Concerns on Legislature buying the waterfall

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon Foundation,

Oregon State Senator Fred Girod is devotedly working with other lawmakers to try to get the State of Oregon to purchase the Abiqua Falls as it is up for sale.  This waterfall is current owned by Mount Angel Abbey, a Benedictine community of monks under a private foundation. They seek to sell it in search of land closer to their Abbey.

It is hard in Oregon for a private foundation to own a waterfall.  For starters, Oregon is famous for being an extreme liability cost state. Making the news recently, Timberline Lodge is facing a staggering 586% increase in liability insurance costs since 2020. Outdoor touring companies are leaving Oregon due to high liability costs.  Just last year a man was injured at Albiqua Falls.

It is hard for private foundations to find mega-donor sponsors.  You may not have noticed, but several longtime festivals and legendary Oregon events have been cancelled, in part, over rising costs and declining sponsors (Brew Fest, Cycle Oregon Classic event after 33 years, Oregon Jamboree after 30+ years, Feast Portland, Willamette Country Music Festival, and Bend Brewfest).  The loss of Oregon’s major sponsors is a direct result of high taxes and big corporations leaving Oregon.  Lawmakers have addressed this decline by awarding one Portland non-profit $3 million to fund various Portland waterfront festivals.  Funding festivals is not a proper role of government.

Not everything of natural value needs to be government owned.  For instance, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado is one of America’s only privately owned zoos and they just happened to be listed as among the best zoos in the world.  Yet, Oregon may be unable to obtain such entrepreneurial endeavors because of its current risky environment, which means having state ownership may be the option by default.

The sale of this waterfall should be a good time to self-analyze the bigger picture on how friendly Oregon is to private partnerships of natural landmarks.