Today, a federal judge made a sweeping recommendation to set aside an illegal Forest Service change to the Eastside Screens - a longstanding set of rules to protect old growth on six national forests in Eastern Oregon and Washington.
Read More
We're going to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals.
Read More
On January 4, Central Oregon LandWatch filed a Notice of Intent to Appeal the Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners’ (BOCC) decision to remove agricultural land protections on 710 acres near Terrebonne.
Read More
Taken from GIS mapping software, this short video shows the growth of single-family houses on rural areas in Deschutes County between 1980 - 2017.
Read More
We’re committed to protecting Central Oregon’s farmland. So, last month, we filed a legal challenge at the Land Use Board of Appeals to do just that.
Read More
If you’re a Central Oregonian, chances are you are well-acquainted with Skyline Forest. But did you know that it’s not federally protected public land?
Read MoreHere’s a little good news for 2021. Defending the environment through land use advocacy is often a long and arduous endeavor. Sit back and let us spin you a tale of how steadfast advocacy and a community passionate about wildlife can achieve success.
Read MoreAs Oregon reels from destructive wildfires and oppressive smoke, we at Central Oregon LandWatch want to express our heartbreak and sympathy for the communities experiencing unfathomable loss.
Read MoreThere’s still time to comment on the Forest Service’s plan to allow logging of big trees on public lands!
Read MoreThe Forest Service is moving forward with plans to weaken its rules that protect big trees on all National Forests in Central and Eastern Oregon.
Read More
Millions of acres of America's agricultural lands were paved over, fragmented, or converted to uses that threaten farming between 2001 and 2016 according to a new report from the American Farmland Trust : Farms Under Threat.
Read MoreFor decades, LandWatch has been on the frontlines of defense against the negative impacts of destination resorts.
Read MoreAs you well know, we are experiencing a significant interruption in the systems that we may take for granted as COVID-19 spreads across the world. From an over-burdened medical system to the social contracts implicit in a smile, no stone is left unturned, including our food systems.
Read MoreThe Forest Service is exploring a change in forest policy for all National Forests east of the Cascades in Oregon via what they’ve dubbed “Project 21.” This project would allow the Forest Service to cut and sell trees larger than 21” in diameter. Thanks to prior advocacy, current forest policy prevents cutting these large trees throughout the Deschutes, Ochoco, Fremont-Winema, Malheur, Umatilla, and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests.
Read MoreThe beloved Ochoco National Forest and its precious habitat for elk, wolves, native fish and other species is once again threatened. Just over one year after Central Oregon LandWatch’s coalition victory in federal court to protect the area, the “Black Mountain” project proposes 22 miles of new roads and damage to riparian habitat without sufficient regard for the species that would be impacted.
Read MoreAs frontline defenders of Central Oregon’s rural lands, water, and wildlife and as proponents of sustainable, attractive, prosperous communities, another of the arenas in which LandWatch actively engages is legislative advocacy. We track bills, conduct background research, work with partner organizations, meet with legislators, provide testimony, and participate in crafting legislation. We work to support and strengthen good bills and to oppose, defeat, limit, or mitigate bad bills.
Read MoreFor decades LandWatch has fought efforts by developers to build homes on Skyline’s private timberland, and for decades the working forest has balanced timber production with recreational and ecological values. But now that balance is under threat as the forest has been placed on the market for $127 million.
Read MoreBirds are excellent indicators of environmental health and ecosystem integrity,” state the authors of the study; this staggering decline in numbers, along with similar broad population crashes in amphibians and insects, reflects an accelerating unraveling of the fundamental fabric of the natural world.
Read MoreCentral Oregon LandWatch has for years worked to preserve the last remnants of a critical wildlife corridor that was threatened by a planned expansion of Caldera Springs Destination Resort south of Sunriver. After LandWatch’s legal action blocked an initial proposal to expand across the 600 acres of forested elk and Mule Deer habitat, we successfully negotiated redesign of the resort site plan.
Read More
Once again, our visionary statewide land use planning program has helped us push back against development pressure to protect our most valuable natural resources for now and future generations.
Read More