By Sam Diaz | 6-minute read
Just a few weeks ago, I stood behind a TV producer and a cameraperson at a transit station near our office as our transportation policy manager, Cassie Wilson, painted a vivid picture of an Oregon where everyone is able to get where they need to go – a future where all Oregonians have the freedom and opportunity to contribute to this special place we call home, no matter where you live, what your age or abilities are, or what kind of job you have.
Alongside her, our partners Ishan and Celeste, leaders on land use and transportation issues at their local youth commission, spoke of the importance of investing in critical programs like YouthPass as strategic commitments to our state’s future.
I smiled, thinking of how proud Oregon’s longtime land use leaders would be to witness the bold, brilliant advocacy of the next generation. Together, we build on the incredible track record established by this very movement, with support from tens of thousands of Oregonians, including you – folks who understand just how important these decisions are for the health, safety, and prosperity of our communities.
Just under 30 years ago, 1000 Friends released the first LUTRAQ report (or “Land Use, Transportation, and Air Quality”), a groundbreaking series of studies that demonstrated the benefits of compact, connected, complete communities: more transit, bicycling, walking and rolling; more housing connected to public transit; and more main streets and strong downtown cores.
With your generosity, we’ll build on the legacy of policies like LUTRAQ and Senate Bill 100, and drive forward smart transportation and land use policies that propel us into the next 50 years.
As I heard Cassie, Ishan, and Celeste, I knew that LUTRAQ – despite being from the ’90s – offered that strong foundation for us to build on. 1000 Friends of Oregon enables generations to learn from each other and, ultimately, make durable policy changes, secure transformative funding and financing tools, and steward conservation and development projects across the finish line.
1000 Friends of Oregon turned 50 this year – thank you for standing with us. Your support has made all the difference as we worked to champion bold solutions to Oregon’s toughest challenges. With your generosity, we’ll enhance the legacy of policies like LUTRAQ and Senate Bill 100, and drive forward smart transportation and land use policies that propel us into the next 50 years.
What we have planned for 2025:
We’ll create safer options for how all of us get around: 2025 statewide transportation package.
Oregon’s transportation system continues to bring headaches and heartbreaks to Oregonians throughout the state. Traffic fatalities have increased more than 88 percent in the last decade, taking away loved ones from us and costing us $16.3 billion in economic costs. The transportation sector still accounts for the largest source of carbon pollution in Oregon. And the lead transportation state agency faces a reported $354 million budget deficit, amounting to layoffs of about 1,000 employees.
1000 Friends of Oregon cofounded the Move Oregon Forward campaign alongside partner organizations around the state to help decision-makers get a handle on this crisis and rightsize our transportation system. With your support, we can elevate common-sense solutions to create a safer, more affordable, and more sustainable transportation system as part of the 2025 transportation package.
We’ll defend family dinners, farmer’s markets, and thriving communities: For Our Land’s 2040 Stewardship Pledge.
Oregon’s land use system – with its cornerstone land use protections in strong urban growth boundaries and exclusive farm and forest use zones – supports the stewardship of our farmers, farmworkers, foresters, and ranchers. The majority of Oregonians enjoy benefits from this stewardship. We get to slow down and connect with family and friends around local, seasonal foods, wines, beers, and more. But these experiences are under threat as record-breaking amounts of farmland are lost to runaway sprawl – a national average of 1.9 million acres of farmland is lost each year. In Oregon, we’re projected to surrender more than 142,000 acres of farmland by 2040, with more than 80 percent of the acres designated as some of the best soil in the state.
With your support, we will work with our Forestry and Agriculture Advisory Committee, local affiliate network, and aspiring farmers, foresters, and ranchers to protect the land base from irreversible conversion and division. And in partnership with the Henry Richmond Land Use Defense Fund, we will add two new positions: Jim Johnson as our working lands policy director and an urban growth boundary defense attorney.
We’ll make affordability a priority in every land conservation and development decision.
Nearly half of Oregon households are living paycheck to paycheck, with housing and transportation costs being the most common big expenses. 1000 Friends has long advocated for local governments to not just allow affordable housing but encourage it, by researching and organizing support for innovative, award-winning land use reforms: density bonuses, square-footage maximums, and anti-displacement analyses.
Alongside our partners and members, 1000 Friends will research, organize, and advocate for land use planning solutions and critical infrastructure investments that make all of our communities more affordable for every Oregonian. We will also advocate for the right kind of housing in the right locations, urging our elected officials to preserve our farms, forests, and watersheds from uninhibited sprawl and land-grab attempts by luxury developers, realtors, and land speculators.
We will also advocate for the right kind of housing in the right locations, urging our elected officials to preserve our farms, forests, and watersheds from runaway sprawl and land-grab attempts by luxury developers, realtors, and land speculators.
We’ll restore democracy in our land conservation and development decisions.
Major research institutions are raising the alarm around a decline of trust in democratic institutions, including here in the United States. Historians point to four major threats to our nation’s democracy: polarization, conflict over who belongs, economic inequality, and executive overreach. We’re fighting back against these kinds of threats right here in Oregon: from Senate Bill 4’s unilateral executive authority to ethics violations committed by local officials when they subsidized data centers.
1000 Friends of Oregon, as a nonpartisan, mission-based organization, offers solutions to these major threats. With your support, we will reduce polarization by building consensus around win-win approaches to land conservation and development, and equip our communities with resources, knowledge, and support. And we will organize opposition to government overreach, defending the right for all Oregonians to be fully heard in land use decisions that affect their health, safety, and future.
With deep gratitude for your support and determination to take on the challenges ahead,
Sam Diaz
Executive Director
P.S. Thanks to a generous donor, the first $50,000 in donations will be matched dollar for dollar. Additionally, 50 percent of the funding for our two new positions will be matched through a new partnership with the Henry Richmond Land Use Defense Fund.