The Horizon

All the latest updates on our work defending rural lands, creating livable cities and towns and preserving wild lands and water throughout Central Oregon

Land Use CO LandWatch Land Use CO LandWatch

Are we due for a larger Deschutes County Commission?

Central Oregon LandWatch recently added our name to the long and growing list of supporters of Ballot Measure 9-173. The measure will appear on the November ballot for consideration by all Deschutes County voters, and asks whether the size of the Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners should be expanded from three to five commissioners.

LandWatch feels strongly that the answer is “yes,” and here is why.

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Wildlife Habitat CO LandWatch Wildlife Habitat CO LandWatch

A decision that threatens wildlife habitat

Deschutes County recently approved a 19-lot subdivision on the Deschutes River Canyon rim near Terrebonne. This site is a former mine and unpermitted hazardous waste dump site. The County denied a nearly identical application in 2015 because it did not comply with the Flood Plain zone and that zone's protections for fish, wildlife, and riparian habitat. This time around, the County decided the opposite, and approved dense development along riparian habitat.

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Wildlife Habitat, Bend CO LandWatch Wildlife Habitat, Bend CO LandWatch

Groundbreaking new protections proposed for 717 acres west of Bend

Last night, LandWatch advocated for wildlife habitat and protection from wildfire risk adjacent to Shevlin Park by supporting an application for a new zone in Deschutes County. The proposal to create a Westside Transect zone will extend to the county the 2016 UGB concept of tapering density as the city boundary nears the forest where there is higher risk of wildfire.

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