In Yamhill County, a number of property owners with claims under former Measure 37 had sought to go ahead with their large developments despite the passage of Measure 49.  The county granted these requests without considering the negative impacts of these developments on neighboring property owners.  These large development projects threatened rural land, the livability of these communities and the viability of local groundwater supplies.  The Friends of Yamhill County worked with neighbors, including farmers, vineyard owners and winemakers, to challenge four separate development proposals.

In 2008, the Yamhill County circuit court upheld the county’s decisions and the neighbors appealed the decisions. In the appeal, the neighbors pointed out that the landowners had not even started the large developments before Measure 49 passed. The owners had spent money on lawyers and consultants, but very little if any development had actually been done on the ground and the amounts the owners expended were a fraction of the total costs of these subdivisions.

While Yamhill County concluded the small amounts of monies spent on preparatory work were sizeable enough to allow the development to continue, the Oregon Court of Appeals rejected these arguments and reversed the trial court.  Now, instead of large subdivisions sprouting up on prime farmland and threatening water supplies, the owners will be able to pursue modest developments of up to three homes allowed under Measure 49.

Ilsa Perse from the Friends of Yamhill County stated: “While many people pursued modest claims under Measure 37, others pursued large developments that threatened farms, forests and water supplies.  Neighboring owners have property rights, too.  This ruling safeguards their interests as well. The court recognized the rights of neighbors while allowing owners to move forward with developments that meet the requirements of Measure 49.”

Measure 37 proponents insisted that its purpose was to allow rural landowners to build a few houses for their family.  In reality, Measure 37 resulted in over 6,800 claims.  More than half of those were for large subdivisions on valuable farm and forest lands.  When Oregonians realized the impact on local agriculture and water supplies, they passed Measure 49 to reign in the worst abuses and provide modest development options instead.  Measure 49 provided up to 3 houses per parcel without proof of financial loss, or more if the owner proved an actual financial loss. Measure 37 had not required any actual proof of loss.

David Adelsheim, President of Adelsheim Vineyard, stated: “Oregon winegrowers know the importance of preserving prime agricultural land. Oregon’s land use laws are the reason our industry exists today.  Without the establishment of Exclusive Farm Use zoning and Oregon’s comprehensive land use system, the hillsides our industry needs to produce the best grapes would have been dotted with housing developments instead of rows of Pinot noir vines.  No visitor would want to come to a Wine Country filled with rural subdivisions. We need to be able to count on the same protections going forward to insure that Oregon wines continue to flourish.”

In 2008, the Oregon wine industry had a $1.4 billion economic impact on the state, and the industry has continued to grow, even during the current recession.  Today’s court decision protects the industry from the development pressures encouraged by Measure 37. Ralph Bloemers, a staff attorney with the Crag Law Center, stated: “Many people sought to take advantage of Measure 37 and develop large residential subdivisions, commercial developments and gravel mines. These proposals threatened neighboring property rights, water supplies and undermined the efforts of people with more reasonable goals. This decision protects neighboring property owners and preserves Oregon’s valuable agricultural capabilities.”

For more information:

Read the complete decision:  Oregon Court of Appeals Decision – Friends of Yamhill County

Oregonian Story:  Controversial Yamhill County Measure 37 Claim

Oregonian Story:  Yamhill Cases Hinge on Vested Rights

Hinesight Blog:  Measure 49 Vested Rights Cases Reach Court of Appeals

Crag Summer Associates and Staff Enjoy a Day on the Clackamas River

DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR

JOB DESCRIPTION:

The Crag Law Center is a non-profit client-focused law center that supports community efforts to protect and sustain the Pacific Northwest’s natural legacy.  Crag promotes environmental conservation by providing professional legal representation to conservation groups, Native peoples, local governments, citizen groups and recreation groups. Crag is based in Portland, Oregon and works throughout Oregon, Washington and Alaska.  Founded in 2001, Crag has grown steadily since its inception and has developed a national reputation for helping local communities create positive, on-the-ground change.  www.crag.org

Crag is seeking a highly motivated, organized, and passionate individual to serve as its Development Coordinator and work with its staff and manage volunteers to implement all aspects of its fundraising, outreach, and education program.  The Development Coordinator will work with the Co-Executive Directors, Staff Attorneys, Board of Directors and volunteers to build financial and community support for Crag’s future growth.

PRIMARY DUTIES:

• 32 hours per week with expected expansion to 40 hours per week within first 12-24 months. The position is based in our office in Portland, Oregon and reports to Co-Executive Directors
• Coordinate, implement and assist in development of fundraising programs and strategies in support of organizational budget of $350,000-$450,000 annually
• Manage and expand program of regular fundraising and outreach events
• Expand and implement existing major donor and individual donor programs, while managing database program and donor communication
• Identify, research, coordinate and implement grants program focused primarily on regional and national private foundations
• Coordinate production of outreach and communication materials, including posters, newsletters, web site content and social networking
• Recruit and manage volunteers on an on-going basis to assist in development

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Demonstrated passion for environmental conservation and community-based collective action; familiarity with environmental issues in the Pacific Northwest
• At least 2 years development experience with proven track record of successful fundraising efforts and excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Energetic, flexible team member able to thrive in a dynamic, high energy work environment
• Ability to communicate effectively and work with people from different cultural backgrounds
• Well-organized critical thinker with excellent problem-solving and decision-making skills
• B.A. required; Master’s degree preferred
• Demonstrated proficiency with relevant computer software including: Photoshop/Illustrator for layout and design, Lightroom or equivalent photo editing, donor database management, WordPress website management, email management, blogging and social networking

COMPENSATION:

DOE. Salary commensurate with regional conservation groups of same size plus competitive benefits package including medical coverage, flexible spending account, 403(b) retirement plan

with employer contribution, and three weeks vacation.

TO APPLY:

Please submit a resume, cover letter explaining your qualifications and interest in the position, three references from people who can comment on the quality of your relevant work and two samples of outreach/fundraising materials that you have personally produced.  Applicants are encouraged to submit their materials as .pdf attachments to an email but may also submit all or just certain supplemental materials by mail on 100% post-consumer recycled paper and printed double-sided.  The position will be held open until filled.

Email application to both:

ralph@crag.org & chris@crag.org

Or mail application to:

Development Coordinator Hiring, Crag Law Center

917 SW Oak St., Suite 417

Portland, OR 97205

To learn more about the Crag Law Center visit www.crag.org

The Crag Law Center is an equal opportunity employer.  People of color, women, people with disability and LGBT candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Muddy Discharge from Logging Roads Fouls Salmon Spawning Grounds on Oregon's Trask River

Tillamook State Forest

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a long-awaited decision on the Oregon Department of Forestry’s management of logging roads and stormwater in the Tillamook State Forest.  In the western United States, logging roads are one of the worst sources of sediment pollution, which smothers salmon spawning beds and harms water quality.  On the Tillamook State Forest, ODF has for years designed their roads to channel and discharge polluted stormwater from logging roads into coastal rivers and streams in the Tillamook State Forest, often times directly on top of or close to salmon spawning grounds.

ODF, along with the timber industry, has for years argued that its logging activities are exempt from the Clean Water Act’s permit program.  Today, the Ninth Circuit firmly rejected that argument and held that ODF must have a permit before it discharges polluted stormwater into Oregon’s rivers and streams.

Chris Winter, Staff Attorney and Co-Executive Director of the Crag Law Center, hailed the decision.  “Logging roads kill salmon, plain and simple.  The timber industry and ODF have tried to evade the Clean Water Act for years, and this decision will hopefully bring an end to the ‘stick your head in the sand’ approach to management.”

The decision comes at a particularly inopportune time for ODF.  The Oregon Board of Forestry, upon ODF’s recommendation, recently decided to increase the level of clearcutting on the Tillamook State Forest.  Winter said the revised plan is misguided.  “ODF first needs to get its house in order before dramatically increasing the level of clearcutting.  ODF doesn’t even have permits for its existing road network.  Increasing harvest should be the last priority at this point.  This is not how Oregonians expect the State to manage one of their natural treasures.”

Crag has partnered on this case for many years with its long-standing client Northwest Environmental Defense Center and its co-counsel Paul Kampmeier of the Washington Forest Law Center, who argued the case before the Ninth Circuit.  Big thanks go out to WFLC and NEDC for their tireless efforts and excellent work.

More Information:

9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision — 9th Circuit Clean Water Act – Forest Roads Decision

August 17, 2010 Press Release — August 17, 2010 Press Release

Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) Story – Logging Road Runoff Decision Could Have Huge Implications

OPB_News_0817forestrunoff (Audio File from OPB News)

Associated Press – Mud from Logging Roads is Pollution

The Crag Law Center was contacted by Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Klamath Riverkeeper, Environmental Protection Information Center and Klamath Forest Alliance to help prepare a challenge to the US Forest Service’s decision to authorize a placer gold mine in the Klamath National Forest.  The proponents of the mine had hired a consultant to conduct an environmental assessment who found that the mine would not cause any significant environmental impacts.

However, we worked with our clients to carefully review the proposal and we determined that the mine would have drawn significant amounts of water from McNeal Creek as part of the operation.  Although the assessment claimed that only 2% of the creek’s water would be drawn off at any time, the assessment based this figure on measurements taken during high stream flows even though the mine would be operating year-round.  During low flows, a much higher percentage of the water would have been consumed, threatening aquatic wildlife that depends on the creek.

In addition, the mine’s consultant never set forth the existing condition of the area and offered no comparison against which to measure the impacts of the project.  Under federal law, the Forest Service must consider a baseline against which the proposed action can be compared so the decision makers and the public can accurately weigh the costs and benefits.

The Crag Law Center worked with these local organizations to prepare and file an administrative appeal of the project.  This summer, the Forest Service decided to back away from the ill-conceived plan and not implement the decision.  When our clients contacted the Forest Service, an official stated that they had canceled the plan because they felt it could not withstand a legal challenge. This is not likely to be the last we hear of this plan and we will continue to work with local citizens to ensure that the public interest in fish, wildlife and water supplies is protected.

For an interactive map of the Salmon River Watershed visit the Salmon River Watershed Council Website.

The Century Paddle is a fully-supported kayaking excursion that will start on Monday, August 30, 2010 at 7:00 AM  and end on Saturday, September 04, 2010at 4:00 PM in Astoria.

The organizers will donate $150 of the cost of the trip to the Crag Law Center for every one of our supporters that signs up for this unique opportunity. The cost of the trip is $95o and registration is open until Monday, August 16, 2010.

The Century Paddle is a 100-mile flat water sea kayak trip from Willamette Falls to the Pacific Ocean over five days.  Participants will paddle down river for about five hours a day making camp each of the four nights on the beaches of the magnificent Columbia River.  Paddlers will enjoy a fully supported trip complete with catered meals feasting on local foods and volunteer sherpas to haul all paddler’s gear down stream.

The trip will start below Willamette Falls in Oregon City, and paddle through downtown Portland and  continue past the ship yards, to Sauvie Island and up the Multnomah Channel to the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers.

From here paddlers will follow the Columbia River through the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge and finish our trip in Astoria.

The 2010 Century Paddlers will bring awareness and raise the funds needed to help keep our river’s clean and to support adaptive recreation programs for our nation’s disabled veterans.  This trip requires a moderate level of paddle sports preparation.

Each participant must be familiar with basic kayak skills and self rescue techniques.  We recommend paddlers should try to have a minimum of 100 hours of paddling experience by the start of the trip.  Paddlers will need to be able to sit in a kayak for 2-3 hours at a time to complete this trip.

More detailed training techniques and preparation are available by reading Sam Drevo’s tips and techniques at Northwest River Guides. Classes and work up trips are offered by Northwest River Guides LLC and other vendors nation wide all summer long.

Century Paddle was created to benefit Team River Runner PDX which seeks to use paddlesports as a means of healing and therapy for wounded veterans and We Love Clean Rivers to promote river stewardship by turning restoration into recreation.

The Court reversed an Oregon District Court decision that found that Measure 37 waivers were contracts and that the application of voter-approved Measure 49 violated the separation of powers doctrine.  Measure 49 was passed in 2007 to reign in the worst abuses of Measure 37.

In Jackson County, a number of property owners with claims under former Measure 37 filed suit seeking to block the application of Measure 49 so they could continue with large developments on farm and forestland.

As the Oregonian described it the initial lower court ruling was a “collective forehead slap” for land use attorneys.

One of the many claims involved in the suit proposed a large destination resort next to the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument.  Other claims proposed developments on farmland in the Applegate River, on forestland along the Rogue River and were spread throughout Jackson County.

If the ruling had been upheld, the State’s land use system would have been in disarray. Over 7,500 claims were filed under Measure 37, and the ruling threatened to re-instate all of these claims despite the passage of Measure 49.

Under Measure 37, owners made claims seeking to lift the application of laws that applied to them and their neighbors so they could build large developments on farm and forestlands.  Neighboring property owners grew increasingly concerned because the development proposals threatened rural land, the livability of these communities and the viability of local groundwater supplies.

Rogue Advocates, Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition, Friends of Marion County and Friends of Polk County worked with neighbors, including farmers, vineyard owners and other property owners, to appeal the District Court decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

In the appeal, the groups pointed out that the landowners had not even started the large developments before Measure 49 passed. The land owners had spent money on lawyers and consultants to pursue large developments but had done nothing on the ground to establish the uses they proposed before Measure 49 passed.

The 9th Circuit reversed Judge Panner’s decision and found that “the waivers do not show that there was any offer by Jackson County, acceptance by the property owners or consideration.” Further, the Court stated “[i]ndeed, the waivers disavow any promise to the property owners: “Jackson County does not promise Claimant(s) that Claimant(s) will eventually be able to put the property to any particular use.”

Now, instead of large subdivisions sprouting up on prime farmland and threatening water supplies, the owners will be able to pursue modest developments of up to three homes allowed under Measure 49.

Many people sought to take advantage of Measure 37 and develop large residential subdivisions, commercial developments and gravel mines. These proposals threatened neighboring property rights, water supplies and undermined the efforts of people with more reasonable goals. This decision protects neighboring property owners and preserves Oregon’s valuable agricultural capabilities.

For more information:

The Jefferson Exchange_08-04-10_Hour_1 (Jefferson Public Radio Program Featuring Sarah Vaile and Ralph Bloemers for Rogue Advocates and Bob Robertson and David Smith for Citizens for Constitutional Fairness)

Blue Oregon Blog – 9th Circuit Upholds Measure 49

Salem Statesmen Journal Article — Appeals Court Upholds Measure 49

Ashland Daily Tidings Article – Jackson County Waivers No Good

Hinesight Blog – 9th Circuit Upholds Measure 49

Oregonian Story – Ruling May Snuff Out Hundreds of Measure 37 Claims

TV – Appeals Court Rules Measure 37 Waivers No Good

Join us for Crag’s 5th Annual Filbert Farm Benefit Party!!  Kids are welcome!!

Host: Aaron Matusick and Sandy Riedman

Location: 5909 SE Oetkin, Portland OR, 97267

Time: Saturday July 24th, 3 pm to 9 pm

LIVE Music: NuBorn Tribe (reggae)

Food+Drinks: Greek food (including lamb, turkey and veggie kabobs); Refreshing local beer and tea

Suggested donation: $10 to $20

All proceeds will support our work to protect public lands, water quality and livable communities throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The Filbert is always a great time and we hope to see you there!

The Crag Law Center has bolstered its vital programs through the donation of old cars through its vehicle donation program.  This program allows you to donate a car, truck, trailer, recreational vehicle, boat, etc., as well as lots and real estate. Crag Law Centeris a 501-C3 nonprofit charitable organization.

When you donate a vehicle to Crag Law Center you also benefit in the following ways:

* Qualify for your lawful IRS tax deduction

* Avoid confusing Department of Motor Vehicles paperwork and hassles

* Get free vehicle pick-up whether your donated car is running or not (restrictions apply)

* Avoid all the headaches of selling a used car; no expensive want ads, no taking phone calls, no showing the car repeatedly, no price haggling…

Crag Law Center has partnered with The Vehicle Donation Processing Center, Inc. in the operation of our vehicle donation program. The Vehicle Donation Processing Center, Inc. allows Crag Law Center to be able to benefit from vehicular donations, and offers this service to you.

When a donation is pledged, the Vehicle Donation Processing Center, Inc., takes the donor information over the telephone, handles all the documents, vehicle pick up, sale at auction and distribution of proceeds to Crag Law Center. The Vehicle Donation Processing Center guarantees payment of all expenses in administering the program for Crag Law Center. Every month, net proceeds are split evenly between the Vehicle Donation Processing Center, Inc. and Crag Law Center.

To donate today go to the Vehicle Donation Processing Center and fill out the form or call 800-269-6814 to speak to a live customer service representative, seven days a week.

Crag and Hood River Valley Residents Committee will host our 3rd annual SYRCL Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival!  The evening will be full of films sure to inspire you!

Date: Thursday, August 26th and Friday, August 27th

Time: Doors open at 7:15 p.m.  Films start at 8:00 and end at 10:00

Location: The Ruins at Springhouse Cellar (13 Railroad Ave) in Hood River.  Note that the venue is outdoors!

Tickets: $10 for one night, $18 for both. Receive a free ticket when you make a $35 donation to Crag or HRVRC.  Be sure to specify “Wild and Scenic” with your donations.

Advance Tickets recommended and are available in Hood River at Doug Sports (101 Oak Street), Waucoma Bookstore (212 Oak Street) and Springhouse Cellars (13 Railroad Ave).

This year, the HRVRC and the Crag Law Center asked local people to help select the films for this years’ festival and, as a result, we have a diverse range of films that will appeal to a broad range of interest.  By focusing the lens on issues that matter to local people, the festival seeks to empower local people to protect the natural beauty of their communities.  Click here for a sneak peak at the films and their descriptions.

We hope to see you there!

For more information contact Megan at Crag (503-525-2724) or Jonathan at HRVRC (541-490-3618)