Unique Opportunity in NE Oregon (Joseph, Wallowa County)

I have a newer passive solar home on 160 acres (3 tax parcels) near joseph oregon at elevation 5200'.  it is in a mature forest with some open grasslands throughout with nearly one mile of stream frontage (actually an irrigation canal-no water rights).  there is a large hydro potential ($300K/yr) with infrastructure largely in place from when Pacific Power dismantled an existing power plan due to a lawsuit.  The project goes for FERC processing next month.  The property also borders a small volunteer downhill ski area (www.skifergi.com), but has a larger potential as a x-c ski facility and summer campground with possible guest cabins (altern. building?).  Other ventures could include a solar timber kiln (have trees and mill), mushroom cultivation (many alder trees for production), morel collection, among others.  i am interested in greenhouse market grow (high tunnels with ground source heat pump for year-round grow) with adjacent restaurant.  very good energy, serene, and private with panoramic views of the wallowa mountains down into little sheep creek and of the buttes toward Imnaha would make for a great healing retreat, corporate retreat or space for a writer or artist.  all ideas welcome!  brian 541 432 2752

sorry permies, i neglected to mention what i am searching for.  the other owner of the property wishes to be bought out by the end of 2012 (next summer).  i am searching for other owners (partner(s)), hydro investors, a corporate overlord (nice one) and even interns willing to work hard to gain at least partial ownership.  the home has 4 bedrooms which i am willing to share until additional housing is built.  i have received much encouragement from local economic devel. personnel in regard to sustainable practices, value-added products, recreation development, among other ventures.  the local community is quite progressive since many survivalists came to the area right before the economic bust, alot from bend, oregon.  they are the ones growing food, bartering, growing goat herds, foraging, etc.  all ideas welcome!  some links to joseph and history:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/26/realestate/26havens.html?_r=1
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/09/TRG8FJN3AM1.DTL&ao=3

Hello Brian and thank you for the invite to share your property.  My family was just visiting your neck of the woods and I was blown away by the glacial carved valleys and lack of people in the County.  It reminded us of the Carson and Reno valleys and surrounding Sierra peaks 100 years ago before the cities were built.  We were wondering how much you were asking for a partial ownership in the property?  Is there any financing available for the hydro project that you know of?  Would it be possible to make a living collecting morel mushrooms in the spring?  Is there a market for timber if I were to build a solar kiln for drying?  You mentioned that you were willing to share the house-what would your ideal "roomates" be?  Also, the 3 parcels emcompassing the 160 acres-are they buildable at present?  Are you necessarily looking for "alternative" buildings?

regards,
Jim and family

hello jim, let me answer the hydro project question first.  maybe this post can be moved to alt. energy section   yes, i do believe that there is 0% interest funding available for a project of this size, but i am currently checking into whether the house and acreage could also be part of the loan for the hydro enhancement.  not sure if i am up for either being an ENERGY BARON or taking out a loan for $2M, but taking in $300K/yr gross should motivate someone   how's your credit?  the developers have offered $30K per year to the owners of this property to be a bystander.  i personally would rather fund and implement the project, pay off the other landowners with a lump sum, and then peel off 10% of the hydro profits to fund a badly needed health clinic (my nearest neighbor started her own health care district 30 years ago in another county and is willing to help-bye bye health care middle men), another 10% to fund an alternative to chemical methods of controlling weeds, insects, etc. and maybe another 10% to subsidize canola growout, which at present cannot compete with other grains (wheat), at current high pricing.  power to the people!

echosfromecos wrote:
and then peel off 10% of the hydro profits to fund a badly needed health clinic (my nearest neighbor started her own health care district 30 years ago in another county and is willing to help-bye bye health care middle men).

Interesting idea.  How would that health care district work?  Would it complement a system already in place?  Would it provide alternative care?  I have an acupuncturist friend who may be interested in relocating.

In regard to venturing on your hydro project, yes I have excellent credit.  What is the cost of the project?  What is the cost of your property?  Will the price change once the project passes FERC?

as far as i know, the clinic started with a nurse practitioner and an md, needed to prescribe medication.  recently the clinic took on a dentist, which for some communities is more important than an md.  i think that i would prefer a more radical approach (surprise, surprise).  i would actually start with not so much a medical clinic, but an "Institute of Parasitology".  i have been working with alternative practitioners that are finding amazing health benefits from reducing a person's (or animal's) pathogen load to zero, something that has not been attainable with western medicine's current arsenal of chemicals.  we are using chlorine dioxide (MMS), which is an electron grabber, tearing the very fabric of all pathogens and dead tissue and for the most part, leaving healthy tissue intact.  what initially sounded like a cheesy hoax is apparently curing the incurables.  here are some links:  www.jimhumble.biz
http://phaelosopher.wordpress.com/2007/09/09/no-miracle-just-wonderful-chemistry/
http://genesis2church.org/site/index.php

this institute would start out working on farm animals, where it seems that an additional 20% productivity minimum is attained by clearing all pathogens from the animals.  this produces more meat with less input (forage) and likely a longer life of the animal.  it would be interesting to document this using controlled experiments as part of the ongoing activities of the institute.  a natural progression would be to humans and thus a health clinic using pathogen elimination, then nutrition to provide the human body with the ability to regenerate organs and biochemicals reactions long since lost to parasite predation.  i have completely rebuilt my liver and lymph system that were destroyed by filarial worms and liver flukes, overcoming 2 presently incurable diseases.  this is huge.  there is no reason we should not live to be 120-30 with an intact quality of life.

I spent a few years growing up in Wallowa county.  I lived in Lostine. (well ... a couple of miles outside of Lostine, on the Wallowa River)

I still have a lot of kin down there and pop in from time to time.

hello paul.  let me start off my forwarding a big "thank you" for creating such a wonderful, easy-to-use forum for people to share ideas.  great job! 

how fortunate you were to have spent some childhood years in such a pristine setting as wallowa county, largely removed from societal ills.  i came here 6 years ago very sick, busting at the gills with heavy metals and over 20 species of pathogens, some very dangerous (as revealed by live-blood microscopy).  i was looking for an environment with clean food, water and land.  the exceptional people were only a bonus beyond belief.  your town of lostine holds a special place for me.  i can see why the river valley was proposed for national park status way back when.  for 2 seasons, i grew vegetables in the greenhouses at little hill farm until the 60-mile commute became excessive.  i did not take the harvest to market (all that annoying washing and prepping), but bartered it for beef, elk, lamb, milk and eggs.  loading up my truck on a friday evening and making "deliveries" was exhilarating, especially after september's frosts took outdoor gardens and made my loot all the more valuable.  i currently grow cool weather crops here in the forest, but am rewarded more than i expected from foraging.  i maintain a native plant nursery.

it would be great to meet up with you when you visit here.  i welcome other's perspectives and experiences.  things are developing rapidly here for this property, largely due to the hydro potential, which i have mixed feelings about.  i really need to focus on just a few ideas as a starting point and prioritize the dozen or so that i feel will work.  certainly having too many options is better than too few.  my background is in plant ecology, immersing myself in academia and habitat restoration, having a ball completing over 50 projects as a contractor. 

regards,
Brian Fink