| Total miles of U.S. coastline | 1,410 |
| Total spatial area under consideration | 1,086 square miles |
Activity lead contact information:
Cristen Don
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
cristen.n.don@state.or.us
www.oregonocean.info
Activity implementation: Oregon has had an active ocean planning program since 1991. That program resulted in development of the Oregon Territorial Sea Plan in 1994, which was subsequently approved by NOAA as part of the Oregon Coastal Zone Management Program. In 2000, Governor Kitzhaber directed the Oregon Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) to study the question of whether to establish marine protected areas in Oregon waters. In 2002, OPAC presented its document, “Report and Recommendation to the Governor: Oregon and Marine Reserves,”suggesting that a limited network of pilot marine reserves be designated and evaluated in Oregon. In March 2008, Governor Kulongoski directed the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to consult closely with OPAC to implement an open-community-based process to identify up to nine marine reserve sites to be proposed to the Oregon legislature. In November 2008, OPAC recommended six sites to ODFW for legislative action. The 2009 legislature designated two sites, Redfish Rocks at Port Orford (with a companion protected area) and Otter Rock near Depoe Bay. Four other sites were deferred for further community evaluation. In November 2010, OPAC recommended an additional three sites to ODFW that are pending action in the 2011 Oregon legislature. Sites would be at Cape Falcon, Cascade Head, and Cape Perpetua; an additional site at Cape Arago is undergoing further evaluation by ODFW.
Activity status: Ongoing
State(s) involved: Oregon
Regional association involvement: No regional associations are involved at this time.
Partners: State Agencies―Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD), Department of State Lands (DSL), Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD); Community Groups―Port Orford Ocean Resource Team (POORT), Depoe Bay Near Shore Action Team (NSAT), Port of Coos Bay, community teams in Cannon Beach, Lincoln City, and Yachats; Academia―Oregon State University, Oregon Sea Grant
Activity description: In June 2009, the Oregon legislature enacted House Bill 3013, which directed relevant state agencies to implement two of OPAC’s 2008 recommendations on marine reserves. Pilot marine reserves were implemented by regulation at Otter Rock near Depoe Bay and Redfish Rocks off Port Orford. In December 2009, the State Land Board, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission adopted rules establishing the Otter Rock Marine Reserve and the Redfish Rocks Marine Reserve and adjoining Marine Protected Area (MPA). These rules govern uses of submerged and submersible lands and regulate fishing, hunting, and other uses, as well as public access, in the reserves and MPAs. The ODFW rules take effect June 30, 2011, to allow time for the collection of baseline information. In response to HB 3012, during 2009 and 2010 ODFW convened and worked closely with three community teams to evaluate potential reserves at Cape Falcon south of Cannon Beach, Cascade Head near Lincoln City, and Cape Perpetua near Yachats. Although not part of the legislative directive, another potential marine reserve site at Cape Arago-Seven Devils area, south of Coos Bay, was evaluated through a separate stakeholder process convened by the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay. As a result of 18 months of extensive community discussions, ODFW in December 2010 recommended that three additional sites be designated. HB 2009, introduced in the 2011 Oregon legislature, would designate these three sites.
Jurisdictions: Local, state, tribal
Objectives: Economic, environmental, social
Ocean uses to be managed: All extractive (e.g., fishing) or damaging activities are prohibited; non-consumptive uses are permitted.
Ocean uses to be considered/analyzed: Non-consumptive recreation, scientific research and monitoring, and navigation within the sites; ocean hydrokinetic energy development in nearby waters
Management Considerations:
Additional uses: Future non-extractive activities will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine if they have negative impacts on the functions and values of the marine habitats and biodiversity protected within the sites. Scientific research, monitoring, sight-seeing, recreational diving, wildlife viewing, and photography are all activities encouraged for these sites.
Enabling authority: Governor’s executive order, existing statutory authorities, new legislative directives
Priority legislation:
Committed resources: In 2009-2011, ODFW applied $1 million in state funds to the marine reserves program and approximately $275,000 in federal and nongovernmental contributions. This has resulted in approximately 6 full-time-equivalent staffing for the initiative. The DLCD, DSL, and OPRD have also committed staff time, technical support, communications, and other resources to support the community evaluation process.
Public participation: The entire process for designating marine reserves has been based on public involvement, principally through community action teams. These teams involved hundreds of stakeholders directly. In addition, DLCD created a website (www.oregonocean.info) as an information portal to support all phases of the community process. DLCD provided training to the ODFW staff members, who uploaded more than 130 documents or items a month to the site. The website averaged 9,600 visits per month from over 2,000 individual users.
Plan evaluation and adaptation process: Legislation designating the marine reserves requires periodic reporting by ODFW in consultation with other relevant state agencies. ODFW is also required to conduct baseline monitoring to determine the ecological and economic effects of designation. Based on that monitoring, ODFW and the State Land Board are required to consult with OPAC and initiate appropriate rule-making if necessary to adjust the size, location, and restrictions on the sites.
Next steps: Once implemented in administrative rule by ODFW, DSL, and OPRD, the marine reserves will be incorporated into the state’s Territorial Sea Plan and submitted to NOAA’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) for approval as part of Oregon’s Coastal Zone Management Program. That process will be coordinated with amendments to the Territorial Sea Plan for ocean renewable energy but will be completed as a discrete effort. Coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP) in Oregon has had an initial focus on MPAs and energy development. Over the next several years, several of these activities will merge into a single framework for coordinating, financing, and implementing CMSP.