A bill aimed at protecting Oregon cities and counties from lawsuits when people are injured on hiking trails will have a hearing at 1 p.m. Monday in the state Senate Committee On Judiciary.

Trail advocates hope it can restore recreational immunity, a law that was thrown into question by Oregon’s Court of Appeals last summer and led a handful of towns on the Oregon Coast to shut down trails.

The bill is being shepherded forward by state Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, who has made it an amendment within Senate Bill 1576 — a civil omnibus bill. It would be a short-term fix, Prozanski said, before a more lasting solution could be crafted in the longer 2025 legislative session.

Recreational immunity is a state law that has long protected local governments, the state and landowners that open public or private land for recreation from liability if someone gets hurt.

In July, Oregon’s Court of Appeals ruled the City of Newport couldn’t use recreational immunity to dismiss a lawsuit from a woman who sued the city after slipping and breaking her leg while crossing a trail bridge.

The case, and the Oregon Supreme Court’s affirmation of the ruling, sent shockwaves through the Oregon trails community.

CIS Oregon, the largest insurance carrier for Oregon cities and counties, declared the court had “effectively ended recreational immunity” and advised cities to consider closing trails.

At least five trails in Waldport, Oceanside and the Port of Garibaldi have closed and trail projects have been delayed. Most cities and Oregon’s state parks department are taking a wait-and-see approach.

By Friday evening, six people had submitted testimony supporting the bill.

“I want to see a fix to Oregon’s recreational immunity law because having access to trails, beaches, and forests is part of what makes us Oregonians,” wrote Dan Haag, director of trails and outdoor recreation for Tillamook Coast Visitors Association. “If people no longer can access trails and beaches, they will no longer feel the need to visit and spend the money in the local economy.”

The Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, which advocates for injured individuals, says concern about recreational immunity is overblown and ginned up by insurance companies that don’t want to pay out claims to victims who need money for medical care.

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Recreational immunity bill for Oregon trails gets hearing