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Purchased Properties
The Greenbelt has purchased approximately 5 properties over the years, and has retained two of those. The other properties were deeded over to either the City of Corvallis or Benton County as additions to natural area properties with the Greenbelt retaining a conservation easement on the property. The two properties that the Greenbelt continues to own and manage are Owens Farm and Lupine Meadows
land protected
Protected by Purchase
Owens Farm
Owens Farm In 2002, Owens Farm, an area of agricultural fields, hardwood forests, bottomland wetlands and wooded riparian corridors located just north of Corvallis, was made available for sale. This strategically located and beautiful property was the gateway to the area from the north and prominent part of the viewscape. The Greenbelt Land Trust, the City of Corvallis and Samaritan Health Services responded quickly, partnering to acquire the 312-acre farm. The farm was subsequently split into three ownerships with Greenbelt Land Trust acquiring the northern 95 acres. The bulk of the funding for purchase of our portion of Owens Farm was provided by private donations from the community. In 2002, the Greenbelt Land Trust granted the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board a permanent conservation easement for the protection and enhancement of natural habitats and educational opportunities on the site.
The importance of this purchase is hard to overstate. Rare plant and wildlife species are found in less disturbed parts of the site, and Owens Farm functions as a critical link in an associated watershed, offering wildlife and plant habitat, floodplain, and natural area values. It also offers a potential connection to other habitats and open space areas in the watershed including Chip Ross Park and Oregon State University’s McDonald Research Forest.
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Lupine Meadows
In 2006 the Greenbelt Land Trust permanently protected the 58-acre Lupine Meadows site in Philomath using generous contributions from its supporters. (We raised over $500,000 to protect this site and to set up a stewardship fund for the property.) A bargain sale by the owners of the property made the purchase possible.
Lupine Meadows is a unique property containing wetland and upland prairies, two of the rarest habitat types in the Willamette Valley. The property supports the endangered Fender’s blue butterfly, and the threatened Kincaid’s lupine and Nelson’s checkermallow. Oregon Vesper sparrows, listed in Oregon as a bird species of concern, have also been seen on the site. Lupine Meadows is located within the Newton Creek watershed and serves as an important connection to other conserved properties such as Bald Hill and Fitton Green. The complex wetland system on the site helps to store winter runoff and reduce flooding of downstream properties along Newton Creek.
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