Future of closed Rager Ranger Station debated

Nearly four years after the Rager Ranger Station was closed, some Crook County residents are asking the U.S. Forest Service to keep the buildings in place.

Currently, there are 35 buildings on the property, located 15 miles northeast of Paulina. Officials said eight buildings will be left on site, while the others will be removed.

Back in December 2012, Ochoco National Forest officials closed down the station due to a lack of funding.

“This was the way the Forest Service did business for years and years — people worked remotely, they lived remotely, they managed the forest around them,” forest Public Affairs Officer Patrick Lair said Monday.

The forest official said none of the historic buildings will be destroyed. They will be maintained, along with the bunk houses used by fire crews and timber companies.

Forest officials have said it would cost millions of dollars to reopen the station and try to keep up the homes for employees.

“By the Forest Service calculations, there’s over $4 million of deferred maintenance cost on these buildings right now, so that is a lot of money to invest out here,” Lair said.

But residents of nearby Paulina say the investment in the Rager Ranger Station is much needed, as it used to play a major economic role for the community.

“Nobody was really happy (with the closure), because it has taken a lot of business from stores and everything that was here,” rancher Ed Simpson said.

Simpson has lived in Paulina for eight years, and he saw many people stop at the corner store to grab food and supplies before they drove up to the Rager station.

He said he hopes forest officials can come up with a solution that puts the station to use.

“I’d like to see it used for something, some purpose instead of just sitting there rotting away,” Simpson said.

Crook County Commissioner Ken Fahlgren said Monday the county is looking at a lease agreement with the Forest Service to use the facility for several events.

County leaders will be discussing the ranger station during their meeting on April 20 in Paulina.