All Stories

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. […]

Happenings in Rogue Valley and Statewide  It has been a busy year for us here at Rogue Advocates! Thanks to your continuing donations and support we have been able to successfully participate in multiple land use applications. Oregon Farm & Forest Lands came under threat by multiple legislative bills and commercial developments over the last […]

Mail Tribune, November 28, 2022 –– A local land-use watchdog group has published a guide aimed at making Oregon’s often complicated land-use system easier to understand. If more people understand the state’s land-use rules — which involve urban growth boundaries and a host of laws intended to preserve the state’s farm and forest lands — […]

Land Use Program Manager Devin Kesner and Board President Jamie Talarico discussed our new publication, Participating in Land Use Planning, and tips for getting involved with local land use planning, on the Jefferson Exchange on Jefferson Public Radio. We talked about barriers to getting involved, the basics of our land use planning system, and more! […]

[Jackson and Josephine Counties, OR, Nov 17, 2022]— In order to help community members effectively participate in Oregon’s complex land-use planning system, Rogue Advocates released a new community resource guide called “Participating in Land Use Planning”. This release comes at a timely moment when Oregon’s farm and forest lands are being converted by urban growth […]

Public participation is powerful and central to the sustainable functioning of our government. Land use planning is dependent on the public being involved in the planning process. With enabling more public participation as our motivating force, we’ve put together a new publication to make participating in the land use realm more accessible. We know firsthand […]

Facing sustained opposition from Rogue Advocates and community members, Jackson County made its final decision to deny an application for an aggregate mining operation on nearly 64 acres a few miles north of Shady Cove on Highway 227. The application was seeking approval for mining, crushing, sizing, stockpiling, hauling, and blasting, all within close proximity […]

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 […]

Source: Kevin McNamara/KTVL On June 29th, 2022, Rogue Advocates’ Board member Steve Rouse was featured on KTVL News regarding a gravel mine proposed just north of Shady Cove and Trail. Jackson County originally denied the application based on adverse impacts to residences located as close as 100 feet from the operation that will involve blasting, […]

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 […]

Mail Tribune, Guest View, Local Opinions, April 3, 2022 In case you haven’t noticed we are in an ever-worsening drought in the region. It’s clear to anyone who’s watching that the climate change chickens have come home to roost with a vengeance and the Rogue Valley is once again staring down the barrel of another […]