PROTECTING THE WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE
The Westside Transect Zone
Bend, Oregon
For more than a decade, LandWatch has successfully prevented high-risk sprawl on hundreds of acres of private land in Bend’s WUI.
In 2009, the City of Bend proposed expanding urban development by over 8,400 acres. Much of the land between Tumalo Creek and Skyline Ranch Road could have been developed, adding an estimated five thousand new homes in the area. The risk in developing a tinderbox for wildfire to spread from the forest to the city launched our advocacy efforts to limit expansion.
Central Oregon LandWatch was the lead appellant against that proposal because of our concerns about loss of wildlife habitat, wildfire risk, and the lack of analysis for how to use existing city lands more efficiently. The State of Oregon remanded that proposal, and the City’s successful 2016 UGB process had a much more robust public process.
That new public process opened up the opportunity for Central Oregon LandWatch to work with developers and landowners, which resulted in the Westside Transect (and a Conversation of the Year award).
This approach of creating the Westside Transect meant more development would be located closer to the core of the city where services and infrastructure were already available, and less development would sprawl outward into high-risk areas like the Deschutes National Forest.
The TRANSECT Prevents DEVELOPMENT in FIRE-PRONE FORESTLANDS
Our successful negotiations with landowners have led to protections from wildfire on more than 1,500 acres in the WUI west of the City of Bend, where the City of Bend and development meet forested areas. By promoting smart growth and infill development in the core of Bend, along with the transect concept where density tapers on the edge of the City, LandWatch is proving that a rapidly growing city can both sustainably accommodate new residents and coexist with wildfire.
Mapping the impact of fire
Just as fire is a part of our past, we know it will be a part of our future in Central Oregon. From the Awbrey Hall Fire in 1990 to the Two Bulls Fire in 2014, most residents in the region have experienced wildfire over the past century.
The map below shows these two recent fires along with the proposed Westside Transect zone.
Planning ahead
Miller Tree Farm
The Tree Farm is located on 533 acres west of Bend's city limits in Deschutes County. The property is located off Skyliners Road bordered mostly by U.S. Forest Service land and on the west by the beloved Shevlin Park. The community will consist of 50, 2-acre homesites, with the remaining 80% of the property as dedicated open space. Learn about LandWatch’s February, 2016 settlement with Brooks Resources.
Westside & Shevlin UGB Expansion
Three tracts of land totaling 412 acres were brought into the Urban Growth Boundary in 2016, but have not yet been annexed into the City of Bend. LandWatch negotiated a maximum number of housing units allowed to be built in these areas (1157). Without this maximum, this area could have developed more than 5,000 new homes.
Deschutes County Westside Transect Zone
In 2019, Deschutes County adopted LandWatch’s proposal creating a new Westside Transect Zone. The zone applies to 717 acres that are in line to become part of the City of Bend in the next UGB expansion with the potential for 2,000 or more homes. The Westside Transect Zone limits development to a maximum of 187 homes with strict fire protection requirements. This type of low-density is critical for firefighting and protection.
Help us create a more resilient future
While extreme weather-driven fire will still be a real threat to the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), the Westside Transect will help save lives and homes. Reduced density means there will be fewer people to evacuate in the event of a fire. More space between homes, firewise building codes, and landscaping requirements will reduce the risk of rapidly spreading wildfire.
LandWatch will continue to advocate for land use planning that limits dispersed rural development and promotes infill development inside urban growth boundaries (UGBs) to prevent subjecting Oregonians to the damaging effects of wildfire. Become a defender and help us work to support fire-adapted communities.