Cascade Bison Co. Sets Up Shop in La Pine

Cascade Bison Co. Sets Up Shop in La Pine

By Andrea Hine

“We sold 900 bison sliders during last year’s Frontier Days, which was our first exposure to La Pine,” said Lori Moore. “It was the best weekend event we had ever done.”

Owner of Cascade Bison Co., Moore has just set up shop next to the DMV –- offering an extensive selection of flashfrozen bison cuts ranging from ground and stew meat to steaks, roasts, ribs, and specialty products. Her husband, mother, and daughters all play active roles. “It’s very much a family operation,” Moore emphasized. In addition to meat, Cascade Bison Co. sells bison jerky in four flavors: original, cracked pepper, teriyaki, and spicey teriyaki. Raw pet blend, dog treats and dog bones cater to canine family members, while gift items include hides, skulls, tumblers, glasses, magnets, cutting boards, keychains, and signs

To answer the obvious question of “why bison?”, Moore explained that “While living in Colorado, my husband and I drove from Durango to Denver hundreds of times. We would always pass a bison ranch, which finally led me to suggest that “we ought to start one ourselves.” His response was immediate: ‘Those things will kill you.’”

Seven years of research followed before “the family collectively decided put everything we had into a ranch and store in Southern Oregon – which we named Wild Oasis Bison Ranch. That was the beginning of the epic,” said Moore Due to a combination of factors, “our costs kept rising, and we couldn’t get local feed for the animals. We ended up selling the ranch, but were determined to keep providing grass-fed/grass-finished, humanely harvested bison meat direct to customers throughout the Pacific Northwest.”

Moore added that “it was Gene Bowman (of KNCP 107.3 FM radio fame) who insisted that ‘you need to move to La Pine,’ and he has been instrumental in helping us get started, and spreading the word like crazy.”

Wild Oasis Bison Ranch’s animals are now located in Idaho and Montana, and Moore explained that “we haul the live animals ourselves – no more than two at a time -- to the USDA plant in Springfield for processing. It’s the only facility that can handle that amount of meat.”

The resultant packaged bison meat “has a rich, non-gamey flavor, and is very lean and high in protein, omega-3, B vitamins, selenium, creatine and CLA (which improves immune function). We never use antibiotics, steroids or hormones,” she said.

(Cascade Bison Co. is located at 51515 Huntington Rd., # 3 (next to the DMV). Open Wednesday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Tel: 541.907.1813. To order bison meat bundles for shipping, visit the Wild Oasis Bison website at www.wildoasisbisonranch.com.

The gift shop sells items such as tumblers, toys, cutting boards, keychains, and signs.

Owner Lori Moore (left) is shown with her mother Susie Kern, as the entire family plays active roles