The Horizon
The latest updates on our work defending rural lands, creating livable cities and towns and preserving wild lands and water throughout Central Oregon
How does the HCP affect the Deschutes? - Part 1
How does the HCP affect the Deschutes and how do our recommendations compare to what has been proposed in the final plan?
Year-End Matching Campaign TRIPLES Your Impact on Central Oregon
Your gift today keeps our community safe from wildfire, and right now it will be TRIPLED. Reducing the risk of catastrophic loss due to wildfire has always been core to our mission. Please take this opportunity to make it part of yours.
Deschutes River Habitat Conservation Plan Fails to Restore River, Fish, Frogs
A final habitat conservation plan and environmental impact statement announced today by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the Upper Deschutes River, Whychus Creek and Crooked River largely preserves existing management of the river in the near term and fails to adequately help threatened bull trout, steelhead and Oregon spotted frogs.
What's Next for the Bend Central District
With the plans, resources, and community support finally in place to revitalize the heart of Bend, we enter an exciting phase for the BCD. LandWatch will continue working to ensure the underutilized core transforms into a vibrant, healthy, and inclusive mixed-use neighborhood with safe connections between east and west Bend.
We can protect Deschutes County communities from wildfire
This year’s harrowing wildfire season left thousands of our fellow Oregonians without homes – and some without their lives. These massive losses are a wake-up call.
The Unfortunate Truth about the Deschutes River
It is time to change the rules of the game and set new streamflow goals for the Upper Deschutes River. We can restore the River to its proper functioning condition while providing irrigation water to the efficient farmers who need it. The time to act is now!
The future of Bend’s transportation system is in your hands
Real investments in transportation options will make neighborhoods like the Bend Central District possible. Making these improvements to our transportation system now will shape future growth throughout Central Oregon and contribute to a better future.
Fish passage waiver denied at Bowman Dam
Had the requesting Crook County stakeholders offered more mitigation measures, including streamflow restoration in the Crooked River below Bowman Dam, the waiver application might have been approved.
We need more than pipes. We need better water-resource management.
The irrigation districts have a water distribution problem – too much water available to properties that engage little in farming and not enough water to our large agricultural producers or the river.
Notes from the Field: Ecological Adaptation to Wildfire in Oregon
Wildfire has always had a place in the fire-adapted ecosystems of Central Oregon’s arid forest, scrub steppe, and grassland.
What's up with Wikiup?
It is time to stop the wasteful business-as-usual practices that generate these tragic outcomes. There is too much at stake for our rivers, farmers, and communities. We advocate for sensible, incentive-based strategies that can work today.
Bend Code Update Could Provide More Flexibility for Housing
While it won’t solve our housing crisis, the proposed development code updates will provide more options for housing that makes efficient use of land, which ultimately allows us to protect the landscapes we love while making housing available for people across the income spectrum.
Update: LandWatch Continues Fight To Protect Critical Wildlife Habitat In The Ochocos
LandWatch repeatedly spoke up for riparian areas during project planning, but the Forest Service moved forward anyway. We think not logging in riparian areas isn’t too much to ask for, and now we’re hoping a federal court will agree.
How land use can keep Oregonians safe from wildfires
As 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.
More time to save our big trees!
There’s still time to comment on the Forest Service’s plan to allow logging of big trees on public lands!
A Win for Bend's Transportation Future!
Over the past two years, the 21-member Citywide Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC) worked to develop a new Transportation System Plan (TSP) for the City of Bend, and LandWatch was there every step of the way advocating for a safer, more equitable and more sustainable transportation future.
Speak up for big trees!
The Forest Service is moving forward with plans to weaken its rules that protect big trees on all National Forests in Central and Eastern Oregon.
Celebrating a huge win for the BCD Initiative!
After more than a decade of city planning and over two and a half years of community organizing, the vision for a vibrant, healthy, and inclusive Bend Central District is within reach!
Don't miss the big picture of the Bend core area plan
Bend’s population is exploding, and we need a strategy to accommodate the growth. one that utilizes underdeveloped parts of our city instead of sprawling onto our farms and forests. We need well-laid plans that prioritize efficient use of land and protect what we value most about living in Central Oregon.
Economist on the Core Area Plan for Bend: It Makes Fiscal Sense
The vision for a vibrant, healthy, and inclusive mixed-use neighborhood in the Bend Central District with safe connections between east and west Bend depends on the Core Area Plan to be funded through Tax Increment Financing (TIF). Steve Porter, an economist who served on the Urban Renewal Advisory Board, explains why TIF is the right tool to use from an economic perspective. This Guest Column was in The Bulletin on July 31st, 2020. For more on TIF, see our Frequently Asked Questions.