Dear John, 

Right now, there are several bad bills moving through the legislature that threaten the progress we’ve made for Oregon’s land, air, water, people, and places. We need your help now to stop them before they rollback protections we’ve worked so hard to enact. 

Please make an urgent donation to OLCV today and help us ensure that the Oregon we love remains protected for future generations.

We are over halfway through the legislative session, and while we are making progress toward passing our environmental priorities, this year, as in years past, we are forced to spend a significant amount of our time playing defense. Here’s what we’re up against: 

• SB 16 would waive Oregon’s land use laws and allow up to 100 new high-end houses not related to farming to be scattered across 200 acres of exclusive farm use (EFU) lands in the large “Eastern Oregon border region.” This would interfere with wildlife and water resources and increase the risk of wildfire in an area already rated as high for wildfire risk. This bill sets a dangerous precedent that puts some of our state’s most valuable and productive agriculture land at risk. SB 16 passed the Senate. We are prepared to kill it in the House, but we need your help! 
• HB 3072 A undermines Oregon’s land use laws by allowing urban growth boundary expansions into urban reserves without a showing of need.
• HB 2771 remove’s the governor’s authority to designate Marine Reserves without state legislature approval. We at OLCV and the Oregon Conservation Network fought hard to create a Marine Reserves program in the state of Oregon, and we cannot allow it to be rolled back in any way.  

Along with our Oregon Conservation Network partners, we successfully killed two major threats already this session: 

• HB 2610 includes sweeping rollbacks to existing fish passage laws. Endangered salmon and steelhead species are struggling to survive—the last thing we should do is weaken our fish passage laws that help fish survive passing the numerous dams on Oregon’s rivers.  
• HB 2334 would exempt small businesses from complying with Oregon Climate Action Plan, and other key environmental, and labor regulations. 

We can stop these other bad bills, too, but we need your help to do it. Please make a gift of $20, $35, $50, $100, or whatever amount is right for you, today.

All of these bills pose major threats to some of the issues we care about the most—protecting Oregon’s land use laws, taking action on climate, protecting our waterways and fish and wildlife. But, despite that, I am still hopeful. As always, we are facing an uphill battle this session, but I know that we can continue to make progress. 

We are over halfway through the legislative session and the coming weeks are a dangerous time when our environmental priorities will be at risk of being used as trade bait. We can’t let that happen. Let’s keep the pressure up and make sure that we are prepared to defend against threats and continue making progress for Oregon’s environment. 

Will you chip in today to help?

Sincerely,
Doug Moore, Executive Director OLCV

PS: Several “major threats” to Oregon’s environment are moving through the legislature now. Please make an urgent donation to OLCV today and help us fight back.