The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation engaged in several issues during the short 2026 Oregon legislative budget session that wrapped up March 6. The session was dominated by budget pressures, federal funding reductions and immigration-related legislation, with mixed results for Oregon's hunting and conservation community.

• Legislation to legalize ‘corner crossing’ was heard but did not pass. The bill theoretically would have opened access to an estimated half a million acres of corner-locked public land in Oregon while also protecting private landowners from liability. A federal court in the 10^th circuit has ruled that crossing from federal land to federal land where they intersect at a corner is legal, but the practical application of access raised several questions that state trespass statutes do not currently clarify. We expect this issue to return in 2027.
• House Bill 4145 originally proposed significant new restrictions on firearm permits, training requirements and magazine capacity – all of which would have burdened Oregon's hunters and threatened conservation funding generated through the Pittman-Robertson Act and hunting license sales – was substantially gutted before passage. The final version simply delays implementation of 2022 ballot measure 114 pending an Oregon Supreme Court ruling. RMEF considers this a partial win for Oregon's hunting community.
• Lawmakers passed a bipartisan bill increasing the state's transient lodging tax by 1.25 percent and dedicating the revenue to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for species recovery, habitat work and wildfire risk reduction. Many sportsmen organizations supported this measure as a supplement to sportsmen-generated dollars. Non-game species of concern, highway crossings and wolf depredation payments will receive increased funding as a result.
• A bill to require the Oregon Department of Forestry to maintain predictable timber harvest levels on state forests – with implications for elk habitat quality in western Oregon – failed for the third consecutive session.

About Hunt 2 Conserve

Hunt 2 Conserve is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization affiliated with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Its mission is to advance a legacy of hunting and conservation by educating, activating and developing stewards and defenders of these fundamentally American ideals. For more information, go to hunt2conserve.org.