The latest

Their projections could have allowed them to seek an unwarranted UGB expansion and threaten valuable surrounding farmland. The ruling is a win for the careful way we set our urban growth boundaries so that our communities don’t sprawl onto the irreplaceable lands that feed our region and support our economy.

Our 2023 Gerhardt Intern, Cassie Wilson, is already hard at work researching Oregon’s last big transportation package, House Bill 2017, and its impacts – with the goal of making recommendations to lawmakers for the next state transportation package anticipated for the 2025 legislative session.

These promotions recognize years of hard work, dedication, and ongoing commitment to a strong and healthy land use planning program. Greg will now be our Working Lands Director, and Brett will fill the role of Transportation Director and Legislative Manager. Please join us in congratulating Brett and Greg, and read on to learn what these changes mean for us at 1000 Friends.

Oregon lawmakers passed significant funding for the I-5 Bridge Replacement Program, diverting general fund dollars that support critical programs like higher education and affordable housing. While we support replacing the bridge with a seismically safe structure that expands transportation options, the funding passed at the end of session creates just as many questions as answers.

After recent advocacy from the Linn County community helped save 163 acres of prime farmland in Millersburg, the city is now renewing its effort to convert the productive land to industrial use in a UGB land swap – this time taking their application straight to DLCD.

Last month, 1000 Friends of Oregon welcomed Meriel Darzen to our board of directors and thanked outgoing board member Christine Rontal for her outstanding service.

An unprecedented session with the longest walkout in Oregon history, the 2023 legislative session started out big, stalled out for six weeks, and then ended with a flurry of bills passing, often in thematic packages, as work whittled down to the last hours before Sine Die. 1000 Friends still helped pass many good bills, especially in the housing realm, plus we stopped a big last-minute attempt to undermine our UGB system.

Oregon has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to leverage federal infrastructure funding to envision and deliver an I-5 bridge replacement project that reflects the community’s priorities ­–but that opportunity is in jeopardy. Any chance for funding this session now relies on its inclusion in a broader budget bill. But with the walkout of some senators, this path is uncertain at best.

With the gridlock in Salem caused by the walkout of some senators, we risk losing broadly supported, incentive-based bills that use limited federal funding to help Oregon’s farmers, ranchers, and forestland managers be more resilient to drought and climate change. Together, this group of bills would establish voluntary programs for willing managers of working lands in Oregon.

Our state now has more than two dozen new land use leaders who will take the tenets of a strong, protective land use program and apply them in their diverse fields of work. These Oregonians join a network of LULIs across the state who better understand how the land use planning program impacts issues they care about.