the largest dam removal ever attempted anywhere in the world and has been a subject of intense interest everywhere. 

Registration for this event opens here on February 16, 2019.
Shackleton's Antarctic Nightmare
​Story created and told by Portland Story Theater's Lawrence Howard
April 27,  2019, 4:00 p.m.
Juniper Room at Crooked River Ranch
Ticket sales open here on March 1, 2019:
$15 advance for members
$18 advance for non-members
$20 (cash or check) at the door
All tickets are non-refundable.

​Shackleton’s Antarctic Nightmare is the gripping, heart-breaking, true story of British explorer, Ernest Shackleton, and the Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914. Shackleton’s dream of being the first to cross the Antarctic continent on foot became a nightmare when his valiant ship, The Endurance, was crushed in the pack-ice of the Weddell Sea. The story of how he and the 27 men of the expedition survived on the ice and eventually came to safety is an epic tale of hardship and suffering, of courage, determination and fortitude.
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Portland Story Theater's Lawrence Howard takes listeners on a journey through the rich landscape of story.
Tom Iraci, photographer and FANs board member,  created a slideshow titled "Beauty in the Canyons,"  featuring images from the Deschutes Canyon Area.  Click the blue button below to view this spectacular slideshow.
Friends and Neighbors of the Deschutes Canyon Area
fansofdeschutes@gmail.com
P.O. Box 2127, Terrebonne, OR  97760
541.771.FANS (3267)