By Sofia Baum | 3-minute read
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.
This Earth Month, two generous donors will match every gift—up to $30,000. When you give, your positive impact on our lands and our communities goes further.
Support this shared vision: Give today!
And, here's what's happening this Earth Month, thanks to your support
Recap: Our Future Starts at Home
We kicked off both Fair Housing Month and Earth Month with Fair Housing Council of Oregon (FHCO), hosting an interactive teach-in exploring the connections between fair housing, tenant organizing, and environmental justice. Conversations covered everything from missing middle housing and tenant protections to the ways Oregon's land use system can be wielded as a tool for equity. People left with new contacts, new resources, and—we heard this more than once—renewed hope. That's the kind of energy we want to carry all month and beyond!
Your gift can keep this energy going!
The story of French Prairie deserves to be told—we're elevating it
The Oregon Department of Aviation and the Federal Aviation Administration have been advancing a new master plan that looks to expand the Aurora State Airport by condemning Exclusive Farm Use (EFU) land outside the airport. The expansion plans include lengthening the runway and condemning over 160 acres of private property within the airport.
This would not only take agricultural land out of production and negatively impact nearby agricultural businesses and close local farm roads, but also pave the way for the kind of sprawl that Oregon's land use system is designed to prevent. This proposed expansion would primarily benefit commercial aviation interests—not the farmers, families, and small cities that make this region what it is.
The good news? This community has not given up—not once. In 2021, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that the expansion must comply with state land use law, a landmark victory for farmland protection won by 1000 Friends, Friends of French Prairie, the cities of Aurora and Wilsonville, and thousands of petition signers. The fight continues in 2026 as a new master plan heads toward a public hearing before the Oregon Aviation Board and we will be there.
Now, in collaboration with Friends of French Prairie, we are sharing this story in a new way. Stay tuned for a video featuring this ongoing fight and how you can support it! For now, enjoy our behind-the-scenes photos.
Support our impactful storytelling
A full April, with friends all around
Our spring campaign doesn't stop at housing and farmland. This month we are also:
- Engaging families in the future of Oregon's land at Portland's Earth Day 2026 Celebration at Parkrose Middle School this Saturday.
- Joining Hewlett Packard (HP) at their Earth Month Fair, keeping a meaningful partnership alive and bringing Oregon's land use story to a broader audience of engaged Oregonians.
Recruiting the next generation at OSU's Beyond Earth Day Fair, because the advocates Oregon needs twenty years from now are on college campuses right now, and we want to meet them where they are.
Your gift can help us reach more communities
None of this happens without you
Every event we attend, every courtroom we walk into, every student we meet at a campus fair—it's all made possible by people who believe Oregon is worth protecting.
This Earth Month, we're asking you to invest in that belief. A gift to 1000 Friends of Oregon right now goes directly toward the fights that matter most: Keeping farmland in production, making housing equitable, and ensuring Oregon's land use laws continue to work for people—not around them.
Nothing changes on its own—not our farms, not our future, not our laws. For 50 years, we’ve proven what’s possible when we act together. This Earth Month, two generous donors will match every gift—up to $30,000. Show up now, and your impact goes further.
Let's continue to fight for Oregon's future this Earth Month: Give today!