Land Conservation

Ruby Pipeline: $22 Million For Conservation in Oregon and The West

July 15, 2010
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The Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge in Oregon. From Wikimedia Commons. Photographer unidentified.

The company behind Oregon’s newest natural gas pipeline will donate at least $22 million for conservation projects in our state and across the West.

It’s the result of a three-way deal between the Oregon Natural Desert Association, Western Watersheds Project and El Paso Corp. The money will be used to undo some of the environmental damage that results from building the Ruby pipeline, and to preserve sagebrush habitat.

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Alert: Meeting Wednesday On Protecting Southeast Oregon’s Natural Areas

June 2, 2010
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Late notice, I know. I just got word of this a short while ago.

If you’re in the Portland area you may want to attend a meeting this evening on a new management plan for BLM land in Southeast Oregon.

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Help Save The Big Trees Of Mt. Emily

May 17, 2010
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Photo from Friends Of Mt. Emily.

An icon of Northeast Oregon has a date with the logger, unless a lot of money can be raised quickly.

What’s at risk is 500 acres of the Mt. Emily Recreation Area near La Grande. A timber company is getting ready to cut down most of the big trees in the Trails Unit, a section that’s hugely popular with hikers, bikers and horseback riders.

Local efforts to save the trees are falling behind and falling short. So the group Friends of Mt. Emily is appealing statewide for help.

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Breaking: Metro Approves Urban Reserves Plan

February 25, 2010
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UPDATE:

Council President David Bragdon releases a statement calling this a vote a “historic moment.” He goes on to write:

“Our work is not done. We need to refocus our efforts on how we can best invest in attracting more jobs and residents to our existing communities inside the urban growth boundary. Metro, local governments and the private sector need to work more strategically to invest limited public resources more wisely and encourage greater private investment in the communities we already call home.”

EARLIER:

The Metro Council put a final stamp of approval on a plan to guide growth in the region for the next 50-years. The vote was 5-2.

The plan creates 28,000 acres of urban reserves, areas outside the urban growth boundary that will be set aside for most new business and residential development.

It also preserves 272,000 acres as rural reserves, places protected as farmland and natural areas.

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Close Enough: Metro Moves To A Decision On Urban Reserves

February 8, 2010
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The Metro regional government is “almost” at a decision on urban reserves.

The latest plan, as proposed by a committee called the Core 4, includes setting aside 27,000 acres for urban reserves and 270,000 acres for rural reserves. That leaves about 2300 acres in the “undecided” category.

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Portland Enviro Groups Rally For Willamette River Restoration Plan

January 27, 2010
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Cruise the Willamette downstream from central Portland and you’ll soon realize this is not the wild river our city founders knew.  Shipping terminals, cargo vessels, scrapyards, oil tanks, warehouses and gazillions of imported cars line the riverbank. This area, as city officials like to describe it, is a working river. An important area for business and for jobs.

But it’s home to wildlife as well. Herons, sea lions, otters and fish spend some or all of their lives here. Fall salmon numbers in the upper Willamette system have been surprisingly robust, giving hope that the endangered fish might be making a comeback. For that to happen, salmon and steelhead have to migrate at least twice through the dirtiest section of the Willamette. The working part of the river. A Superfund site.

Soon, the Portland City Council will hold a public hearing on a plan to reconcile all these different demands. Two of Portland’s best known environmental groups, Willamette Riverkeeper and the Audubon Society, are concerned over industry attempts to weaken some of the environmental protections in the plan. Those industry objections led Mayor Adams to cancel a public hearing that was scheduled for last month. It could also be the reason why Thursday’s planned hearing was put off as well.

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Nature Conservancy To Protect Table Rocks Near Medford

May 6, 2009
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High above the Rogue Valley, the Table Rocks are the remnants of an ancient lava flow, and so unusual they support species found nowhere else on Earth.

According to the Medford Mail Tribune, more of this area will be protected thanks to the Nature Conservancy.  The group says it’s completed a $4 million deal to buy more than 1700 acres of Table Rocks land.  What the Nature Conservancy doesn’t own has special protection under the Bureau of Land Management.  Both organizations want to keep the area open to the public.

Hearing Scheduled For Metolius River Basin Protection Plan

March 27, 2009
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The first public hearing on a plan to protect the Metolius River Basin from large scale development has been scheduled for Tuesday, April 7th before the House Land Use Committee.  It’s been assigned a bill number, HB 3100.

We’ve reported extensively about the plan before.  In a nutshell, it makes the Metolius Basin an Area Of Critical State Concern and prohibits destination resorts in the region.

Earlier story:

Metolius Plan Approved, Goes To Legislature

Metolius Plan Approved, Goes To Legislature

March 24, 2009
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Big resorts and golf courses won’t be allowed in the Metolius River Basin under a plan approved Tuesday by the Land Conservation and Development Commission.

For now, it’s only a recommendation that goes to the Legislature which can adopt, change or kill the plan.  But it’s an important step in protecting the Metolius Basin from development.

Here’s what it does:

  • Declares the basin an Area Of Critical State Concern.
  • Prohibits destination resorts and golf courses in the Metolius Basin.  Allows for two small resorts that could include as many as 35 units and be up to 25 acres in size.
  • Bans destination resorts and golf courses from a buffer zone surrounding the basin.  Allows for one small scale resort of no more than 125 units and 320 acres in size.

The Commission says its trying to find a way to balance the interests of protecting the environment and wildlife in the basin, against those of developers who’ve purchased large tracts of forest in the area and were hoping to build destination resorts.

And there’s the issue of taking away local control over the basin.  Jefferson County had approved those two destination resorts to create job and improve property tax revenues.   The plan encourages the County to consider new resort plans closer to Madras and speeds up the approval process by more than two years.

For a look at the complete plan go here:  (Opens a PDF file)

FINAL MANAGEMENT PLAN

Saving the Metolius, and the Future Of Destination Resorts

March 18, 2009
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The Land Conservation and Development Commission will hold a special meeting March 24 to consider the future of the Metolius River Basin.

When we last heard from the commission, they voted to make the Metolius Basin an “Area of Critical State Concern.” But it also left open some important issues, including how much of the basin will be protected from development, and what will happen to two destination resorts that are planned for the area.

Governor Kulongoski set this process in motion last year when he asked the LCDC to draw up a plan to protect the Metolius. The draft version produced by staff would have stopped the two destination resorts from being developed, and would have banned future large scale resorts.

The LCDC special meeting begins at 1pm. Whatever it decides, it’s a recommendation that goes to the legislature and lawmakers will make the final decision.

Meanwhile, March 24 is an important date for the future of destination resorts for another reason. That’s when the House Land Use Committee holds a hearing on HB 2227. The concern is that developers are promoting projects as destination resorts when in fact what they really want to build are new subdivisions. Erik Kancler of Central Oregon LandWatch says destination resorts don’t get as much scrutiny as subdivisions. HB 2227 directs the LCDC to study current law, see if it’s working, and if it needs to be rewritten.

That hearing starts at 3pm.