Oregon Rethinks Easing Land-Use Limits
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SALEM, Ore. -- Cities in Oregon have suburbs that come to a sudden and seemingly arbitrary stop. They slammed into an "urban growth boundary," which for decades prevented townhouses and strip malls from invading the state's farmland and forests.
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By Matthew Leblanc, Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo.  Mar. 12--A local Libertarian group wants to change city law to protect private landowners from efforts by the city to seize their property for economic development.
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By Backus, Perry  The Blackfoot Challenge and Nature Conservancy's plan to preserve up to 88,000 acres of Plum Creek Timber Co. lands in and around the Blackfoot Valley took a big step forward late last week.
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SEATTLE -- Libertarians and land developers have found populist fodder in a contentious Supreme Court decision from last year that favors eminent domain over private property.
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By Thomas Ryll, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.  Sep. 4--A year-old development moratorium in the traffic-stuffed Salmon Creek area may be extended for another 12 months and could have to stretch three years beyond that.
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By Rocky Barker, The Idaho Statesman, Boise  Sep. 21--Gov. Jim Risch outlined a new approach to managing the state's 9.3 million acres of roadless land Wednesday that state and federal officials say will go forward despite a federal court ruling that challenges the state's involvement.
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By Melanie Marquez, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.  Dec. 14--BRADENTON -- Concerns from a local environmental group didn't keep the Bradenton City Council from adopting amendments Wednesday that define how many units can be built along parts of the city's shorelines.
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By Andre Briscoe, The Monterey County Herald, Calif.  Sep. 24--Gardening may soon be on the rise in Pacific Grove, if a new environmental group has its way.
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By Bob Cuddy, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif.  Jun. 18--The rolling hills that help entice tourists to the North Coast may or may not end up with "starter castles" or other structures on their ridgelines.
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A U.S. study suggested that wildfires burn more severely in salvage logged and replanted areas than in areas left to regenerate naturally.  The Oregon State University study is one of the first to quantify the effect of salvage logging and replanting on future fire severity.
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By Doug Smeath Deseret Morning News  Salt Lake City and North Salt Lake have reached a compromise on 80 acres of foothill land, after five years of back-and-forth bickering over open space on their border.
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By Jessica L. De Vault, Herald-Journal, Spartanburg, S.C.  Feb. 19--A group of Hunting Country residents are exploring a number of  options to assure that their spacious, rural region is left unscathed from  high-density development.
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PORTLAND, Ore.  - An Oregon county was ordered by  a judge to start issuing marriage licenses again after  officials stopped granting them earlier this year to avoid  discriminating between heterosexual and homosexual couples.
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By Patty Fisher, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.  Dec. 18--When you consider Bill and Jean Lane's lifetime of contributions to open-space preservation, their campaign to prevent two measly houses from being built in their Portola Valley neighborhood may seem like small potatoes.
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The state at the center of a national property rights battle moved to limit the use of eminent domain, two years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that governments may seize property for private development projects.
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Property owners faced off against conservationists at a legislative hearing to reconsider new rules that restrict development near shorelines where sandpipers, plovers and other migrating birds feed and rest.
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By Elizabeth Ahlin, Omaha World-Herald, Neb.  Sep. 24--COUNCIL BLUFFS -- In an attempt to beat the clock on new Iowa restrictions, the City Council will consider Monday taking as many as 66 properties through eminent domain over the next year.