Stanley M. Kurzet and Anne L. Kurzet - Page 13

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            from fire and to provide irrigation for hay and cattle, a water                           
            reservoir was constructed on the timber farm by excavation of                             
            earth abutting a creek.  The water reservoir was to be no higher                          
            than the original stream flow, 5 to 15 feet deep, and no dam was                          
            to be constructed.  In 1988, the reservoir first filled with                              
            water and became available as a source of water for fighting                              
            forest fires.                                                                             
                  Due to weather and erosion damage, in subsequent years the                          
            water reservoir had to be regraded and refilled a number of                               
            times.  No permit was needed to use the water in the reservoir to                         
            fight forest fires.                                                                       
                  On a ridge above the reservoir, petitioner also excavated a                         
            pond and constructed a windmill with the intent of using                                  
            electricity produced from the windmill to pump water from the                             
            reservoir up to the pond so that a helicopter with a dip bucket                           
            could scoop water up from the pond to fight fires.                                        
                  The use of water reservoirs or ponds as a source of water to                        
            fight fires was a common practice in this part of Oregon, and the                         
            reservoir and pond excavated on petitioners’ timber farm were                             
            suitable for that purpose.  Weyerhaeuser Corp. constructed 70 or                          
            80 ponds, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management constructed over                         
            200 ponds in western Oregon to aid in fighting forest fires.                              
                  Construction of an elevated pond and pumping water up to the                        
            pond via power generated from a windmill, however, do not                                 
            constitute improvements typical of Oregon timber property.                                




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