House passes bill likely to help reopen Oregon Coast trails, heads to Gov. Kotek's desk

A bill likely to help reopen a number of hiking trails on the coast unanimously passed the Oregon House on Tuesday and now heads to the desk of Gov. Tina Kotek.

Senate Bill 1576 passed the House 50-0.

Shepherded by Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, the civil omnibus bill 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 local governments should consider closing trails.

In response, around 22 trails were closed, mostly on the coast. It halted a number of other trails projects being planned, multiple city officials said.

If Kotek signs the bill, most of those trails are expected to reopen and business would temporarily return to normal. But the issue of recreational immunity would be far from over.

The bill, which was only meant to be a temporary fix, sunsets in 2026. A working group is expected to take up a longer-term fix to recreational immunity in the coming year and bring forward legislation in the longer 2025 session.

The closures galvanized recreation groups to testify on behalf of the bill.

“This bill provides a critical temporary fix that will give landowners the assurance they need to keep Oregon's trails open to the public in the short term," Steph Noll, coalition director for the Oregon Trails Coalition, had said after bill passed the Senate.

The main opponent of the bill is the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, which has argued cities and counties should not enjoy such broad protection from lawsuits.

The advocacy group said recreational immunity "further reduces the financial incentive for cities, counties and the state to keep our families and communities safe," a statement said. "They will now have no responsibility to maintain safe trails, bike lanes and parks."

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. 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.