--- On Thu, 12/4/08, Gerik Kransky <gerik at friends.org> wrote:
From: Gerik Kransky <gerik at friends.org>
Subject: Oregon Agriculture Tops the Charts
To: tosca at prodigy.net
Date: Thursday, December 4, 2008, 2:26 PM
#yiv1989774466 .style1 {font-style:italic;}
December 4, 2008
Click here to read this email online.
Contents:
Give the Gift of Oregon
Planning Portland's Transportation Future
Oregon Agriculture Tops the Charts
Big Look Task Force
Dear Bonnie,
Give the Gift of Oregon
More meaningful than a toaster, more memorable than a tie. For the family and friends on your holiday list, give a gift membership to 1000 Friends of Oregon. You'll help 1000 Friends protect the Oregon you love and they don't have to wait in long exchange lines. Problem solved. And the amount of your gift-membership is tax deductible.
An announcement of your generosity will be mailed to each recipient. The amount of your gift will not be disclosed to the recipient.
Planning Portland's Transportation Future
Metro, the Portland area regional government, is currently updating its Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). The RTP establishes transportation policies and priorities, and directs spending, for all forms of travel in the region – car, truck, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian – through the year 2035.
This vital planning process is obscure, but it deserves our careful attention. As Oregon's largest urban area, Portland will make or break our statewide commitment to reduce global warming pollution from cars and trucks. The Metro area generates more transportation-related greenhouse gases than the rest of the state. Metro must provide leadership by showing the way to a greenhouse gas reduction plan as part of the 2035 RTP implementation process.
The 2007 Legislative Assembly established Oregon’s goals for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions: 10 percent below 1990 emissions by 2020, and 75 percent below the 1990 level by 2050. As part of the 2035 RTP, Metro plans to test alternative land use patterns and transportation investments. Metro area residents should contact their Metro Councilor, and urge them to support a mix of policies and investments that will protect the region's livability and prosperity while meeting Oregon's greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Oregon Agriculture Tops the Charts
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently ranked Oregon number one in 12 different commodity crops. Data from the National Agricultural Statistics Service show Oregon leading the nation in production of:
Hazelnuts..............................................................37,000 tons
Christmas trees...................................................7.05 million trees
Ryegrass seed.....................................................478 million pounds
Fescue seed.........................................................264 million pounds
Bentgrass seed....................................................4.8 million pounds
Orchardgrass seed..............................................11.8 million pounds
Blackberries...........................................................58.9 million pounds
Black raspberries..................................................3.6 million pounds
Boysenberries........................................................3.9 million pounds
Loganberries..........................................................90 thousand pounds
Potted florist azaleas.............................................$12.3 million
Storage onions.......................................................1.48 billion pounds According to the Oregon Department of Agriculture, "In total, Oregon agriculture has a production value approaching $5 billion- its highest mark ever. Led by the nursery industry's $988 million value of production in 2007, there are eight commodities with values exceeding $100 million this past year. Fifteen commodities have production values of more than $50 million."
Agriculture is the 2nd most valuable sector of Oregon’s economy. Despite the current recession, Oregon agriculture is stable and growing, providing jobs that can’t be outsourced. Now more than ever, our land use planning program should protect Oregon agriculture, to continue to grow thousands of jobs and billions of dollars worth of economic output. That is why the proposals of the Big Look Task Force are misguided. (see below)
Big Look Task Force
Oregon's Big Look Task Force – created by the 2005 legislature to evaluate the state’s land use planning program and recommend improvements to meet future challenges – is drawing to an end.
The Task Force has submitted its final legislative concept (pdf) for the 2009 Legislature. 1000 Friends has concerns with several of the Task Force’s proposals, and also supports some proposals. However, the primary Task Force recommendation is deeply flawed.
New Definitions of Farm and Forest Land - The Big Look Task Force opens the door to massive re-zoning of Oregon’s farm and forest lands, using regional definitions yet to be created. The proposal is a mistaken response to suspicions that significant amounts of land are incorrectly zoned for farming. The Task Force found no data to support this concern, yet leaped ahead to propose an entirely new system of farm and forest land protection. No effort has been made to estimate whether this system will protect farm and forest land as well as current law, even though the Task Force concluded that the existing tools have been effective for 35 years. This proposal will pull the rug out from under Oregon agriculture and will be costly and confusing. It will also lead to increased rural sprawl, which will in turn lead to increased driving and undermine our efforts to combat global warming. Past attempts to re-map Oregon’s agricultural lands have failed
because Oregon’s agriculture thrives with a variety of growing conditions, soils, and climate that make every part of this state valuable for farming and ranching. The current land use planning program – while we believe it could be stronger – recognizes this. We encourage you to write your legislators and ask them to oppose this Task Force proposal.If you would like to view the final legislative proposal from the task force, simply visit their website, http://oregonbiglook.org/. And if you are concerned about this issue and want to learn about how you can help, please contact Tara Sulzen at 503-497-1000 or tara at friends.org.
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