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4 days ago | 
capitalpress.com | Mateusz Perkowski
Published 11:27 am Wednesday, June 4, 2025 Though several controversial land use bills didn’t gain traction in Oregon this year, the discussion over the state’s rate of farmland loss has persisted. Experts on both sides of the land use debate recently agreed that USDA statistics haven’t accurately captured the rate of farmland conversion to other uses.
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6 days ago | 
capitalpress.com | Mateusz Perkowski
Published 4:47 pm Monday, June 2, 2025 Logging and grazing on public land are expected to reap benefits from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that has limited the scope of a proposed railroad’s environmental review.
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1 week ago | 
capitalpress.com | Mateusz Perkowski
Published 8:41 am Friday, May 30, 2025 Oregon lawmakers will not move forward this year with a proposed agricultural labor standards board that would set wages and workplace conditions for farmworkers. Instead, the House Rules Committee is considering an amended version of the proposal, which would require a study of farmworker experiences and the adequacy of existing labor protections.
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1 week ago | 
capitalpress.com | Mateusz Perkowski
Published 1:59 pm Wednesday, May 28, 2025 Several local governments in Oregon are pausing their lawsuit against new national flood insurance restrictions while negotiating with federal officials to end the dispute. Earlier this year, the Oregonians for Floodplain Protection nonprofit filed a complaint against the Federal Emergency Management Agency, alleging its new rules undermine Oregon’s farmland protections.
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1 week ago | 
capitalpress.com | Mateusz Perkowski
Published 1:46 pm Wednesday, May 28, 2025 Despite objections about double standards raised by a coalition of farm organizations, Oregon lawmakers have decided to allow limited commercial irrigation with domestic wells. Up to 3,000 gallons of domestic well water per day can be used to irrigate a half-acre of crops grown for sale under House Bill 3372, which passed the Senate on May 27 after previously winning approval in the House.
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1 week ago | 
capitalpress.com | Mateusz Perkowski
Published 5:01 pm Tuesday, May 27, 2025 Irrigators could borrow and lend water through a centralized “water bank” in Oregon’s Deschutes Basin under legislation headed for a vote before a key budget committee. Supporters of House Bill 3806 say the mechanism, which would be new to state water law, is meant to move water around more efficiently in the drought-stricken region.
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2 weeks ago | 
centraloregonian.com | Mateusz Perkowski
Oregon water regulators “failed to allow the public an opportunity to be heard” in regard to controversial water releases from the Prineville Reservoir, according to a judge. The state’s Water Resources Department violated state law by proceeding with an expedited process to approve the water releases despite “public interest” objections to the proposal, said Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Annette Hillman. kAm“x? 2 E:>6 H96? EC2?DA2C6?4J :D G:E2= 7@C ECFDE :?
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2 weeks ago | 
bendbulletin.com | Mateusz Perkowski
Judge: Public denied input on Prineville water releasesPublished 4:18 pm Thursday, May 22, 2025Oregon water regulators "failed to allow the public an opportunity to be heard" in regard to controversial water releases from the Prineville Reservoir, according to a judge.
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2 weeks ago | 
capitalpress.com | Mateusz Perkowski
Published 9:02 am Thursday, May 22, 2025 A proposal to “super-site” a rural waste processing facility in Oregon’s Lane County is raising questions about which projects are chosen to sidestep state land use regulations. Allowing the facility to bypass land use procedures would speed up its construction, but critics say the project shouldn’t receive preferential treatment simply because it’s supported by certain government officials.
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2 weeks ago | 
capitalpress.com | Mateusz Perkowski
Published 9:13 am Wednesday, May 21, 2025 Rural landowners would be off the hook from having Oregon’s government claim ownership of certain riverside properties under a bill recently approved by the Legislature. However, urban landowners with potentially valuable parcels would still face that possibility for another three years under Senate Bill 165, which has now passed both the House and Senate unanimously.
