Heart of Ranch (Rajneeshpuram) Land still resists final tenure

The State Land Board (Oregon) has approved in principle selling 480 acres of Wasco County scrubland that once housed a small but sacred part of what was known as the Ranch amongst sannyasins (or Rajneeshpuram), but is sticking on price!

The Christian youth ministry that now occupies the land has wanted to buy it for years but does not agree with Oregon state's $460,000 appraisal and is now seeking its own estimate.

"Hopefully this is the final page in this particular chapter for the Ranch, and it's been a long time coming," said Richard Kaiser, the director of real estate for Colorado-based Young Life, which now operates a year-round camp at the ranch.

The Eastern Oregon manager for the Department of State Lands says the agency stands by the appraisal and says it is not allowed to sell for less.

The state-owned property is surrounded by the 16,000-acre former Big Muddy Ranch which comprised the whole land of the origianl sannyas initiative in 1982, near the community of Antelope.

The site is among hundreds of state-owned parcels in Central and Eastern Oregon that are managed to make money for public education. Oregon acquired them at the time of statehood.

The state is selling parcels that are isolated and difficult to manage, particularly those fully contained inside other ownerships.

"Young Life" disagrees that it should pay for sewage ponds, saying it already has spent heavily to rehabilitate the sewer system. Actually much of the water system was put in,including the building of resevoirs, by sannyasins between 1982 and 1984

Young Life asked in 1997 to buy the land and signed a 20-year lease.

They pay $4,000 a year, less than the $6,600 rent paid by the old sannyas organisation under Sheela, two decades ago.

The parties will negotiate again early next year. The state appraisal also says, as sannyasins were well aware two decades ago, that there are American Indian burial and sacred sites that cannot be disturbed.on the site.

Currently the Christian camp hosts 6,000 youths during the summer and another 12,000 people off- season for weekend retreats and other events.

(Editor's text from various sources.)

TOP