John Griffith of the Nugget Newspaper reports the Sisters City Council is in support of keeping Aspen Lakes cluster development on the map of destination resort-eligible lands.

Lauren Dake of the Bulletin reports that owners of a parcel of property on the Metolius arm of Lake Billy Chinook want to build a permanent development of 15 fishing accommodations on the land.

The land has already been built on without permits according to a Jefferson County report. Eleven buildings, patio areas, decks, and docks are currently on the lot.

The Bulletin’s Hillary Borrud reported yesterday that Deschutes County has reopened an ongoing debate, over whether farmland in the Millican Valley can be rezoned for surface mining.

The County Commission approved the request to rezone the farmland to allow surface mining in 2008 but Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals has since stated potential impacts were not fully addressed. The approval has been appealed twice to the land use board and has twice been sent back to the county.

In getting with the modern spirit, and increasing the ways in which we interact with the public, LandWatch has now launched a Facebook page and a Twitter page.

This June, the Bend-based land use advocacy group Central Oregon LandWatch added three new members to its Board of Directors, expanding its board from four to seven.

Economist and former Deschutes County Planning Commissioner Brenda Pace was added along with former Deschutes County Planning Director Catherine Morrow and former State Senator and attorney Charlie Ringo.

In its July 2010 issue, Oregon Business editor Robin Doussard discusses the issue of destination resorts and their uncertain future. The article's an interesting read, containing comments from a variety of stakeholders.

Earlier this month, LandWatch submitted comments to a Deschutes County Hearings Officer opposing a minor partition of 1,306 acres of F1 Forest land just south of the main 33,000 Skyline Forest tract. The proposal, by the landowner, Bank of Whitman, is to divide the property into three separate parcels for the purpose of residential development. (Apps# MP-10-3 and MA-10-4)

Adding to an already controversial effort to remap county lands and rewrite county policies for destination resorts, the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners recently proposed two additional amendments AFTER the close of public comments.

One of the most essential elements to the recovery of a threatened or endangered species is the designation and subsequent protection of critical habitat. And vast reaches of the upper Deschutes have been determined by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to be critical to the survival of threatened bull trout.

On March 1, 2010 LandWatch submitted the following comments expressing mostly opposition to (and disappointment with) the Board of Commissioners' direction to expand the destination resort zone to include new properties instead of, as had previously been discussed, shrinking the map considerably in an effort to address extreme public opposition to destination resorts.

Central Oregon LandWatch recently submitted comments to the United States Forest Service regarding its efforts to establish a management plan and perform an environmental assessment for Whychus Creek and the surrounding area. Although we're supportive of the concept and appreciate of the conservation direction that the Forest Service is pursuing, we believe more specificity and some additional amendments will be required to address key conservation concerns.