Gov. Tina Kotek signed a bill Wednesday protecting public landowners from lawsuits over recreational incidents, but proponents caution it is just a temporary fix for a larger issue.

The legislation, Senate Bill 1576, is in response to a lawsuit filed against the city of Newport by a woman who broke her leg in 2019 after slipping and falling on a wooden bridge along the city’s Ocean to Bay Trail. The suit led to the temporary closure of several public trails on the Oregon Coast.

Private and public landowners, like cities, that open their lands for recreational use are typically immune from liability, thanks to a 1995 statute that offers recreational immunity, meant to encourage the opening of more recreation areas.

However, the injured woman’s legal representatives successfully argued that her use was not strictly recreational, as the path where she slipped was an access point to the beach.

The Oregon Court of Appeals upheld the argument in 2023, leading Citycounty Insurance Services, which insures several local governments in Oregon, to recommend its clients temporarily close public trails as lobbyists worked with elected officials on a fix. While some municipalities put up signs closing public trails, many opted to wait to see what came out of the legislative session.

Scott Winkels, a lobbyist for the League of Oregon Cities, which has been championing the cause, said the new bill simply adds three new categories of recreation to the existing statute — walking, running and cycling — while also allowing special recreation districts to use additional protections enjoyed by other municipalities.

The bill, passed during a short session, is only meant to protect landowners until a more permanent solution can be struck during the next legislative session in 2025, he said.

“The Legislature basically gave us this breathing room to get us through the summer,” Winkels said.

One big question to be addressed is whether recreational use is determined by the landowner or the user. In the 2019 lawsuit, the plaintiff successfully argued that she was not recreating, even if the city felt the trail was designed for that specific purpose. Winkels said the fear is that people who are accidentally injured on public lands can simply deny their use was recreational, opening up a loophole for litigation.

“Expecting the taxpayer to cover that for a voluntary activity is a little unreasonable,” Winkels said. “We assume a certain level of risk” when recreating outside.

Citycounty Insurance Services, in a written statement issued alongside the League of Oregon Cities on Wednesday, said the company was rescinding its advice to close public trails.