Part 2 of our new series, as we dive into the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s conservation plan for the Deschutes Basin.

Not only do the biggest trees in our National Forests provide enormous value to local ecosystems, but they also play an outsized role in fighting global climate change. Recently published research shows that the largest 3% of trees on our Central and Eastern Oregon National Forests store 42% of all carbon stored throughout the forest.

How does the HCP affect the Deschutes and how do our recommendations compare to what has been proposed in the final plan?

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Wildfire has always had a place in the fire-adapted ecosystems of Central Oregon’s arid forest, scrub steppe, and grassland.

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.

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.

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.

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.

There’s still time to comment on the Forest Service’s plan to allow logging of big trees on public lands!

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.

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.

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!