Judicial Ruling Creates Chaos in Oregon Where Volunteer Activities on Recreational Lands Have Come to a Halt

By James H. Moss   An issue that has rarely come up in the courts, which blasted full speed onto the scene in Oregon, is who is protected by a state recreational use statue. The statutes were directed at the landowner, the person making the decision to open his land to recreation for no fee.   In the past, volunteers working on the land have assumed, and to a major extent rightfully so, that they were also protected by the recreational use act of the state where they were volunteering.