Protecting farms and forests
“Our region’s rural lands are home to iconic vistas, intricate high desert ecosystems, and a bustling rural agricultural economy. LandWatch works to ensure our rural lands stay rural and unspoiled by inappropriate development”
Photo: McKayla Crump
Between the peaks of the Cascades and the raging rivers that flow through rocky canyons, you’ll find Central Oregon’s rolling farm and forest lands. These pastoral landscapes sustain our own local food systems and farming communities, along with the birds of prey, antelope, mule deer, elk, and others who find home and safe migratory passage through these landscapes.
As Central Oregon grows, we feel the increased pressure of opportunistic development interests encroaching on farms and forests. Once open spaces outside of city limits are lost to development, they rarely go back. This region is losing farmland every day as more land is converted for industrial, commercial, or residential development.
The red-tailed hawk finds its habitat in Central Oregon’s farm lands: Greg Chapel
We rely on Oregon’s land use laws to work as designed and direct development inside cities’ urban growth boundaries and prevent development from sprawling onto rural lands. At LandWatch, we make sure those laws are upheld and litigate when they are violated.
In 2021, we reviewed over 2,000 proposed development applications, checking for compliance with environmental and land use laws. This past spring, LandWatch took on one particular case at the Land Use Board of Appeals that stood to set a dangerous precedent for Central Oregon’s rural lands.
In April of 2021, LandWatch partnered with the Jefferson County Farm Bureau to file an appeal against a Jefferson County land use decision that would have converted 67 acres of rural farmland to urban land, paving the way for development.
If you’ve been to Lake Billy Chinook, you’ve likely passed through the City of Metolius, just south of Madras. This small town of 830 people supports the surrounding farms. Earlier this year, the City of Metolius applied to expand its existing urban growth boundary. That expansion was granted by Jefferson County.
We were immediately concerned. State land use law requires cities to demonstrate a need for more land to accommodate forecasted population growth. This law is key to preventing arbitrary urban growth boundary expansions that would result in the very things Oregon’s land use laws were created to prevent: unnecessary loss of wildlife habitat, agricultural land, and open space. The majority of the land in question was irrigated farm land that stood to lose the protections of Exclusive Farm Use zoning.
What’s more, we knew this decision could have ripple effects across Central Oregon and the State by setting a precedent allowing cities to encroach on farmland at will and without a demonstrated need for more land to accommodate forecasted urban growth.
Along with the Jefferson County Farm Bureau, we filed an appeal with the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA). On October 6, LUBA announced a decision agreeing with our arguments that the expansion violated state land use law.
We take this victory as a mark of our commitment to both defend Central Oregon’s rural lands and ensure our cities grow efficiently and sustainably. This gets to the heart of Oregon’s visionary land use system; by ensuring well-planned urban growth and prevent sprawl, we protect our rural lands for their natural resources and agriculture by ensuring well-planned urban growth and preventing sprawl.
At Landwatch, our mission remains rooted in protecting our open spaces and safeguarding livelihoods in farming, ranching, and forestry. On our watch, land use law will be enforced to sustain local wildlife, protect clean air and water, and defend Central Oregon’s farming future.
Support our Rural Lands Program
As a watchdog for Central Oregon, we continue to monitor land use actions across Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson counties, challenging and defending against inappropriate development on rural lands. We support our agricultural communities and open space by stopping sprawl from encroaching on farm and forest land, and preserving open landscapes, clean water, and fresh air.