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
Good News for Central Oregon Agriculture and Wildlife Habitat!
Once again, our visionary statewide land use planning program has helped us push back against development pressure to protect our most valuable natural resources for now and future generations.
ACTION ALERT - The Future of Our Agricultural Lands
You still have a chance to tell the Deschutes County Planning Commission that our Agricultural and Forest lands protections should remain strong. This is important for the future of Central Oregon, make your voice heard!
Farm and Forest land protections threatened in Crook and Jefferson Counties
Through an innocent-sounding “update” to County-wide codes in both Crook County and Jefferson County, longstanding protections for farm and forest lands could be weakened. Both counties are considering the adoption of new “model codes” that would significantly replace the counties’ existing EFU and Forest zoning codes.
ANNOUNCING - Our Last Crop
From the iconic landscape to delicious local food, from our thriving rural communities to important wildlife habitat--agricultural land, also called "resource land", is part of our way of life.
Jefferson County Agricultural Protections Upheld
LandWatch has fought for the preservation of agricultural land in Central Oregon for years, and this month we are happy to be able to tell you that we succeeded in a recent case to maintain protections for farm and ranch land in Jefferson County!
Preserving Open Space in Central Oregon
Preserving land that could be used for agriculture is at the heart of Oregon’s visionary land use laws. By containing most residential development inside cities and preserving agricultural land in the rural county, we can ensure that our urban areas are vibrant and equitable while our rural areas are preserved in trust for future generations.
Stop: Trouble For Wildlife Ahead
Central Oregon LandWatch is the ONLY watchdog organization protecting wildlife habitat and migration corridors in rapidly growing Deschutes County.
Important win to protect farm and range land
Our win closes a local loophole that was allowing more development than is typically allowed on farm and ranch land.
How we are helping Jefferson County farming families
Agriculture is an important part of Central Oregon’s cultural heritage and supports a resilient local food system. Farm and ranch land has remained available for family farmers in Central Oregon because of protections put in place by our statewide land use planning system.
LandWatch Files Appeal to Protect Riparian Habitat
Central Oregon LandWatch is the only group on the front lines in defense of Deschutes County’s wildlife habitat code protections. Last week, we filed an appeal of an alarming change to the county’s Flood Plain Zone to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals.
The Disappearing West
A new report shows the extreme rate at which we are losing natural areas to development in the American West.