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Oregon
Land Use Update
September 7, 2004
In
this issue:
1000
FRIENDS OF OREGON
- Sign
up now for the Annual Citizens Conference in Corvallis on September
11.
- Measure
37’s Costly Chaos: Vote “NO”
- 1000 Friends
participate in LCDC 9/10 hearing on McMinnville UGB expansion.
OREGON
- Oregon
Shores Conservation Coalition conference is on October 9-10 in Newport.
- New data:
land use planning is protecting Eastern Oregon farm and ranch lands.
- Net farm
incomes increases 27% in Oregon.
NATIONAL
(and INTERNATIONAL)
- Fear of
sprawl leading to agriculture and timber protection in Humboldt County,
CA.
- Nominate
an Oregon farmer or rancher for the AFT Steward of the Land Award.
- A different
kind of land use issue in Lagos.
If you would
like to receive Land Use Update via email, please subscribe at
http://www.friends.org/update.
You can unsubscribe at http://www.friends.org/unsubscribe.
1000
FRIENDS OF OREGON
It’s
Not Too Late! Sign up Now for our annual Citizens Conference on Saturday,
September 11, 2004 in Corvallis
We
have nationally renown keynote speaker John Echeverria who will speak
on “The Give and Takings of Land Use,” as well as Tim Raphael,
Campaign Director of “No on 37: Take a Closer Look,” and Elizabeth
Humphrey, Executive Director of the nationwide alliance of smart growth
groups, who will share her skills in talking about smart growth. We will
also have a range of workshops on topics from “Putting the lid on
Big Box Stores” to “Local Hot Topics” and “Sprawl
Beyond Suburbia.” Download a
brochure and registration form.
We
can’t say it often enough: Vote “NO” on Measure 37!
Measure 37 is one ballot measure Oregonians cannot afford. No
one, not even the lawyers, knows how this measure would be implemented.
The Oregon Secretary of State says it would cost up to $344 million per
year just to handle claims and no one knows how much payments would cost
taxpayers. Talk to your friends and neighbors who may not know the chaos
and cost this measure would cause. Learn more
about Measure 37’s pitfalls.
LCDC
to hear McMinnville UGB expansion on September 10, 2004
On September 10, the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission
will hold the second hearing on the McMinnville urban growth boundary
expansion under periodic review. 1000 Friends’ Willamette Valley
Advocate Sid Friedman will be there to argue against expansion. Download
more information about the agenda.
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OREGON
Oregon
Shores Conservation Coalition annual conference is on October 9-10 in
Newport
This year’s conference will focus on understanding and protecting
shoreline and marine environments. The featured speaker is Orrin Pilkey,
a coastal geology professor at Duke University. Also featured is Mark
Hixon, OSU Professor of Marine Ecology. For more information, contact
Phillip Johnson at (503) 238-4450
or orshores@teleport.com
New
data: land use planning is protecting Eastern Oregon farm and ranch lands
A new study released by the Oregon Department of Forestry shows lower
rates of conversion from forest, range and farm lands to residential and
urban uses in the period 1986-2001 as compared to 1975-1986, concluding,
“Comprehensive land use planning...may have slowed the conversion.”
Not a time to rest on Oregon’s land use planning program laurels
yet, however. The study also found that rangeland continues to be converted
at a higher rate than forest or farmland. This means ranchers in eastern
Oregon continue to be at risk from development. Download
the report.
Net
farm incomes increase 27% in Oregon
The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) reports this month that net
farm and ranch income in 2005 was nearly $484 million, the highest level
in five years. Net farm income is what agricultural producers keep after
paying all their business expenses. The trend is also up for agricultural
production, which reached a record high of $3.8 billion in 2003. Visit
the ODA website for more details.
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to top
NATIONAL
NEWS
Controlling
sprawl leading to agriculture and timber protection in Humboldt County,
CA
Humboldt County, California is updating its general plan and citizens
there are demanding that future housing not be provided at the expense
of timber and farming. As a result, four earlier plan outlines were scrapped
in favor of three new drafts that provide housing while maintaining the
county’s natural resource economic base. County population projections
estimate that there will be another 80,000 residents there in the next
20 years. Read
the story in the Times-Standard newspaper.
Nominate an Oregon farmer or rancher for the $10,000 Steward of
the Land Award from the American Farmland Trust
Nominations are due November 1, 2004 for a farmer or rancher to
be considered for the American Farmland Trust’s 2005 Steward of the
Land Award. Learn
more or nominate one of our outstanding Oregon farmers and ranchers.
A different kind of land use issue in Lagos
It is an international story, it is true, but it does not hurt for us
to remember that things are not the same everywhere. We can take for granted
what works well. In this country, for example, it is unusual for a land
transfer to be litigated on a claim that the property owner did not have
proper title to the property. In Lagos, the government may repeal the
Land Use Act of 1978 and enact new legislation making registration of
lands compulsory in order to reduce the lawsuits and uncertainty regarding
land ownership. Click
here for a different perspective.
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Credits/Subscription
Info
If you know
of people who should be on the Land Use Update email list, they
can subscribe at http://www.friends.org/update.
You can unsubscribe at http://www.friends.org/unsubscribe.
Land Use
Update is edited by Kate Kimball and brought to you by 1000 Friends
of Oregon, a statewide organization dedicated to protecting Oregon's quality
of life.
To help support
this work, including the distribution of Land Use Update, please
consider making a tax-deductible donation online at http://www.friends.org/support
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