'Our trails are assets.' Recreation groups push hiking trail immunity legislation
Recreation groups, tourism officials and landowners voiced support Monday during a public hearing at the Oregon Legislature for restoring a law that protects cities and counties from lawsuits when people are injured on trails.
Senate Bill 1576 includes an amendment that would temporarily restore the legal power of recreational immunity — a law that protects landowners who open their land for recreation.
The law was thrown into question last July when Oregon’s Court of Appeals ruled the City of Newport couldn’t use recreational immunity to dismiss a lawsuit from a woman who sued the city after slipping and breaking her leg while crossing a trail bridge.
The ruling sparked a wave of trail closures from cities worried about an uptick in lawsuits they couldn’t afford to fight. CIS Oregon, which provides insurance to most Oregon cities and counties, said the court had “effectively ended recreational immunity” and should consider closing trails.
The bill is being shepherded forward by state Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, who has made it an amendment within Senate Bill 1576 — a civil omnibus bill. It would be a short-term fix, Prozanski said, before a more lasting solution could be crafted in the longer 2025 legislative session.
The bill is scheduled for a vote Wednesday in the committee’s working group. If passed, it could go to the Senate floor but also would also need to pass the House of Representatives. There is limited time for bills to pass in this year’s 35-day session.
Public testimony on Senate Bill 1576
Marcus Hinz, executive director of the Oregon Coast Visitors Association, said in testimony that 22 trails on the Coast already have closed or will be closed without the proposed fix in SB 1576.
“Our trails are one of our biggest assets for visitors and community enjoyment,” he said. “We are concerned that the closure of trails will shut down beach access and recreational hikers, dealing a huge blow to the tourism industry.”
Scott Winkels, a lobbyist for the League of Oregon Cities, that while SB 1576 was a temporary fix, it should be enough to restore the status quo by getting CIS to rescind its memo advising cities to close trails.
Michelle Emmons, a landowner in Oakridge, said the ruling had caused her to shut down her private property to local mountain bikers and hunters over fears she could now be held liable for any accident.
“Access to boating and fishing is in danger based on how the law it currently being read,” she said. “We depend on recreation as a source of tourism dollars.”
Not everybody was in favor of the bill.
Arthur Towers, with the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, said the bill was reacting to a case that hadn’t yet been completed. He noted that the original lawsuit — that sparked all the concern — had simply been remanded from the Court of Appeals to Lincoln County Circuit Court.
“She should still get a chance to tell her story to jury,” he said.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. To support his work, subscribe to the Statesman Journal. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Recreation groups push hiking trail immunity in Oregon Legislature
