The listing worried fans of the natural wonder. But at the tail end of the legislative session this month, a bipartisan group of lawmakers stepped in and approved $2.1 million to buy the falls and its surrounding land.
“It’s not every day where you see a waterfall come up for sale on Redfin or Realtor.com with no price,” said Travis Williams, president of the Willamette River Preservation Trust, a conservation nonprofit. “The public was really confused and fearful that the site would be closed off.”
The waterfall is about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of the state capital, Salem, and roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Portland. It's reached by a rough, unpaved road and short, steep hike — so steep that previous visitors have left ropes in some spots for assistance.
In a statement, Republican state Sen. Fred Girod, whose district includes the waterfall, said “Oregon is pledging that Abiqua Falls will continue to be protected and accessible for generations to come.”
The waterfall was acquired by Mount Angel Abbey in 1908 and transferred to The Abbey Foundation of Oregon, a nonprofit that supports the abbey, in 2002, according to Amanda Staggenborg, the foundation’s communications director.
“We just realized that it was time," she said. “There were a lot of people that were hiking on the property, and while we welcome that, we wanted to ensure that the proper stewardship was overseeing it.”
The foundation put the property up for open auction in early February, meaning there was no minimum or maximum bid, she said. It accepted the offer the state made under the bill that passed.
The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department must complete due diligence, including reviewing environmental and archaeological information, before the purchase can move forward, spokesperson Katie Gauthier said in an email.
The property won’t necessarily become a state park, which would require additional money, she added. It could be managed by a local or tribal government or another state agency.
“Abiqua Falls is a beautiful but very remote and difficult-to-access site, and we are concerned about the impact managing a property like this could have on an already stretched state park system and our current budget shortfall,” Gauthier said
Many people who commented on the Willamette River Preservation Trust’s social media posts on the issue welcomed the idea of the falls becoming public land, although some worried that state acquisition might lead to fees and crowds.
The trust, which submitted a bid soon after the waterfall was listed for sale, has supported the state’s move to acquire it, said Williams, the trust's president.
“It has a sense of spirituality about it,” he said. “It’s just gorgeous.”