Bernie Newland and his wife Elaine love their 10-acre, forested slice of Oregon heaven nestled on Pete's Mountain near West Linn. But the beautiful mountain, home to some families and native wildlife, is threatened by hundreds of homes that could be built under Measure 37 claims.

The Newlands back Measure 49 as a way to restore some balance to out-of-control development that jeopardizes the character of Oregon as a place of green spaces. "With 37 I am really concerned for the state of Oregon. I don't mind development, but in a controlled fashion," he says.

"I didn't vote for 37. But, I've filed a 37 claim. But it is a defensive claim," says Bernie, a retired Boeing computer expert. The self-proclaimed conservationist does not want to build anything on his property. But, if the wooded hill they've called home for 30 years becomes covered with housing developments, the Newlands will sell and move. "It makes the whole area a place many rural people wouldn't want to live."

Already, Bernie says, there are plans for several large housing subdivisions that would add 130 to 140 homes to Pete's Mountain. Bernie says Pete's Mountain is particularly ill suited for further development because "this is a limited groundwater area." "When a house is built, the wells go dry next door and there’s less water for everyone."

"The area would run out of water" before all the houses could be built, he says. Local traffic is already "horrific" in this part of Clackamas County and more subdivisions would only make that worse, Bernie says. "This is a rural area that will be materially changed by 37 development."

Ironically, Bernie says, development would destroy the reason Pete's Mountain land is valuable in the first place, which is its idyllic, lightly developed, wooded setting.

"I support Measure 49," Bernie says, "it is a decent compromise to fix the problems created by Measure 37. I think Oregon is best left as Oregon."