SALEM — A bill that could help reopen a number of hiking trails on the coast passed the Oregon Senate on Thursday and now heads to the House. Senate Bill 1576 passed the Senate 25-2.
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 should consider closing trails. In response, around 22 trails were closed, mostly on the Oregon Coast. It halted a number of other trails projects being planned, multiple city officials said.
- Salem Statesman Journal
