Erik Kancler

Erik Kancler is the executive director of Central Oregon LandWatch, a Bend-based land use advocacy group. Previously, he worked as a climate scientist, private land use consultant, cartographer, and professional journalist. Erik holds a B.S. in Physical Geography (1997) and an M.A. in Geography (2001) from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Since 2001, his work has focused on the benefits of land use planning and the use of land use policy as a unique, powerful, and often under-appreciated tool for conservation. In 2009, he directed the grassroots campaign to protect the Metolius Basin as Oregon’s first-ever Area of Critical Statewide Concern through Oregon’s land use system. Erik has lived in Bend since 2005.