Community calls on elected leaders to help Save Skyline Forest
Signed, sealed, & Delivered!
On a brisk and beautiful morning, we delivered the Save Skyline Forest Community Letter to our elected officials.
Over 1,100 Central Oregonians and 63 local businesses, organizations, and community groups signed on in support. This community letter calls upon our elected officials to help find conservation solutions for Skyline Forest that protect the area from large-scale, luxury development, improve wildfire safety, and sustain public access.
While looking out across this beloved 33,000-acre forest, Deschutes County Commissioner Phil Chang, Bend Mayor Pro-Tem Anthony Broadman, and Bend City Councilor/Mayor-Elect Melanie Kebler received the letter and a compilation of the overwhelming public support for conserving Skyline Forest.
Hear what your elected leaders have to say
A Year of tangible, inspiring Progress
Over the course of 2022, thousands of Central Oregonians stepped up for Skyline Forest.
From community bike tours to Save Skyline signature brews, folks showed up to support putting conservation at the center of Skyline Forest’s future.
If you signed the community letter, wrote to a local news outlet, shared on social media, attended a meeting, came to an event, contributed photos, or introduced friends and family to the cause, we’re one step closer to protecting Skyline Forest once and for all because of you!
In the coming year, we look forward to working directly with you and our community of Skyline lovers, our local conservation partners, and our elected leaders to move forward with conservation solutions that protect Skyline Forest from large-scale, luxury development, improve community wildfire safety, and prioritize sustained public access to this special landscape. It’s time, and we’re ready.
Recent Price Drop is a big move in the right direction
One of the most significant achievements of this effort this year was when the highly speculative listing price for Skyline Forest was substantially decreased for the first time – from $127M to $95M.
This was a significant step in the right direction for the local community’s ability to acquire and conserve Skyline Forest and realize our shared vision for its future.
It also shows us that our local grassroots efforts to Save Skyline Forest and deter large-scale, luxury development are working. Why? This price drop is similar to when a house’s sale price has been set too high and is then reduced because there is a lack of interest or offers.
Thanks to our community efforts, prospective developers quickly realize this is an unwise and unsafe place for large-scale, luxury development - and that pursuing this type of development in Skyline will be a really tough path because it is wildly out of step with what our community wants to see for this forest’s future.
Together, we’re going to continue to grow and elevate the groundswell of community support for protecting this place - and keep effectively deterring any and all large-scale, luxury development interests. These efforts are critical to making a conservation-focused offer the best and most compelling one to the seller.
A Shared Vision for Skyline’s Future
Throughout this campaign, we’ve often asked Central Oregonians: what is your vision for the future of Skyline Forest? Here are a few that you shared:
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