Celebrating Phillip Johnson’s Legacy

After over 30 years of dedicated service, Oregon Shores says goodbye to Phillip Johnson. Phillip leaves behind an indelible legacy that has shaped our organization and its mission profoundly. He is still available for your land use questions at his home in Portland.

Phillip’s leadership, passion, and tireless advocacy have been central to Oregon Shores’ achievements over the past decades. Before taking on a staff role, Phillip served on the board of directors for 14 years. During that time, he founded the CoastWatch program in 1993, while playing other roles such as leading the board’s planning and development committee and editing the newsletter. He was also founding chair of the Oregon Conservation Network, a statewide consortium of environmental groups that began in 1995 and continues to this day as a project of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. Phillip moved to a staff role in 2005, taking on what had become a full-time job as CoastWatch Director. He became Executive Director in 2009. In 2023, he moved into a new role, as Oregon Shores’ Conservation Director, and then transitioned again in 2024, leading Oregon Shores’ shoreline and land use advocacy work. 

Phillip’s efforts have been instrumental in winning key land use and legal cases, safeguarding some of Oregon’s most precious coastal landscapes. Thanks to his commitment, Oregon Shores stands today as a stronger, more impactful organization. Due in a large part to Phillip’s tenacity and creative vision:

• the proposed Jordan Cove liquified natural gas export facility was defeated
• developments were blocked on land that later became the 804 trail
• Oregon Shores thwarted development attempts for the Sand Lake Spit, thereby creating the Sitka Sedge State Natural Area
• Oregon Shores worked in concert with others to dismantle the Oregon LNG export facility proposal on the Skipanon Peninsula in Warrenton
• Oregon Shores played a key role in helping to establish the five existing marine reserves 
• Blocked development of the Crook Point Golf Course, that would have impacted the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge and two state parks, which included one of Oregon’s most important seabird nesting areas
• Oregon Shores was instrumental in the designation of eight rocky habitat sites in 2021-2022
• in 2004, the Coastal Law project was formed, in partnership with the Crag Law Center 
• in 2023, Oregon Shores launched our Campaign for Oregon’s Estuaries, to address estuary management plan updates throughout the state 
• In 2024, Oregon Shores launched the Oregon Beaches Forever campaign, in partnership with Surfrider Foundation and Crag Law Center, to preserve our beaches in the face of climate change
• countless concerned community members have successfully fought development proposals and public access issues in their own communities with Phillip’s guidance

Oregon Shores will not be the same without Phillip Johnson, and we are sad to see him go. Please join me in honoring Phillip’s remarkable career and the countless contributions he has made.