Special Places
The Battle of Smith Rock

At 9:15 pm on July 3, 1997, staff attorney Blair Batson and lobbyist Tom Novick began a tense vigil in the gallery of the Oregon Capitol’s House gallery. In a matter of minutes, years of organizing, litigation, and political maneuvering would come to a head as the fate of Smith Rock, one of Oregon’s scenic treasures, was put to a vote.

Just the year before, a lavish photo of Smith Rock had graced the cover of the Oregon Tourism Department’s brochure, over the caption Oregon: Things look different here. By that time, however, the monolith had long been at the center of a battle over just how different Oregon would look if the state failed to protect the scenic resources that made it special.

Keeping Special Places Special: The long "Battle of Smith Rock" is just one of several challenges 1000 Friends has taken on to protect the beautiful places that help shape our image of our state—and ourselves.

Early Skirmishes: In the early 1990s, developers Jim Gardner and Mick Humphries began quietly buying up inexpensive farm and ranch land adjacent to Smith Rock State Park. They wanted the land for a massive destination resort that would capitalize on spectacular views from just outside the park boundary. Their proposed Rimrock Resort would include 54 holes of golf, 200 lodging units, and a 400-home upscale subdivision.

Perhaps Gardner and Humphries believed the myth that Central and Eastern Oregon consisted of nothing but "worthless sagebrush." In fact, just across the Jefferson County line from the Rimrock site was the North Unit Irrigation District, where farms produced high-value crops like carrot seed, garlic, potatoes, peppermint, and bluegrass seed. Local farmers like Leslie Elliott, Gary Harris, and Jefferson County Farm Bureau president Mickey Killingsworth were alarmed at the prospect of having a big new resort as a neighbor.

Luckily, state laws passed in the 1980s with 1000 Friends’ involvement prohibited resorts within three miles of a high value crop area. In 1991, Deschutes County included the Rimrock property in its inventory of land where resorts could be built. The Alliance for Responsible Land Use in Deschutes County and 1000 Friends challenged that mapping, claiming that the county had ignored the nearby farmland. The Land Use Board of Appeals agreed, ruling that no destination resort could be built within the three-mile limit, even in another county.

The "Zoning Board of Last Resort": Since the law wasn’t on their side, the developers decided to change the law. The 1995 Oregon Legislature obliged them by narrowly passing House Bill 3348, which would have repealed the three-mile buffer requirement. But 1000 Friends, joined the Jefferson County Farm Bureau and Concerned Citizens for Smith Rock, asked the Governor to veto the bill, which he did.

Undeterred, the developers returned in 1997 with a new bill. SB 870 also repealed the three-mile buffer rule, but only in Eastern Oregon, and only in cases where a "natural barrier" separated resorts from high value farmland. Conveniently, the Crooked River would qualify as such a barrier for the Rimrock property.

This thinly veiled attempt to change state law to benefit a single project met with instant and intense opposition. Oregonians of every stripe were repelled by the spectacle of the Legislature considering an action that would defile a scenic landmark to enrich a few wealthy landowners. Nevertheless, after an abortive attempt at mediation and a long and contentious hearing, the Senate passed SB 870 and sent it to the House.

As the bill awaited a hearing, Novick and Batson learned that the Governor had inexplicably agreed to different language allowing the resort. This stunning news meant a veto was now highly unlikely. It was time to pull out all the stops.

Killingsworth mobilized our farmer allies to rally local farm bureaus. Concerned Citizens for Smith Rock, led by Suzanne Smithers, organized phone-calling and letter-writing efforts. Numerous environmental groups held phone banks and other activities. This unprecedented alliance between farmers and environmentalists began to bear fruit as the list of committed "nays" began to grow. Nevertheless, on July 3, with the Legislature limping toward adjournment, the bill passed out of committee on a party-line vote and headed to the floor that same evening.

As Novick and Batson lobbied wavering legislators, Harris and Killingsworth hand-delivered faxes to representatives from their own local farm bureaus. Rep. Kurt Schrader circulated a letter from the Clackamas County Farm Bureau; the farm bureaus of Polk, Wasco, Hood River, and Linn Counties, among others, were also faxing and calling their representatives to oppose the bill.

Finally, it was time. Batson and Novick thought it could go either way, but as they watched from the gallery, it wasn’t even close. The bill was defeated 39-19 with strong bipartisan opposition. Thirty hours later, the 1997 Legislative Session came to an end, and Smith Rock had been saved again.

Scanning the Horizon: While the effort to protect Smith Rock was successful, the threats to Oregon’s special places have not disappeared. Amazingly, in 1996 the Land Conservation and Development Commission eliminated state protection for areas of outstanding scenic quality, despite their importance to Oregon’s $4.7 billion tourism industry and their place in Oregonians’ daily lives.

Pressure for commercial development in or near some of the state’s most scenic areas, including Smith Rock, is certain to continue. 1000 Friends will continue to work with citizens across the state to protect the places we love.