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.

Watch What's Brewing and Supper Club discussions.

Bend's new Urban Growth Boundary has been acknowledged by the Department of Land Conservation and Development in record time and goes into effect today.

Throughout Bend’s Urban Growth Boundary planning process, LandWatch has been the leading public interest group advocating for a limited expansion to prevent urban sprawl, encourage cost-effective growth, protect wildlife habitat, and foster affordable housing.

Bend is experiencing a severe affordable housing crisis. The city's proposed Urban Growth Boundary increases the diversity of housing choices that people are allowed to build, which could help boost our "missing middle" housing supply.

Listen to a radio interview with Central Oregon LandWatch's Advocacy Programs Manage about housing affordability and Bend's Urban Growth Boundary.

Currently, a bill is moving quickly through the Oregon State Legislature that threatens our quality of life under the guise of providing affordable housing. 

Can the momentum of sprawl be halted? America's zoning laws, intended to control the baneful effects of industry, have mutated, in the view of one architecture critic, into a system that corrodes civic life, outlaws the human scale, defeats tradition and authenticity, and confounds our yearning for an everyday environment worthy of our affection.

The integration of land use and transportation systems can have a big impact on how far people have to drive every day, and whether or not they use alternative forms of transportation. 

Yesterday afternoon, the group of public officials guiding the Urban Growth Boundary process voted unanimously to approve the initial map for Bend's boundary expansion. 

Building on momentum from community urban growth boundary discussions, Central Oregon LandWatch and The Tree Farm LLC successfully reached a settlement agreement on a proposed development west of Bend.

Dewey and Schueler worked with other westside landowners to come to an agreement dubbed the “Westside Transect,” which addresses wildlife, wildfire, and transportation concerns.