A group that’s been trying to outlaw aerial pesticide spraying in Lincoln County is deciding how to proceed after a court threw out their 2017 initiative banning it.
After Lincoln County voters narrowly approved the ban, opponents including timber owners sued to block it. The ban was in effect for more than two years, but in 2019 a judge overturned the initiative, saying a state law preempted any local bans.
The initiative’s sponsors challenged the ruling to the Oregon Court of Appeals. This month, that panel affirmed the lower court’s ruling without comment.
Debra Fant is with Lincoln County Community Rights, the group that’s trying to ban aerial spraying.
“We may not have won this particular experience, but we’re not done," she said. "We’re not going to sit back and say ‘oh, all right, you win.’”
Fant says the group isn’t sure yet whether they’ll appeal the ruling to the Oregon Supreme Court.
An attorney for Lincoln County says he doesn’t think such an appeal would be successful, according to a press release from the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners.
