For nearly 50 years, 1000 Friends of Oregon has defended and protected Central Oregon’s family farms and forests, promoted livable rural and urban communities, and held back sprawl into the natural landscapes we hold dear. Our simple but extraordinarily successful strategy is to focus on where it all starts: right under our feet, with how we use the land. Oregon’s visionary land use laws were enacted to ensure a better future for everyone. 1000 Friends has been their champion from the beginning.

This year, Oregon has been facing extraordinary pressure from for-profit developers to ignore the land already available in our cities and expand urban growth boundaries into the wildland-urban interface, where homes – especially in Central Oregon – are at high risk of burning during a wildfire. Land grabs without a plan endanger our families, waste public dollars, and degrade the lands that make our home state of Oregon feel so special. That’s why our team of advocates partners with people from across the state to strengthen Oregon’s unique land use system to build housing inside our cities, away from major risk and in the heart of already-vibrant communities.

Become a Friend of Oregon. Join us.