This history of Bull Flat Road is a starting point for discussions with the four agencies through which it travels. Central issues include its legality and its transit through a habitat of Astragalus Peckii, a Federal and State threatened species. Vehicle transit information for this road are at the end of the page.
Summary: As far as this author can tell, Bull Flat Road (hereinafter “BFR”) was identified in publicly available maps sometime between 1935 and 1955. By the reasoning outlined below, I believe BFR to be “user-initiated” road and not a R.S. 2477, State Highway, Deschutes or Crook County Road (active or legacy). The graphic below is a snapshot of BFR as displayed in Map 24 of the UDRMP wherein BFR is identified as a “Highway or County Road”. I believe the documentation following the map requires the BLM to either produce evidence that BFR is in fact a “Highway or County Road” or update the map. Additionally, the inventory for the “State Land” parcel (in blue – formally identified as Tract #30 in the Department of State Lands Central Oregon Asset Management Plan) states that BFR is its legal access. The below narrative questions the authority of that statement.
Question 1: Is BFR a Highway as defined in R.S 2477 or the Oregon State Highway System?
“R.S 2477” roads were roads created to “settle the West”. One of very many definitions and discussion on this issue is below:
“An 1866 mining statue states: “And be it further enacted, That the right-of-way for the construction of highways over public lands, not reserved for public uses, is hereby granted.”).
What is R.S. 2477? Revised Statute 2477 is a complex and controversial issue with far-reaching implications to the management of federal lands throughout the West. Revised Statute 2477 was enacted in 1866, during a period when the federal government promoted settlement of the West. It was a primary authority under which many state and county highways were constructed over federal lands in the West. By its general wording: “The right-of-way for the construction of highways over public lands, not reserved for public uses, is hereby granted,” the Act minimized the administrative burden on the federal government to authorize the construction of each highway across the largely undeveloped lands in the West. However, while the Act accomplished its goal of facilitating development of the West, the general wording is a source of disagreement and controversy. R.S. 2477 was repealed by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA).” The source for this summary is HERE.
In 1862, before the R.S. 2477 statue was passed, Charles Wimer patented 160 acres including T16S-11E-32; NE ¼ of the SE ¼ and, the S ½ of the SE ¼.
The two snapshots below are from Mike Berry’s slide show giving a history of Bull Flat. Mr. Berry was the Deschutes County Surveyor, now retired. The slide below displays the Wimer ranch. BFR is superimposed over the slide for reference. The complete Bull Flat slideshow can be found at the Desert Land Trust website: (https://www.slideshare.net/DesLandTrust/19131914-tumalo-project).
The next slide displays the “1913 Survey for sale to Desert Land Board” document. BFR is not shown although the George W. Wimer Road of 1908 is. The Department of State Lands has owned this parcel ever since except for a brief period in 1941-2. The arrow points to the jog in Wimer Road within the parcel. Wimer Road is more easily seen in the subsequent map.
At my request, Mike Berry produced this mapping of legacy roads and parcels in the relevant section of Deschutes County. The road going through Section 32 is consistent with G.W. Wimer Road (legally established in 1908). The aqua arrow points to Wimer Road within the Wimer Ranch.
I believe the above maps demonstrate the ownership path and disqualify this road as a R.S.2477 Road as the Wimer ranch was patented before the RS 2477 statute took effect and has remained in private then state lands since. No right of way legally exists.
Is BFR a Highway?
BFR does not appear as a “Highway’ within the Oregon highway system either present or mentioned in the catalog of highway changes. An Official map of the Oregon Highway System can be found here: https://oregondigital.org/sets/ormaps/oregondigital:df674z29b.
Answer: These facts question the identification of BFR as a potential R.S. 2477 road or as an Oregon State Highway.
Question 2: Is BFR a “County” road?
BFR does not appear in the Metzker 1935 map of the Tumalo Reservoir area. The road transiting above the “Upper Reservoir” may have been a precursor but does not go through the body of Section 32. View the source by typing this into your URL: Page 038 – Township 16 S. Range 11 E., Tumalo Reservoir, Laidlaw Butte, Atlas/ Deschutes County 1935-Metzker.webarchive.
This further removes the plausibility that BFR was established as a Crook County Road prior to the Formation of Deschutes County in 1916. In any case, neither Crook nor Deschutes County have records of such an establishment.
BFR does appear in the Metzker 1955 and 1972 maps. This shot required zooming in to get the detail.
BFR does not appear in the 2018 Atlas of Deschutes County Roads and does not appear in the official listing of Deschutes County Roads:
Vehicle Transit Information for Bull Flat Road
The following graphs and numeric information regarding vehicular traffic on Bull Flat Road (“BFR”) come from technology developed, sold and supported by TRAFx Research Ltd. (https://www.trafx.net). fTWC purchased their “TRAFx System Package” is 2021 and deployed three vehicle counters in various locations in the Tumalo Natural Area. No identifying information about the vehicle is obtained. Only the passage of a large metal object at discrete intervals is recorded. Additional information about this technology is at the end of this page.
Data was obtained at two locations on Bull Flat Road.
Counter 2 (Label: “BFR near DNF”) was located on Bull Flat Road approximately 1 mile from Sisemore Road on Department of State Lands (Tract #30). This location was chosen to best understand the amount of traffic headed to FS4606 from Sisemore Road and/or from the main vehicle tracks through and around TID’s reservoir.
Counter 3 (Label: “Whoop-dee-doo”) was located on Bull Flat Road approximately 400 feet from Sisemore Road. This location was chosen to help understand how many vehicles were moving toward areas other than FS4606 (Counter 3 minus Counter 2). Apologies for the counter names; we piloted various locations and at the time needed some sort of identifier that we all intuitively understood.
Data Sets:
- Data Set #1: Vehicle transits during the 2021-2 Winter Deer Cooperative Closure (12/1/21 to 3/31/2022 – 4 months):
- Counter 2: 2.5 vehicles per day
- Counter 3: 4.9 vehicles per day
- Data Set #2: Vehicle transits from 3/31/2021 to 12/1/2021 (WDCC not in effect – 8 months):
- Counter 2: 10.75 vehicles per day
- Counter 3: 12.79 vehicles per day
- Data Set #3: A graph of transits by the week from 2/8/2021 to 3/21/2022:
- Data Set #4: Monthly Totals from March 2021 through March 2022:
YES – Bull Flat Road is actively used
About TRAFX:
A brief description of TRAFx products and services from their website follows:
- “TRAFx Research Ltd. (est. 2001) develops and sells advanced counting systems. A TRAFx system consists of state-of-the-art hardware and software to collect, retrieve, analyze, manage, store and share data. Integral to each system is the TRAFx counter. TRAFx offers the following counter types: vehicle counter, infrared trail counter, mountain bike counter, and OHV counter.”
- “TRAFx products are used by government agencies and research institutions in Canada, the US, Australia, Europe, and elsewhere for: parks and public lands management, recreation studies, traffic and transportation studies, and visitor studies. TRAFx Research Ltd. has pioneered unique and innovative solutions that make us a leader in our field. One of our specialties is counting solutions for rugged, rural and remote areas.”
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