The Save Skyline Forest Campaign is riding a wave of strong, local grassroots momentum and support. Thousands of community members from all walks of life speaking with one voice have helped move our backyard forest closer to being protected, once and for all.

In 2024, the Save Skyline Forest campaign will continue to engage with neighbors, partners, business owners, elected leaders, and our community to prevent large-scale, luxury development and put conservation at the heart of Skyline Forest’s future. We’re also excited to share the “Faces of Skyline Forest” with the Central Oregon community. This seven-part video series will highlight different Central Oregonians and their unique relationships with Skyline Forest.

We’ll keep interested community members updated as this work continues. If you have ideas or resources to contribute to this ongoing effort, please contact Corie Harlan, Central Oregon LandWatch’s Cities & Towns Program Director, at corie@colw.org.

So far, the work of Central Oregon LandWatch and the community have helped prevent any offers from developers looking to move forward with large-scale, luxury development of Skyline.

Given the sensitive nature of private land negotiations and sales, all acquisition-related questions should be directed to Deschutes Land Trust.

Central Oregon LandWatch is playing a specific role in the effort to Save Skyline Forest. We’re focused on raising awareness of and support for conserving Skyline Forest, and effectively deterring any large-scale, luxury development interests. These efforts are critical to making a conservation-focused offer the best and most compelling one to the seller. However, LandWatch does not acquire or manage properties.

Deschutes Land Trust (DLT) has deep knowledge and expertise in acquiring and conserving private forest land like Skyline Forest. See this Bend Bulletin article, “Local interest in buying Skyline Forest remains strong” for more information.

In August 2022, Skyline Forest was closed to all public access due to increased seasonal fire risk. As of now, Skyline Forest remains closed. Many people wonder when Skyline Forest will be open to the public again. In short, we don’t know.

Because this 33,000-acre property is privately owned, the decision to reopen the area to the public is up to the current landowner. While this ongoing closure is a tough loss for those who walk, run, ride, and recreate throughout Skyline Forest, respecting the landowner’s decision is essential. It’s also a reminder that we must keep working together to find a conservation solution that puts sustained public access and improved wildfire safety at the heart of Skyline Forest’s future.

A decade from now, we hope to walk through Skyline Forest and see a healthy, intact landscape that Central Oregonians enjoy, treasure, and care for.

As the years pass, Skyline Forest is on its way to becoming a mature forest that is more resistant to wildfire and the effects of drought. Herds of mule deer move into the landscape every winter, and flocks of songbirds wing through the ponderosa pines in the spring. Locals and visitors know where best to hike, bike, view wildlife, and explore with respect for the areas and trails best suited for their favorite activity.

Our Central Oregon communities are safer and more fire-resilient because no luxury residential development is spread throughout this fire-prone landscape. The watershed we depend on is supported by an influx of cold, clean water from Skyline Forest’s seasonal streams. Our breathtaking views of the Cascades and their green foothills remain.

The stakes are high. If this place becomes a large-scale, luxury development, we will have lost a vital place intrinsic to Central Oregon’s livability. That’s why we won’t let that happen.

Skyline Forest is a real, inspiring example of a community vision coming to life. By tackling tough issues and protecting what we love, we’re helping create healthier, safe, and just communities in Central Oregon where people and nature thrive.

Skyline Forest is currently zoned F1 Forest Use Zone under Deschutes County’s comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance. This zone implements Oregon's statewide land use Goal 4 Forest Lands, which protects forest lands for certain outright and conditional permitted uses. Most of these uses concern forestry and natural resource management, including conserving soil, air, and water quality and providing wildlife and fisheries resources.

However, F1 zoning could allow for limited residential development on large tracts of land. In essence, this could show up as luxury, single-family residences spread far and wide across Skyline Forest, dividing up and fragmenting critical wildlife habitat, putting more pressure on necessary groundwater resources, and posing a significant and unnecessary fire risk to those homes and the safety of those residing near this fire-prone landscape.

A well-resourced developer could also attempt to persuade Deschutes County to change Skyline’s zoning to allow even greater development. While it would likely be fiercely contested, Skyline’s F1 zoning could be similarly challenged to convert land from forest use and permit greater development potential in Skyline Forest.

Oregon’s land use laws are the pillars of Central Oregon’s quality of life. These laws are not easily circumvented and any potential buyer who wants to pursue large-scale luxury development of Skyline Forest will have a tough, arduous path ahead of them. Should a large development proposal or rezoning start to move forward it will take time, financial resources, and widespread community opposition to stop it.

Save Skyline Forest is a grassroots, community-driven conservation campaign. It’s the latest and most promising push in a two-decade-long effort to protect this place, once and for all.

Thousands of community members and a dozen local businesses and organizations have joined the effort to conserve Skyline and put sustained public access and improved wildfire safety at the heart of this forest’s future.

Local business partners including Worthy Brewing, Patagonia Bend, and FootZone have supported the Save Skyline Forest campaign. Other groups like Dirty Freehub, the world-class gravel cycling route guide, have been strong advocates. Individuals have also stepped up by writing letters and answering calls to action. This is a big lift, and it will take each of us stepping up for the future we want to see.

Is your group or business ready to join this effort? Contact Alex Hardison, Central Oregon LandWatch’s Communications Manager, at alex@colw.org.

Skyline Forest is Bend and Sisters’ backyard forest, and it is a fire-prone landscape. This is a result of Skyline’s decades-long history of being a privately owned and managed timberland. Over time, harvesting has removed fire-resistant mature trees and old growth, replacing them with younger, denser stands of ponderosa pine more prone to fire.

It is widely recognized by the community, forestry experts, and the current landowner that significant restoration and management efforts are urgently needed to restore the fire resilience of the property.

If our community can acquire and protect Skyline Forest, we can move forward with restoration and management approaches that reduce wildfire risk and restore a healthier and more fire-resilient forest. This is good for the forest's health and our nearby communities' safety.