The Oregon Legislature is about to vote on a critical topic for equestrians. Please send a short email to your state legislators (you have two of them) and ask them to vote FOR the legislation.
The Situation: A recent court case gutted Oregon’s recreational immunity law, which encouraged landowners to open lands to the public for recreational use by protecting the landowner if a recreational user sought damages after an injury. Because of the lack of recreational immunity, parks and municipalities across the state have closed trails. If the Oregon legislature doesn’t pass a new recreational immunity law, more trails will close.
The New Recreational Immunity Law: SB 1576A is emergency legislation that’s under consideration during this year’s short legislative session. It reinstates recreational immunity until January 2026, which gives the legislature time to craft a permanent fix in the 2025 full legislative session. All fifty states have enacted laws that provide liability protection to landowners who allow the general public to use their land for recreational purposes.
Find your legislator: To find the name and email address of your legislators, go here: https://geo.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html?appid=fd070b56c975456ea2a25f7e3f4289d1. Type your zip code in the “Find Address” box at the top left. You’ll find the names and email addresses of your state senator and state representative. Copy the email addresses and paste them into an email, compose your message, and hit Send.
What to say in your email: Here’s sample language you can use:
Dear [Sen. or Rep ____]
I am an equestrian trail rider from [name of your town], and I urge you to vote in favor of SB 1576A with the -10 amendment. In addition, please modify Item 5 in Sections 6 and 9 to specifically include horseback riding.
I support this legislation because [pick one or two]
- Being able to ride my horse on the trails on our public lands is important to me.
- SB 1576A’s recreational immunity provisions are critical to keeping our trails open, reversing recent closures, and keeping local trail improvement and development projects on track.
- Recreational immunity laws are the foundation of our healthy outdoor recreation economy. Recreation employs hundreds of thousands of people and brings in $200 billion annually to our state. Without strong recreational immunity protection, Oregon will lose billions of dollars in revenue and tens of thousands of good-paying jobs.
- All fifty states in the U.S. have enacted statutes that confer some degree of liability protection to landowners who allow the general public to use their land for recreational purposes.
Please pass SB 1576A with the -10 amendment that restores recreational immunity for public and private landowners and applies to both improved and unimproved trails. Also, please modify Item 5 in Sections 6 and 9 to specifically include horseback riding.
Your Yes vote will provide hundreds of thousands of Oregonians the continued access and use of our trails, and give landowners the protection they need. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
[Your name and contact info]
We are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose members are dedicated to building, promoting, preserving, and maintaining horse camps and trails in Oregon. For over 50 years, we’ve worked to ensure that horse trails and camps throughout our state remain accessible to riders now and in the future. OET members promote LNT ethics, outdoor ethics, campground etiquette, and trail etiquette.