Are we running out of groundwater? The Oregonian/Oregon Live found that permits to pump groundwater are given out despite the fact that the state doesn't know how much water is actually available.

Bend is experiencing a severe affordable housing crisis. The city's proposed Urban Growth Boundary increases the diversity of housing choices that people are allowed to build, which could help boost our "missing middle" housing supply.

Well-informed citizens know that whether the city grows in population or not, we will only maintain our quality of life if we plan for the future thoughtfully.

Walk down into the scenic lower Whychus Creek Canyon to Alder Springs and then on to the confluence of the creek with the thundering Deschutes River below a towering wedge of rimrock on this premier Central Oregon hike. 

Check out this great In My View piece that was published in The Bulletin earlier this year. Traffic is increasing in Bend and there are many well-documented ways to decrease traffic congestion, including using land use as a transportation solution.

On August 9th and August 17th we will be giving an update on Bend's UGB proposal.

Hosted by the Bend Youth Brigade Paddle Team, this event is for people - especially young people - who love to kayak, SUP, raft, or float on the river and want to do their part to help its recovery. 
 

This will be a beautiful hike with scenic views of Big Summit Prairie and stunning views of the Cascades. 

Sign up to hike with us Sunday, June 12th, 2016.

A new report shows the extreme rate at which we are losing natural areas to development in the American West.

Listen to a radio interview with Central Oregon LandWatch's Advocacy Programs Manage about housing affordability and Bend's Urban Growth Boundary.

The Upper Tumalo Reservoir is a beautiful natural area west of the rural community of Tumalo. Here, the sagebrush and juniper spotted high desert landscape gives way to the green foothills of the Cascades.

The Upper Tumalo Reservoir is a beautiful natural area west of the rural community of Tumalo. Here, the sagebrush and juniper spotted high desert landscape gives way to the green foothills of the Cascades.

Making a judge decide what is right and wrong for the river is not fair to her; the different government agencies need to do their mandated jobs.

For generations mule deer have come to Bend and surroundings this time of year to birth their young and to raise them for six months, until they are ready to travel the hundred miles or so to their wintering grounds east of here. Little do they know this is no longer safe for them. 

This afternoon the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) Steering Committee, which consists of the Bend City Council and representatives from the Bend Planning Commission and the Board of County Commissioners, approved a package of recommendations for Bend’s UGB expansion and associated growth management policies.