The Latest

The county had rezoned 710 acres of rangeland for sprawling residential development, potentially impacting the farmability of nearby land in violation of state land use law.

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.

1000 Friends, in partnership with Friends of Yamhill County, recently won a case that prevents misuse of the home occupation statute to build hotels on Yamhill County farmland. The ruling, at the Oregon Court of Appeals, is important to safeguarding our farmland across the state, where our land use system consistently protects our farms from being picked apart, and their land diverted for unintended, non-farm activities.

Advocacy from the Linn County community helped preserve a tract of prime farmland, saving it from becoming industrial land as part of a land swap proposed by the City of Millersburg. Local public efforts ensured that this land remained outside the UGB as farmland, instead of forever losing acres of rich soil that feed our state.

This month, the Land Use Board of Appeals rejected a Marion County effort to use the home-occupation statute as a backdoor to open farm and forest lands to businesses hosting large-scale, nonfarm events.

1000 Friends of Oregon, Columbia Riverkeeper, and farmers at Port Westward celebrate the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals ruling to overturn Columbia County’s approval of a 400-car rail yard for the proposed NEXT refinery at Port Westward.

The win represents a big answer to the housing crisis in rural areas and small communities.

The Oregon Court of Appeals recently ruled that short-term rentals are not allowed on farm or forest land without a permit. This is a big win for 1000 Friends and a big win for farmers.

In a win for 1000 Friends of Oregon and Rogue Advocates, the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) ruled against Josephine County’s request to turn about 90 acres of forestland into a residential subdivision.

In a win by 1000 Friends — representing Friends of Douglas County — for residents of Douglas County, the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) remanded a decision by the Douglas County Commission to essentially create a new type of zone through an ordinance that would allow for more development in areas of fire risk, big game habitat, and farm and forestland.