The Berry Place

Description

Located in Northeast Oregon, and not far from the historic town of Walla Walla, Washington, 539.29 +/- acres of well-managed timber with recreational opportunities and summer grazing is on the market for the first time in over 100 years. The diversified topography includes beautiful views of the surrounding Walla Walla Valley, healthy managed timber plots, high volume vegetation, and an abundance of natural habitat to attract wildlife. The property has been historically used for summer grazing and harvesting of timber, while providing the family a recreational spot to enjoy.  Targeted logging operations continue, but the primary use of the property now is for recreation - picnics, hunting mushrooms and game, enjoying the views of wheat, windmills and vineyards all the way to the Columbia River.

Identification of Subject Property:

Umatilla County

{4N37001300}- Account # 134028        

Location:

The Berry Place is located approximately 11 +/- miles southeast of Milton-Freewater, Oregon.

Access:

The property can be accessed from Highway 204 onto Lincton Mountain Road.  Four miles on Lincton Mountain Road will take you to the property. 

Distances to Other Cities:

Walla Walla, WA - 22 ± Miles 

Pendleton, OR - 40 ± Miles 

Spokane, WA - 194 ± Miles 

Portland, OR - 248 ± Miles 

Seattle, WA - 280 ± Miles

Acreage:

Total Deeded: 539.29 +/-

Livestock:

Historically the family would run approximately 25-30 pair on The Berry place, from about May 31st through mid-October for approximately a 4.5-month grazing period. 

Water:

The property has a drilled livestock well with a solar panel system that provides water during the summer months. Two ponds are located on the parcel as well that provide additional water areas for livestock and wildlife. 

Fencing:

The property's exterior boundary is fenced. Buyer to do own due diligence as to the condition of the fencing. 

Topography, Elevation, Growing Season and Rainfall:

The property is mainly sloped rolling topography. The elevation of the property is approximately 2,800 feet and gradually rises to 3,600 feet. The growing season or average frost-free period is about 135-170 days annually. The average rainfall is approximately 15"- 26" per annum. Further detailed weather information for Milton-Freewater, Oregon, is available from the National Weather Service website back to 2011.

Recreation and Wildlife:

Located in the Walla Walla Unit, the property qualifies for two (2) Landowner Preference (LOP) tags under the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife guidelines. The property sees elk, deer, and upland game birds such as grouse and turkey that occasionally utilize the property. This provides great hunting opportunities. (Additional rules may apply, as the property is within a limited LOP hunting unit-see the ODFW Big Game Hunting Regulations book or call the local Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife located in Pendleton, Oregon, at 541-276-2344 .

Zoning:

The ranch is zoned Exclusive Farm Use (EFU)

  152.055 DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE.

The purposes of the EFU, Exclusive Farm Use Zone, are to preserve and maintain agricultural lands for farm use, including range and grazing uses, consistent with existing and future needs for agricultural products, forest and open spaces; to conserve and protect scenic resources; to maintain and improve the quality of air, water and land resources of the county and to establish criteria and standards for farm uses and related and supportive uses which are deemed appropriate. It is also the purpose of this use zone to provide the automatic farm use valuation for farms, which qualify under the provisions of ORS Chapter 308. The provisions in this use zone are subject to automatic legislative amendments as described in  152.004. ( Ord. 2005=02, passed 1-5-2005 )

2021 Taxes:

$669.35

History of the Property:

The property was purchased in 1920 from Mrs. Berry by the grandfather of the current owners.  He had been pasturing sheep on the property and continued that until sometime in the 30's.  When his son took over management, he began growing wheat and other small grains on the uplands.  That ended in 1946 and he switched to grazing cattle. Cattle grazing continued until the mid-1950's.  A year after the cattle were removed, there was a "good cone year" and the pines on the property put down a heavy crop on the well fertilized ground.  The current pine forest is from native seed well adapted to eastern Oregon growing conditions and has thrived for 70 years.  The family has conducted numerous small to medium logging operations to maintain optimum stand concentrations and has re-introduced light grazing through a contract with a neighboring land owner.

Town of Milton-Freewater:

Milton and Freewater began as two separate cities.  The area is rich in history, and a short account of the beginning of the two towns and development is described below. In 1872, W. S. Frazier laid off a town site on part of the Frazier property, gave a man by the name of Woodward 1 1/2 acres on the west side of Main Street as a site for a hotel, and sold John Miller 15 acres and a water right for $125 to build a grist mill.  The mill machinery contained three runs of stone burrs. In 1873 M.V. Wormington built the first residence in the platted area.  By general community consent, the town name of Milton was selected in an application for a post office.  Milton was on its way to a rather enviable reputation of conservative social life, especially regarding spiritual affairs, sobriety and a high standard of education. Horticulture was one of the profitable enterprises of the first settlers.  From the beginning, the product found a ready and profitable market.  A long growing season, combined with ample water and fertile soil made a production of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables easy.  William S. Frazier planted a large part of his acreage to tree fruits and berries. By 1882 Milton had a population of 400 and boasted two general stores, two drug stores, one variety store, one millinery store, a hotel, a restaurant, three saloons, three livery and feed stables, one undertaker's shop, and many more shops.  It also had a flour mill, a planer, chop, and shingle mill, a hall, a flume, a railroad station, school house, two churches, post office and express office.  In 1886 the town Board of Trustees established a city government and incorporated under the name of Milton City. The establishment of Freewater is credited to a group of men who in 1889, dissatisfied with the way things were going in Milton--one main reason being the prohibition of sales of alcoholic beverages--decided to start a sister town.  The late H. H. Hanson, a Touchet farmer, was one of the "dozen-odd" people who met shortly before the turn of the century to name Freewater.  "I went to Milton in 1889", said Hanson in an interview shortly before his death, " . . . as the depot agent for the Northern Pacific railroad, and by that time 'Freewater' had had its start."  A man named Mahana - "a visionary sort of man who wanted to do big things" - had laid out a town site north of the depot when Hanson arrived. After operating separate cities for so many years, and growing closer together over the course of those years, servicemen returning from World War II resolved to do something about a possible merger, which had been a topic of conversation for a long time.  J.T. Monahan was elected chairman of the newly formed Consolidation Club.  Achieving consolidation was no easy matter as feelings still ran high with many persons, and the committee worked very hard to encourage the merger.  Under state law, the majority of voters in each of the two communities had to favor consolidation.  In November 1950 the election was held and a new city was born. The votes cast were:  Freewater - 240 for consolidation, 204 against; Milton - 464 for consolidation, 167 against.  The communities became the City of Milton-Freewater, ending a duplication of governmental services in the two adjoining communities extending over a period of 61 years.  J.L. Yantis was elected the first Mayor of Milton-Freewater.

Umatilla County: 

Umatilla County was created on September 27, 1862, out of a portion of Wasco County. Umatilla is an Indian term meaning "rippling water" or "water rippling over sand" and has provided the name both for the county and its major river. Lewis and Clark and pioneers traveling the Oregon Trail passed through the area. The gold rush of 1862 brought miners and stock raisers to the mountains and grasslands of Umatilla County. The county expanded after the coming of the railroad in 1881 and the area was open to the development of dry land wheat farming. The fertile land of Umatilla County gives a strongly agricultural base to the county's economy. Fruit, grain, timber, cattle, and sheep are important agricultural products. Recreation, primarily in the Blue Mountains, and tourism, most notably for the annual Pendleton Round-Up rodeo, are also important to the local economy.