Our take on the 2021 Legislative Session
New laws from the legislature
The 2021 Oregon State Legislative Assembly adjourned sine die June 26.
LandWatch worked diligently on a number of fronts this past session. Our staff, board, and lobbyist conducted background research on bills, coordinated with partner organizations, contacted legislators and other decision-makers directly, and provided testimony.
While we can celebrate some big victories for wildlife and conservation efforts, it’s clear we’ve got more work to do.
The Future of Land Use
One major thread we witnessed this session was how often land use policies were put on the chopping block, often in a mad dash for quick, shortsighted wins.
Our elected officials can do better. We need strong policies that aren’t passed at the expense of our statewide land use system, which was created with 19 Goals for comprehensive planning and long-term considerations for Oregon’s future.
At LandWatch, we’ll continue to advocate for policies that uphold our land use laws and protect what we love most about this region. We’re already gearing up for the start of the 2022 session.
In the meantime, here are some of our takeaways.
Wildlife
We are celebrating the defeat of HB 2610, which would have weakened fish passage requirements. HB 2797 was also defeated, which would have reversed the will of Oregonians and allowed the use of dogs to kill mountain lions.
Unfortunately, two wildlife bills we supported died: HB 2728, which would have banned ineffective and brutal coyote killing contests, and HB 2843, which would have banned beaver trapping on public waterways, even as conservation efforts attempt to promote their reestablishment.
Water
Water wins included the defeat of bills we opposed, like HB 2256 and HB 3091, as well as passage of HB 3103. Collectively these results tend toward conservation of water and protection of instream flows.
Wildfire
The final passage of SB 762 will shape Oregon’s wildfire policy. This was a large bill with many provisions. LandWatch supports science-based statewide mapping of wildfire risk and better defensible space standards and building codes effecting fire-resistance which were included in the bill. This is good news for smart planning for a safer future with wildfire.
It remains to be seen how other impacts of the bill shake out, such as the appropriate focus on wildland-urban interface (“WUI”) protections vs often less effective forestry practices in areas far removed from our communities. The establishment of an Oregon Conservation Corps and a State Wildfire Programs Director are also intriguing aspects of this bill.
Housing
We continued to advocate for sufficient and affordable housing but against sprawl outside of urban growth boundaries (UGB). We need housing within UGBs where it is served by infrastructure more economically and closer to jobs, schools, healthcare, parks, services, and supplies.
Oregonians have also reaffirmed repeatedly that they value the preservation of rural lands and open space. More housing should not come at the expense of our neighboring open space and farm and forestlands. HB 2705 and HB 2708, bad bills which undermined UGBs and promoted sprawl, both fortunately went down to defeat. SB 391 unfortunately passed and has the potential to result in many thousands of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in rural residential areas across the state, contributing to wildfire risks, carbon emissions, and sprawl.
HB 3318 also unfortunately passed, a precedent-setting one-off piece of legislation that will expand Bend’s UGB by 261 acres with grossly insufficient requirements for affordable housing. There remain hundreds of acres of land still available for development within the current UGB that wouldn’t sacrifice our neighboring rural lands.
What’s next?
In addition to working on specific legislation, we made progress on some broader objectives. LandWatch successfully raised its profile in Salem and began building new relationships with key committee chairs and other decision-makers.
We also more fully fleshed out long-standing issues of interest in the context of legislative advocacy, including our unswerving defense of statewide land use planning and our insistence that a healthy community with affordable housing is the result of thorough urban planning, complete with citizen involvement and a carefully drawn UGB.