The so-called takings measure requires governments to paylandowners when regulations "take" some of a property's value byputting restrictions on the property's use. Foes of the measurecontend it will crush the state's vaunted land-use planning systembecause government officials could not afford to enforce theregulations.

Opponents raised more than $1.5 million to fight the measure,more than four times what Oregonians in Action reported spending topass it. For that reason and the fact that a number of newspapershave printed editorials against the measure, nobody expected themeasure to be very close – until last week. That's when a poll forThe Oregonian and KATU with a 4% margin of error showed 49 percentof voters supported the measure and 46 percent were against.

The news prompted the state's chief land-use planning watchdoggroup, 1000 Friends of Oregon, to stage eleventh-hour press events,including a band of farmers who drove their tractors the Capitol inSalem in opposition to the measure. Some farmers, planners andenvironmentalists see the measure as a veiled attempt to wipe outthe state's land use measure's and gobble up rural farm land forurban development. Regardless, the effort appears too little, toolate.