The owner of Marr Ranch, near Chief Joseph's burial site, has filed a Measure 37 claim in order to build an RV camp there. (Ellen Morris Bishop)

Oregon's controversial property-rights law is back in the news after the state's supreme court ruled last month that it is constitutional.

The measure, which voters passed in November 2004, states that government "must pay owners, or forgo enforcement, when certain land use restrictions reduce property value," which could open the door to development.

On Feb. 21, the court reversed an October decision by a county circuit court judge that the measure was invalid. It was the final word on a lawsuit, MacPherson v. Department of Administrative Services, filed in January 2005 by former Senator Hector MacPherson, landowners, farmers, and the preservation group 1,000 Friends of Oregon.

Some landowners object to the new law because under Measure 37, developers can build on land next to working farms, lowering their property value.

"The court held that Measure 37 is legal. The court did not rule that it is fair," said Bob Stacey, executive director of 1000 Friends of Oregon, in a statement. "It is not fair to put a gravel pit next to someone's home, and that is what Measure 37 allows."

More than 66,000 acres could be affected by Measure 37, the group says. Since the law was passed, the state has received 1,263 claims under the measure. Not all of them are land-use claims: 1,063 have been referred to the state's department of land use. Of those land-use claims, almost 90 percent request permission to develop farm and forest land.

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