Lake Billy Chinook is one of the most popular fishing, recreation and camping destinations in Central Oregon, and is currently surrounded
mostly by a state park. However, one property owner plans to use Measure 37 waiver to build an unspecified number of houses on a plateau where the Deschutes and Crooked River meet the Lake. Sportsmen and campers come to Lake Billy Chinook for bass and trout fishing, but also for its splendid isolation, natural surroundings, and unspoiled view of Mount Jefferson all of which is threatened if these 5,000 acres are developed to maximize private profit. Is Lake Billy Chinook destined to become another Lake Shasta or Tahoe?

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(Source: PSU/IMS database, Jefferson County GIS: http://www.co.jefferson.or.us/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=fZ3GJ20EluM%3d&tabid=4614&mid=7387, Oregon State Parks: http://www.oregonstateparks.org/images/pdf/lake_billy_chinook.pdf, Jefferson County Planning Department, US Forest Service: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/centraloregon/recreation/fishing/lake-reservoir/billychinook.shtml)

(Caveat Emptor: Information provided according to most recent data available from public agencies and is not guaranteed to reflect up-to-the-moment status of individual claims.)