Green: SFI plans ‘ambitious’
From our weekly issue dated February 4, 2009
Arnie Green in front of one of SFI’s new yurts, which are available for stays. (Photo by Scott Jorgensen, Illinois Valley News)
During the past few years, the Siskiyou Field Institute (SFI) has come a long way, as the vision of creating a facility at the Deer Creek Ranch in Selma has become a reality.
But Executive Director Arnie Green is optimistic that SFI’s best days still lie ahead.
During 2003, the Eugene-based company Echo Northwest conducted a feasibility study on the possibility of SFI acquiring the 850-acre property. That study stated that purchasing the Deer Creek Ranch would be viable if SFI partnered with a regional education leader like Southern Oregon University (SOU) at Ashland and considered renting the facility for special events like weddings and parties.
The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) put up a $500,000 grant, and an additional $250,000 was donated toward a new bathhouse facility. Those contributions then opened the doors to a $3 million lead gift pledged by a donor.
Renovating the Deer Creek Ranch facility cost around $1.5 million. That included improvements to the water and septic systems, as well as bringing it into compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act through the installation of sidewalks and handicapped parking spots.
Green took over as executive director in June 2008. He said that SFI’s path forward involves trying to operate three businesses from the Deer Creek Ranch site.
“We’ve got a lot of ambitious plans,” Green said.
For the first, Green said that SFI hopes to expand its existing partnership with the Klamath Bird Observatory. That group works with children, which would enhance SFI’s status as an educational-based institute.
“We’re trying to get kids interested in science,” Green said.
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Another SFI function is to provide a fieldwork facility for graduate students from SOU’s environmental studies program. Green said that since June, a group from Oregon State University at Corvallis has been studying the aftermath of the 2002 Biscuit Fire. Another group from Pacific University has used the Deer Creek Ranch to study malaria in the local lizard population.
Following Eco Northwest’s recommendation, Green said that he plans to market the Selma facility as a retreat and conference center. In preparation, many of the Deer Creek Center’s offices have been emptied and converted into dorm rooms. Modernizing the center’s facilities was the first phase in SFI’s development. Green said that at this point SFI is “probably between phase 1 and 2.”
The second phase will involve the addition of two more buildings, Green said. The first will be a dedicated field research center and the second will be an education center to replace expanded office space and a classroom.
The Deer Creek Ranch has a yurt that was added as part of the improvements. A second yurt has been acquired, but Green said that SFI ran out of funds to install it. He is currently working on writing grants to cover the cost. A dome has been donated to SFI, Green said, but lacks a roof. He said that the dome will be installed this spring.
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