WHAT WE DO
We keep farmland farming. Our goal is to keep the amazing farmland in Northern Washington county, and across Oregon, in productive farm use. We protect and build vibrant and healthy rural communities.
RECENT CAMPAIGNS
In 2023 we’ve fought three major threats to farmland in Northern Washington county and the state.
We played a key roll in opposing and eventually mitigating the potential damage to Oregon’s land use system and particularly the largest tract of class one farmland in the sate. While we are unhappy that the governor has the power to unilaterally remove land from rural reserves, we feel that the addition of oversight, a sunset clause, and the guardrails we and others advocated for makes the loss of farmland much less likely. As of June, there has been no loss of farmland to this dangerous law. We continue to monitor this bill and its threats to farmland until it sunsets.
We worked to get letters and calls to oppose the last minute amendment to HB 3414 at the end of the 2023 legislative session. This bill, as amended, would have allowed suburban growth on the edge of cities without any need to prove a need for it. Just enough lawmakers opposed the dangerous precedent and last minute nature of the bill that it lost by one vote.
We are currently working to oppose a poorly-concieved Urban Growth Boundary expansion in North Plains. The plan more the doubles the size of the city, and nearly all of that pavement will go on Oregon’s best farmland. Furthermore, the plan was made without consulting with or considering the needs of the many farmers just outside the city and does disproportionate harm to the ag community in the area. See the details here.