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

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
Helicopter spraying of pesticides.\Photo courtesy of Oregon Wild.
April 18, 2019

Online Resource Can Help to Trace Spray Impacts

Aerial spraying by helicopter.\Photo courtesy of Oregon Wild. We are at least 50 years into the battle against the aerial spraying of toxic herbicides that damage ecosystems and threaten human health and water supplies. Long-time Oregonians will remember the struggle in the Coast Range against the use of sprays containing dioxin (2,4,5-T). Herbicide opponents...Read more
Snowy plovers on South Beach.\Photo by Cathy Tronquet.
April 17, 2019

Snowy Plover Nesting Season Begins

Snowy plovers on South Beach.\Photo by Cathy Tronquet. Oregon’s conservationists and resource agencies have been engaged in a decades-long effort to restore the state’s population of the Western Snowy Plover, an endangered shorebird that nests on Oregon beaches (the only shorebird that breeds here). We are now in the nesting season, the crucial period for...Read more
The controversial Tai Dang house in Rockaway.\Photo by Scott Gilbert.
April 7, 2019

Rockaway Riprap Case Threatens Public Shoreline

The controversial Tai Dang house in Rockaway.\Photo by Scott Gilbert. We are nearing the endgame of a years-long struggle to prevent the riprapping of a structure in Rockaway Beach that never should have been built. The owner’s application to make permanent the temporary riprap he has already been allowed is the final opportunity to block shoreline armoring for...Read more
Motel currently located at Coquille Point.\Photo by Vickie Crowley.
April 2, 2019

Bandon Considers Coquille Point Hotel Proposal

Motel currently located at Coquille Point.\Photo by Vickie Crowley. Just about three decades ago, Oregon Shores was actively engaged in a land use battle over plans for Coquille Point in Bandon, supporting a host of dedicated local residents. Many in city government were pushing for development, but citizen advocacy prevailed. Almost all of the potentially...Read more
Fawn Custer, here leading a field trip at Otter Rock, is stepping down as CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator.|Photo by Dennis White.
March 25, 2019

Oregon Shores Seeks a New Volunteer Coordinator

Fawn Custer, here leading a field trip at Otter Rock, is stepping down as CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator. | Photo by Dennis White. CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator Fawn Custer, who has held that post for most of this decade, is stepping down as of April 15. She will continue to work with us as a teacher and trainer, thankfully, but the time has come to find a...Read more
Marine debris survey training in progress.|Photo by Dennis White.
March 15, 2019

CoastWatch Has Key Roles in Marine Debris Efforts

Marine debris survey training in progress. | Photo by Dennis White. CoastWatchers have been actively cleaning beaches of marine debris since the program was founded more than 25 years ago, and CoastWatch has had an organized marine debris project for the past eight years. In the wake of the 2011 Japanese tsunami, Oregon Shores (through CoastWatch) joined with...Read more