Lucy Fomenko lives in the beautiful Iowa Hill area of Cornelius and grows wheat, Christmas trees, has horses, fowl and a garden. Timber giant Stimson Lumber Co. has filed a Measure 37 claim on 1,400 acres that border her property. Stimson plans to build dozens of luxury, view homes there. The company using Measure 37 to develop land is contrary to the way Measure 37 was proposed--it was presented as a way to assist families that just wanted to develop a home site or two. Maybe even three home sites.

Back when Measure 37 went before voters in 2004, nobody said anything about giving a green light to timber companies to convert forests into subdivisions.

Lucy is anxious about water shortages and other changes that are inevitable when a subdivision moves in that never was contemplated until Measure 37 came along.

Lucy worries about how similar claims all over Oregon will change our state forever. She supports Measure 49 as a way to stop such haphazard development. She is convinced that Measure 49 gives landowners flexibility to use their property and build a home or two for their children or others, "but it keeps the big commercial guys from turning Oregon into concrete."

Lucy gets her water from a spring. "I have a biologist friend and he says 'your biggest issue here is water. You are going to have water problems.'" She is worried her spring and the neighbors' wells will run dry as a result of the big, new homes. Lack of water is a real safety issue too, "there would not be enough water to put out a fire," Lucy says. Lucy and her neighbors are also upset about traffic and transportation issues on the country roads around Stimson's proposed Iowa Hill development.

"Stimson has 1,400 acres of prime timberland here. It is a prime habitat for wildlife. There are deer, coyotes, hawks, a pond," Lucy says. This development is just one of many that will change the soul of Oregon, Lucy says, "Measure 49 is good. It protects Oregon. This is one of the greatest states in the country with natural resources and beauty."