Oregon
Audit says Oregon state parks failed to complete safety inspections
South Falls gushes after atmospheric river at Silver Falls State Park
Watch the South Falls gush after the atmospheric river at Silver Falls State Park.
Staff at Oregon’s state parks failed to complete safety inspections of park buildings and kept inconsistent records of state property, according to an audit released April 1 by the Oregon Secretary of State.
The problems, auditors found, could risk visitor safety and taxpayer money due to lawsuits and fines if not addressed.
“Oregonians love their state parks and have been able to safely enjoy them for decades,” Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read said in a statement. “The findings in this audit will help protect that important legacy and our public dollars.”
The audit was the latest hit in what’s been a rough stretch for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, which faces a multimillion revenue shortfall and has responded with a series of unpopular fee increases and program cuts.
In response to the audit, OPRD issued a statement saying agency officials agreed with the report’s findings “and have already begun implementing improvements, many of which were underway during the audit.”
Interim director Stefanie Coons added: “The safety of our visitors and the protection of Oregon’s state parks have always guided our decisions, and we remain committed to strengthening the systems that support that responsibility.”
The audit period covered June 2022 to June 2025.
OPRD doesn’t complete building safety inspections, audit finds
Auditors found that “OPRD doesn’t consistently complete or document required building inspections.”
“When inspections are missed or aren’t recorded, it could lead to injuries to the public and reduce confidence in the safety of Oregon’s parks,” the audit said. “These gaps could affect staff safety, limit OPRD’s ability to identify hazards early and respond properly and may result in regulatory fines.”
The areas inspected were located at overnight campgrounds that offer tent and RV camping and have restrooms.
OPRD manages about 50 campgrounds and 250 day use sites. Many of the agency’s 2,000 buildings are over 50 years old with some beyond their expected lifespans, making the quarterly inspections critical.
“Despite these requirements, we found inspections weren’t consistently performed and documented,” the audit said. “One of the parks we visited had no records of building inspections from 2022 to 2025.”
Oregon’s state parks have seen a skyrocketing number of visitors across the past decade and a half, culminating in record-setting visits in 2024.
OPRD managers told auditors that missed inspections or lack of documentation “were due to competing priorities, including prioritizing customer service — that is, being responsive to park visitors and emergent situations over ensuring records are kept accurately.”
In the past three years, OPRD received three citations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, costing $10,000.
- One citation was linked to a concessionaire-operated building where OPRD and the concessionaire failed to identify and address hazards due to a lack of inspection.
- The others involved failing to check for lead paint hazards and using improperly trained forklift operators.
OPRD shows inadequate management of state property including phones, trailers
The agency is required to track and document all its capital assets — from phones to truck trailers. The audit found 38% of its assets were missing key information in state databases.
OPRD’s assets include up to $1 billion in equipment.
“Inaccurate or incomplete asset records increase the risk of theft, loss, unrecouped damages, and legal liability,” the audit said. “They can also create safety risks.”
The audit noted a backpack blower, utility trailers, an automated external defibrillator and iPhones that hadn’t been documented or had been incorrectly documented. That can mean it’s not covered by insurance.
“These types of gaps have already caused financial losses. After being destroyed by a fire, a $50,000 trash compactor had to be replaced using OPRD funds because it wasn’t listed in (state systems),” the audit said.
Audit suggestions for OPRD
Auditors issued recommendations to OPRD to address these problems, including:
- Finalize and roll out policies and procedures requiring quarterly safety inspections of employee-occupied structures, with clearly defined roles and responsibilities for execution and oversight, including documentation standards.
- Update OPRD’s asset management guidance, including clear procedures for currently uncovered asset types such as infrastructure and transportation.
- Provide recurring training to all relevant personnel on asset management policies — including tagging, record-keeping and disposal procedures — and reinforce expectations through performance evaluations or other accountability mechanisms to ensure compliance.
- Continue efforts to replace the Oregon Parks and Recreation Information System with a new asset management system and ensure the new system has all required fields needed for accurate reporting.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 18 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors and BlueSky at oregonoutdoors.bsky.social
The Oregon Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 7, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Pick 4 numbers from June 7 drawing
1PM: 8-1-4-9
4PM: 7-1-2-5
7PM: 9-0-5-8
10PM: 8-4-9-5
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Oregon Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 7:59 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 7:59 p.m. on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 4: 1 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. daily.
- Win for Life: 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Megabucks: 7:29 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by an Oregon editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Sometimes the next visit is just the best visit.
That was the case for four-star edge rusher K.J. Green, who visited the Oregon Ducks last weekend before making a trip to Baton Rouge to visit LSU this weekend. Green left Eugene with a positive visit, and the Ducks had every reason to feel like a contender and potentially a frontrunner in the race.
However, Green’s trip to LSU went so well that the pass rusher from Stone Mountain, Georgia, decided to lock in his commitment with the Tigers. Green wasn’t scheduled to commit until August 8, and it appeared that Green would take all of his visits before making a decision, so the early commitment was a surprise.
Green chose LSU over Oregon, South Carolina and Georgia. He is the No. 48 player and No. 8 edge rusher in the country, per the Rivals Industry Ranking. During his junior season in high school, Green racked up 129 tackles, 40 for a loss, 18 sacks and four forced fumbles. He was named a MaxPreps Junior All-American and was the Region 5-AAA Defensive Player of the Year.
Standing at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, Green profiles very similarly to Nasir Wyatt, who is expected to contribute in a big way for the Ducks this season. Oregon has the No. 9 class in the nation, per Rivals, which includes top-100 player and edge rusher Rashad Streets.
Missing out on Green is a tough loss for the Ducks, but the program could walk away from this weekend’s round of official visits with another edge rusher in tow. Keep an eye on three-star Achilles Reyna to potentially commit to the Ducks soon.
Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
The winning formula for Texas baseball against Oregon in the opening game of the Austin Super Regional seemed relatively simple: perform on the mound, create traffic on the bases and control the game. If the Longhorns could avoid a slow start and Dylan Volantis kept sharp, they could trust the Ducks’ aggressive approach at the plate would eventually work against them.
Well, Texas did that. More or less.
Volantis turned in one of the more unusual starts of his season, setting a career high in wild pitches while walking four and allowing eight hits. But he also struck out 10 batters and stranded 10 Oregon runners through 5 1/3 innings.
That proved to be more than enough for the Longhorns to take advantage of an Oregon pitching staff that simply could not stop handing out free passes.
Texas effectively outlasted the Ducks on Saturday night, scoring 11 runs on just eight hits to claim Game 1 of the Austin Super Regional and move one win away from its first College World Series berth since 2022.
“I think both teams had one opportunity, and the difference in the game was we got some pitches up and put some balls in play to score runners with third base and less than two outs, and they didn’t,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “You can give credit to Dylan mainly for that, making pitches when he had to make them.”
Texas Delivers While Oregon Repeatedly Comes Up Empty
While Volantis did not have his sharpest outing of the season, he delivered when it mattered most.
Oregon put runners on base in every inning Volantis pitched and stranded 10 runners through the first five frames. The sophomore left-hander battled command issues, uncorked a career-high number of wild pitches and frequently worked in and out of trouble. Yet time and time again, he escaped.
The Ducks threatened in the first inning, putting runners on the corners before Volantis struck out Brayden Jaksa to escape the jam. It was not the last time Oregon would leave runners in scoring position, as the Ducks finished the night 0-for-14 with RISP.
And despite giving Volantis trouble, Oregon repeatedly came away empty-handed.
Texas could not say the same.
The Longhorns got things going in the first inning, when Adrian Rodriguez ripped a two-run double into the left-center gap to score both Aiden Robbins and Anthony Pack Jr. to give the Longhorns an early lead. One inning later, Casey Borba launched an opposite-field home run — his 18th of the year — before Dariyan Pendergrass scored on a Robbins sacrifice fly after drawing a walk and stealing two bases.
And while Texas took advantage of every scoring opportunity, Oregon continuously left the door open.
With the bases loaded and one out in the third inning, Volantis once again slammed the door on Oregon’s scoring chance by striking out Jaksa and inducing a groundout to end the inning. In the fourth, Oregon put runners on second and third with nobody out before Volantis struck out the next two batters and recorded another groundout to complete the escape act.
After Volantis exited in the sixth with the bases loaded and one out, Thomas Burns struck out his first batter before issuing back-to-back two-out walks that cut the Texas lead to 8-2. But Luke Harrison, an expected Game 2 starter, entered and struck out Blake Mabeus to strand the bases loaded.
“Super cool to see Luke Harrison come into that situation and just do the job,” Volantis said. “He’s the most trustworthy guy you could ask for; whatever you ask of him, he’s going to do it.”
In the bottom half of the inning, Rodriguez delivered another RBI on a sacrifice fly before Ethan Mendoza launched a two-run homer to left-center field. Rodriguez finished the night with a career-high five RBI.
Harrison worked another scoreless inning before Brody Walls closed out the final two frames, allowing just one run on a solo homer in the eighth.
The Longhorns and Ducks will meet again Sunday night, with Texas now just one win away from its first Men’s College World Series berth since 2022.
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