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| Rajneeshee cameramen at Rajneeshpuram, following staff visiting their then City Hall. |
Who would have guessed that a Netflix series prompts 1000 Friends to dive into the archives? Two weeks ago, we wouldn’t have. With the series Wild Wild Country on Netflix, a fresh new look at a fascinating piece of Oregon history is now captivating a new generation. With twists and turns, Wild Wild Country explores the rise and fall of the Rajneeshee movement to Oregon. In the early 80s, followers of an Indian spiritual leader,...
Since 2012, 1000 Friends' Land Use Leadership Initiative (LULI) has equipped advocates and activists with the tools they need to knowledgably engage with issues in their communities. Dozens of alumni have graduated from six cohorts in the Metro area around Portland. Thanks to the generosity of multiple partners, this fall we began the first ever non-Metro cohort in the Rogue Valley of Jackson and Josephine counties.
As Americans, we begin September with Labor Day, in celebration of all working people in our great nation. Especially in Oregon, the hard-working traditions of ranching, agriculture, and forestry are still very much a part of our identity and our economy. Oregon’s prosperity is dependent on the labor provided, year in and year out, by thousands of immigrant Oregonians who, like generations before, came here in search of a better life for themselves and their families. Responsible land use in Oregon would not be possible without the active and open participation of immigrant families; indeed, the state of Oregon would not exist at all.
Under the shade of the oldest tree in Yamhill County, past and present board members of 1000 Friends of Oregon gathered last Saturday for a heartfelt Summer Celebration in honor of 45 years of defending the state’s unique and powerful land use laws. In 1974, our first Board of Directors convened to support the shared vision of our co-founders, Governor Tom McCall and attorney Henry Richmond, to protect Oregon’s working lands, iconic landscapes, and livable cities by implementing legislation that would cement a bright future for our glorious state.
