Measure 37 Threatens Oregon Vineyards
Environment Oregon, a statewide nonprofit organization, recently released a report analyzing proposed Measure 37 developments. The report found that more than 1,200 developments have been proposed,
affecting more than 100,000 acres of prime potential vineyard land. Developments proposed include subdivisions, commercial retail development, and gravel mining operations.
Total planted acreage for the state is now 15,600 acres, an increase of 2,200 acres since 2003. Current planted acreages is just 15 percent of the potential grape-growing land that could be lost to development under Measure 37. Overall, the wine industry in Oregon provides more than $1.4 billion in economic activity for the state.(For the full story, click here)
- More than twelve hundred Measure 37 developments (1,273) are
proposed for 103,282 acres of otherwise
protected high-value vineyard land. Nearly 1 in 7 acres of land subject to
Measure 37 claims qualifies as high-value potential vineyard land.
- If even 2% of the proposed
development claims move forward, losses of potential vineyard lands to
development would exceed the growth in acreage of planted grape crops since
2003.
- The vast majority (98,202 acres) of threatened prime vineyard land
is in the Willamette Valley.
This is nearly ten times the 10,000 acres of land in the valley currently planted
with wine grapes
and could pose a major threat to growth in Oregon's wine industry.
- 10,921 houses have been proposed
by Measure 37 claims on otherwise protected farm lands.
- Another 5,031 acres of threatened
prime vineyard land is in the Columbia River Gorge, all of it in Hood River County.
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