Our History

Since 1985, Central Oregon Landwatch and its predecessor, the Sisters Forest Planning Committee, has forged a long list of legal, legislative and policy successes in defense of Central Oregon’s natural and community resources against a diverse set of threats. We have successfully stopped actions that include:

  • Timber thefts and logging of old growth pine.
  • Proliferation of large scale, rural subdivisions that wreak havoc on sensitive wildlife habitats, watershed health and which burden taxpayers with inefficient infrastructure costs.
  • Expansion of urban growth boundaries in ways that encourage sprawl and increased dependence on the automobile.

To this day, LandWatch remains the only organization of its kind east of Oregon’s Cascades. In many cases, we provide the sole line of defense against private development interests that impinge on the well-being of our citizens and the sustainability of our local landscapes.

We have also advocated for and supported well-planned timber sales and developments. For example, LandWatch in 2005  supported a forest thinning project in the Metolius Basin and intervened in federal court on the side of the US Forest Service when the timber sale was appealed by an environmental group.  LandWatch in 2011 also supported a bill in the Oregon Legislatures for the City of Redmond to develop land on its eastside.

Click here to read more about our important victories.