Lyda Ranch Airstrip

As a private airstrip, the official reason for closure is not on public record. The closure of such airfields is typically due to reasons related to the property owner, such as the sale of the ranch, the owner no longer operating an aircraft, the high cost of insurance and maintenance, or a decision to repurpose the land for more profitable agricultural use. There is no evidence to suggest it was closed due to a specific accident or for military conversion.

The site of the former airstrip is now fully integrated into the surrounding agricultural land. Current satellite imagery of the coordinates shows that the land is actively farmed. A very faint, overgrown outline of the former runway can still be discerned, but there are no remaining aviation facilities such as hangars, windsocks, or markings. The land has been reclaimed for farming.

The Lyda Ranch Airstrip was a private-use airfield exclusively serving the Lyda Ranch, a large agricultural operation in Dufur, Oregon. Its primary function was to support the ranch's activities and the owner's private aviation needs. Operations would have included personal and recreational flights, transportation for ranch business, and potentially aerial surveying of crops and land. The airstrip consisted of a single unpaved turf/dirt runway, oriented north-south, with a length of approximately 2,200 feet. Its historical significance is purely local, tied directly to the private entity it served, rather than being a public or commercial facility.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the Lyda Ranch Airstrip. Since the land is privately owned and has been converted back to agricultural use, any effort to reopen it would be solely at the discretion and expense of the current landowner. The likelihood of this happening is considered extremely low to non-existent.