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For the past eight years, Rogue Advocates has been actively engaged in reviewing and challenging the proposed Sunny Valley Sand and Gravel (SVSG) mine project on Graves Creek, just upstream from the Wild and Scenic Rogue River. This project poses significant risks to our region’s water, wildlife, and communities, and we remain committed to monitoring […]

With a few breakthrough projects this year and changes behind the scenes at Rogue Advocates we have quite a lot to tell you! We thank all of you who contributed generous donations, both in time and monetarily, that have allowed us to see so much done halfway through the year in Jackson and Josephine Counties. […]

In early 2024 the Josephine County Commissioners introduced and approved revisions to Chapter 19 of the county comprehensive plan to relax or eliminate minimum wildfire and safety mitigation standards for development of structures throughout the county. Josephine County is the only area in Oregon that does not fund a county wide fire district. At the […]

In a June 26 Guest Opinion in the Mail Tribune, former President of Friends of Jackson County (which merged with Rogue Advocates in 2011) reflected on 30 years of ensuring sustainable development in the Rogue Valley: “In the 1970s through the early 1990s, many Jackson County rural landowners requested rezoning of agriculturally zoned land that […]

News Coverage KDRV, Josephine County zoning change reversed by State Board, published on June 10, 2022 KTVL, Advocacy groups win land-use appeal against private developer in Merlin, published on June 15, 2022 Press Release Grants Pass, OR, June 8, 2022—The Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) ruled in favor of Rogue Advocates and 1000 Friends […]

This month, we are celebrating our 15th anniversary of working to protect farmland, forests, and open space in the Rogue Valley by recognizing highlights to mark this milestone! Often working quietly from behind the scenes and sometimes going without notice, we bet some of these actions may surprise you. We hope you learn something new and […]

Josephine County, Oregon––Rogue Advocates and 1000 Friends of Oregon have appealed a Josephine County land use decision to re-designate and rezone nearly 90 acres of forest land to rural residential to allow a residential subdivision with 5-acre minimum parcel sizes. Over 15,500 acres in Josephine County have already been re-designated as non-resource lands, with local […]

Ashland, OR. As a result of Rogue Advocates’ successful May 2021 appeal of the Grand Terrace annexation, the City of Ashland was forced to acknowledge the multitude of ways in which the annexation’s approval violated the City’s laws. But rather than require that the applicant conform to Ashland’s annexation code––which mandates that newly-annexed areas provide “safe […]

Pepper Trail, Vice President Rogue Advocates, and Craig Anderson, Land Use Program Manager, were interviewed by the Jefferson Exchange about the Ashland Annexation appeal on July 8, 2021. Listen to the recorded interview here: Jefferson Exchange Public Radio Jefferson Public Radio wrote: “The Rogue Valley needs more affordable housing, and Ashland acutely so. But when […]

Article by Damian Mann published in Ashland Tidings on June 11, 2021. The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals recently rejected a zone change by Jackson County commissioners that could have opened the door to widespread development of rural properties. “It is difficult if not impossible to understand what findings the Board of Commissioners relied […]

Written by Jimmy MacLeod. Published in the Mail Tribune on Jun 10, 2021. Is public safety “tinsel on a tree”? With little discussion, despite a hearings record of over 1,000 pages, the Ashland City Council unanimously approved the “Grand Terrace” annexation in December last year. As envisioned by the developer, the annexation would have resulted […]

Article by Damian Mann published in Ashland Tidings on June 4, 2021. Ashland’s attempt to annex 17 acres for a proposed apartment complex was rejected recently by the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. “The decision we made is incorrect,” said Bill Molnar, city planner, at a May 25 Planning Commission meeting. The city approved […]