The latest

This Oregon Wine Month and Wildfire Awareness Month, 1000 Friends of Oregon is proud to feature Winter’s Hill Estate, a Yamhill County vineyard where three generations of the Winter and Gladhart family have built a legacy rooted in care for the land and a deep sense of responsibility for its future. They are also navigating an era of increased wildfire frequency and intensity with thoughtful and innovative approaches—creating hope for the future of Oregon wine.

Wildfire is a natural part of our ecosystem—although human-caused climate change, sprawl, and excessive fire suppression have increased its impacts. We can’t afford to ignore these realities—as, frankly, many did when they responded to the fear-mongering campaign that successfully demanded that the legislature repeal Oregon’s wildfire hazard map. The good news is that there are actions we can and should take to live safely with wildfire. A better, safer, and more sustainable future is possible, but it calls for joining hands and working together.

Community members, local leaders, and advocates are invited to attend a public forum on Saturday, May 2 to discuss the proposed Washington County Data Center Moratorium and its potential impacts on the region.

Our land use conservation and development system has helped us avoid some of the most devastating impacts of wildfires (so far). But developers, private property interests, and corporations are increasingly pushing for the expansion of urban growth boundaries and allowing more commercial uses, tourist destinations, second homes, and subdivisions in the wildland-urban interface and other at-risk areas.

The Land Use Board of Appeals agreed with 1000 Friends and its coalition partners that Clackamas County correctly denied a permit request to host dozens of weddings in the middle of working farm and forest operations.

Monmouth’s elected officials are learning a painful lesson that it’s not a good idea to cut the public out of important land use decisions. Not only is it politically unpopular, but also it is unlikely to save any time or money.

1000 Friends of Oregon and Sightline Institute are partnering to support cities with an exciting new housing planning process known as the Oregon Housing Needs Analysis. And we need your input: Please fill out a brief survey by April 27.

Our 2026 spring campaign is built around a heartfelt question: What does a future where everyone in Oregon thrives actually look like? At 1000 Friends, we say that it looks like homes people can afford. It looks like farms that stay farms. It looks like young people who see themselves as stewards of this place, not just inheritors of its problems. And it looks like all of us—advocates, farmers, families, city planners, and neighbors—working in the same direction.

By focusing development within our urban growth boundaries (UGBs), we can protect the productive farmland and ecologically significant natural areas that make Oregon, Oregon. Compact, accessible cities and towns also help to reduce the types of pollution that impact everything from public health to climate change, while also supporting livability, character, and shared prosperity.

With your help, we defeated seven bills that would have opened up farm and forest lands for development, and supported many bills that seek to increase housing affordability and accessibility, eradicate pests that are harming Oregon nurseries, disconnect state tax code from duplicating federal tax cuts, and support development of industrial lands within UGBs.