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
Controlled burns reduce wildfire risk, but they require trained staff and funding − this could be a rough year
The combined effects of a warmer and drier climate, more people living in fire-prone areas and vegetation and debris built up over years of fire suppression are leading to more severe fires that spread faster and put people, wild lands and economies at risk. Prescribed burns are a solution, but the U.S. Forest Service need the staffing, data and research to carry them out.
Coexisting With Fire
Wildfire is essential in our landscape, and an expected element of living, working, and playing in Central Oregon. As we plan for the future, we must learn to coexist with fire.
What's ahead for wildfire safety in Oregon?
Last year, Oregon legislators passed a comprehensive bill (SB 762) to address wildfire preparedness and resiliency across the state. Share what changes you want to see locally to minimize wildfire risk for Central Oregonians.
What does wildfire safety mean to you?
Right now, the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) is asking for public input on what changes people want to see locally to minimize wildfire risk.
Skyline Forest: The Burning Question
Skyline Forest and Bend share a border within the wildland-urban interface (WUI) that is essential for managing wildfire risk to our communities.
How land use can keep Oregonians safe from wildfires
As Oregon reels from destructive wildfires and oppressive smoke, we at Central Oregon LandWatch want to express our heartbreak and sympathy for the communities experiencing unfathomable loss.
Success! Central Oregon wildlife corridor protected
Central Oregon LandWatch has for years worked to preserve the last remnants of a critical wildlife corridor that was threatened by a planned expansion of Caldera Springs Destination Resort south of Sunriver. After LandWatch’s legal action blocked an initial proposal to expand across the 600 acres of forested elk and Mule Deer habitat, we successfully negotiated redesign of the resort site plan.
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.
Westside Transect Implemented in Discovery West Master Plan
For more than a decade, Central Oregon LandWatch has been concerned about the risk of catastrophic wildfire in the forested area next to the west side of Bend. Most of this land would have been developed at urban levels had it come in with the City of Bend’s 2009 Urban Growth Boundary proposal to expand the city by more than 8,400 acres. Instead, our advocacy helped reduce the approved expansion by 70% by increasing densities inside the existing city boundaries.