Coastal Conservation News Archive

A complete archive of our past news articles, beginning in Fall 2016; older articles from our previous website are available in the historical archive

August 14, 2019

New Environmental Steward Program Boosts CoastWatching

Marine debris surveying will be one way of earning a certificate.\Photo by Jesse Jones. Oregon Shores and CoastWatch announce a new partnership with Clatsop Community College, the Environmental Steward Certificate program. The goals of the new initiative are to boost the skills of CoastWatchers and provide mile adopters with the opportunity to take classes and...Read more
August 8, 2019

Beach Water Quality Monitoring Reveals Polluted Coastal Waters

Frolicking in ocean waters--check to make sure they aren't polluted.\Photo by Sonja Peterson. The Oregon Beach Monitoring Program , based at the Oregon Health...Read more
July 9, 2019

State Considering Plan to Address Ocean Acidification

Oregon's ocean off Netarts, Cape Lookout in the background.\Photo by Dale Harmer. Mandated by the 2017 Oregon Legislature, the state is in the process of developing a plan to address the growing problem of ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH). The Oregon Coordinating Council on Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia (OAH), a body composed of scientists and agency...Read more
July 3, 2019

FERC Comment Deadline Passes, Response Awaited

The full Jordan Cove Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Don't worry--you don't have to respond to every statement! The public comment period to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) concerning the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Jordan Cove Energy Project’s proposed LNG (liquefied natural gas) project on Coos Bay’s North Spit...Read more
June 9, 2019

New CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator Comes Aboard

New CoastWatch volunteer coordinator Jesse Jones.\Photo by Rita Goldfarb. We’ve reached the happy end of a long search for our new CoastWatch volunteer coordinator, replacing Fawn Custer, who remains active as our CoastWatch citizen science trainer. An enthusiastic welcome to Jessica (Jesse) Jones, who now steps into the coordinator role. An Astoria resident, a...Read more
May 29, 2019

Orca Awareness Month Declared in Oregon

For 13 years, June has been proclaimed Orca Awareness Month by the Governor of Washington — and for the first time in 2016, Orca Awareness Month was celebrated in Oregon and in British Columbia as well! The American Cetacean Society’s Oregon Chapter kicked things off early with an Orca Awareness Day at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. Any...Read more
Spouting horn at Cape Perpetua.\Photo by Bonnie Moreland.
May 10, 2019

Rocky Shore Policy Update under Consideration

Spouting horn at Cape Perpetua.\Photo by Bonnie Moreland. For the first time in a quarter-century, Oregon is revisiting the state’s policies that protect our rocky shores. The current Rocky Shores Management Strategy, dating back to the early 1990s, was never fully implemented, and existing regulations haven’t been revised in the face of growing population,...Read more
Jordan Cove (left-center) and the North Spit.\Photo by Rena Olson.
May 8, 2019

Jordan Cove Water Quality Permit Denial Marks Key Victory

Jordan Cove (left-center) and the North Spit.\Photo by Rena Olson. Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has denied a water quality certification to the Jordan Cove Energy Project’s proposed LNG (liquefied natural gas) export terminal, aimed at Coos Bay’s North Spit. Acting with its authority under the Clean Water Act, the state agency, in a...Read more
May 6, 2019

Jordan Cove Battles Underway

Jordan Cove (middle ground to the left) from the air.\Photo by Rena Olson. The long, long struggle to prevent development of an LNG (liquefied natural gas) export terminal on Coos Bay’s North Spit may be moving into its final year. But Oregon Shores, along with numerous allies in the no-LNG coalition, has been battling LNG schemes aimed at the Coos Bay estuary...Read more
The forested property which was under threat of development.\Photo by Tiffany Boothe.
April 25, 2019

Court of Appeals Victory Protects Land Use Planning System

The forested property which was under threat of development.\Photo by Tiffany Boothe. Oregon Shores and the Crag Law Center, our partners in the Coastal Law Project, have won an important land use case at the Oregon Court of Appeals. The court’s decision in Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition v. Board of Commissioners of Clatsop County, handed down April 24,...Read more