Deschutes County, let’s adopt a Comprehensive Plan that responsibly stewards our natural resources
Submit a comment or sign up to testify at the public hearing on April 23.
Over the course of 2022-2024, Deschutes County worked to develop a new Comprehensive Plan to guide goals, policies, and actions that affect all of Deschutes County outside of city limits through 2040.
LandWatch and a coalition of local, regional, and statewide organizations advocated for policy improvements throughout the Comprehensive Plan update process to better protect our land, water, and wildlife.
In October 2024, Deschutes County adopted a new Plan, and LandWatch appealed that plan to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) because it offered a less-than-satisfactory framework for our future.
LandWatch’s appeal raised concerns that the Plan violates state land use planning goals and allows unmitigated rezoning of farm and forest resource lands—degrading wildlife habitat, stressing water resources, increasing wildfire risk, and negatively impacting agricultural livelihoods.
In February of this year, after reading our legal arguments, Deschutes County “withdrew for reconsideration” its new Comprehensive Plan. This itself is a nice win for our community’s efforts to rein in irresponsible stewardship of our natural resources! Now, we have another chance to urge the County to adopt a Plan that better safeguards our rural lands and natural resources.
The Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the new Comprehensive Plan on Wednesday, April 23. County residents are invited to submit written comments or attend the hearing and provide additional testimony related to the issues LandWatch raised before LUBA.
Note: This hearing will be limited de novo, meaning testimony should be related to the concerns raised by LandWatch before the LUBA.