This story was originally published on LincolnChronicle.org and is used with permission.
After 16 years of twists, turns, revised plans and changing public sentiment, Lincoln County is gaining ownership of a 10-acre park along the Alsea River that state agencies had once envisioned as a major launch for motorboats.
Instead, thanks to $320,000 from an anonymous donor, the county is going to pay back two grants and buy Don Lindly Park from the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife.
The ODFW Commission, meeting in Lincoln City on Friday, agreed with a staff recommendation and voted 6-1 to sell the park to the county.
In turn, Lincoln County will use the donation to return $210,000 to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife’s sports fish restoration program, $75,000 to the Oregon Marine Board and $35,000 to the Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation – all of whom helped buy what once was an RV park seven miles east of Waldport on Highway 34.
“This is the largest donation the county has ever received,” parks director Kelly Perry told the Lincoln Chronicle. “That’s why we can make this happen.”
Without the donation and agreement by ODFW to sell the property to the county, Perry said the park would have gone back on the market and sold to the highest bidder.
“It’s pretty amazing they can leave this legacy and also provide a wonderful space for the public,” she said.
Twists and turns
Getting to a decision Friday was no simple task.
The process started in 2008 when the county and the marine board “received strong public interest” to add a public boat launch in the upper tidewater section of the Alsea River, according to an ODFW staff report.
The river is a popular salmon fishing stream and heavily used by boats from September through November. While there are numerous private landings along the 12 miles of tidewater where fishermen can pay to launch, the state was looking to develop a public launch.
Between 2011 and 2013 the county, marine board and ODFW searched for property and in 2014 purchased the Don Lindly RV Park for $330,000 using federal and state grants. The federal grant required ODFW to own the property, but the county agreed to lead development of the boat ramp and then maintain and operate the park.
The marine board created the first ramp designs in 2015 and at a public meeting heard requests to make it larger, prompting revisions, the ODFW staff report said.
The county began working with a consultant in 2021 to design the park, but staff turnover delayed that and the complicated, multi-agency permitting process, according to ODFW staff.
A March 2023 hearing in Waldport drew almost unanimous objection to park plans, even after the once-requested larger ramp and parking area was shot down because it encroached on wetlands. The people who commented wanted the park to remain mostly undeveloped, but with access for picnicking, swimming, launching kayaks and bank fishing.
In 2024 the county told ODFW it would not pursue a ramp for motorized boats and said it wanted to purchase the property. Because the federal and state funds required the development of a launch for motorboats and the county no longer wanted to do that, ODFW staff began working on new property appraisals and get the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to agree to take its money back.
That’s when the anonymous donor heard about the potential sale and stepped in late last year to offer to cover the purchase price.
“They really just wanted responsible ownership and to keep the property open to the public,” Perry said.
Holly Huchko, ODFW’s sport fish restoration coordinator, told the commission Friday that while staff is “disappointed that it will no longer be a motorboat launch, ODFW wants to be flexible to changing public and partner views and priorities,”
Huchko added that there would be a restriction on the deed to ensure public ownership and river access “into the future.”
Lots of work
The park is in rough shape and while the county and state worked on transactions plans, little has been done the past few years to maintain it.
There is an entrance gate that a neighbor opens and closes daily. Weeds are taking over a gravel parking lot, it doesn’t appear that grass has been mowed in months, and part a massive cedar tree came down in December storms.
The park does have electrical hookups to possibly be used by a caretaker or host and graveled areas for four trailers.
Perry is working with a couple of partners to handle projects at the park. She’s asking the Midcoast Watersheds Council to help restore a large grassy area on the west end of the park to its natural state.
But overall the park will remain very basic.
“Right now, people seem OK with what it is – and so it will remain like that,” Perry said. “Until we get funding sometime, it’ll stay like it is.”
Quinton Smith is the editor of Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at YachatsNews@gmail.com