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

Jordan Cove (left-center) and the North Spit.\Photo by Rena Olson.

Jordan Cove Water Quality Permit Denial Marks Key Victory

jordan_cove_rena_olson.jpg 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 decision announced on May 6,...Read more

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.

Court of Appeals Victory Protects Land Use Planning System

apsmo_property_tiffany_boothe.jpg 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, upheld our claim that the county’s...Read more
Helicopter spraying of pesticides.\Photo courtesy of Oregon Wild.

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.

Snowy Plover Nesting Season Begins

snowy_plovers_south_beach_cathy_tronquet.jpg 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...Read more
Motel currently located at Coquille Point.\Photo by Vickie Crowley.

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.

Oregon Shores Hiring New Volunteer Coordinator

6cculyqa.jpg Long-time CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator Fawn Custer, who held that post for most of this decade, stepped down in April. She continues to work with us as a teacher and trainer, thankfully, but we've been seeking a new Volunteer Coordinator to direct the program. We are close to making the final choice among some great candidates for the position...Read more
Marine debris survey training in progress.|Photo by Dennis White.

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 decade. In the wake of the 2011 Japanese tsunami, Oregon Shores (through CoastWatch) joined with four...Read more
Yaquina Bay, with Hatfield Marine Science Center in foreground.|Photo by Alex Derr.

Time for 'Sharing the Coast'

rvxeqpla.jpg For the tenth year, CoastWatch is joining forces with the Northwest Aquatic and Marine Educators (NAME) to sponsor the Sharing the Coast Conference, an annual cornucopia of information about coastal science, natural history, and shoreline monitoring. This year’s conference takes place March 8-10 at the Hatfield Marine Science Center (2030 S.E. Marine...Read more
A Chacabuco 30L daypack, one of the raffle prizes donated by Patagonia.

Raffle Winners Lead the Way to 2019 Monitoring

A Chacabuco 30L daypack, one of the raffle prizes donated by Patagonia. CoastWatch celebrated its 25 th anniversary year in 2018. As the final stage of this celebration, during the final quarter of the year we held a special kind of raffle to reward active mile adopters. Tickets couldn’t be bought, they had to be earned, with a ticket awarded for each...Read more