Oregon’s iconic public beaches are one of the state’s most beloved features. Few are the states whose citizens and visitors have access to the entire shoreline. Protecting this Oregonian legacy has been one of Oregon Shores’ key missions for more than five decades.

Yet those public beaches are at risk, caught in what is known as the “coastal squeeze,” between rising sea levels and human infrastructure.

Oregon Shores is partnering with the Surfrider Foundation in a new campaign, Oregon Beaches Forever, to address the long-term threats to our Oregon beaches, dunes, and shorelands before it is too late. The goal is to foster a statewide conversation about the future of our Oregon shore.

Oregon Beaches Forever is a long-term campaign, which we expect to carry out over a number of years. Before we can hope for the kinds of comprehensive new policies we will need if we are the preserve our beaches in the face of sea level rise, we have to alert Oregonians to the fact that their beaches are at risk, and that will take a massive amount of public education.

Shoreline armoring, such as riprap revetments and seawalls, is proliferating as rising seas and intensifying storms due to climate change increase erosion and threaten properties. However, such hardened shoreline protection structures hasten the erosion of beaches, causing scour in front of the structures while depriving beaches of a replacement sand supply from dunes and bluffs. If we lose beaches and dunes, we won’t just lose opportunities for recreation and solitude, we will lose important coastal habitat areas as well.

Oregon Shores and Surfrider plan to inform the Oregon public about both the science of coastal erosion and habitat loss, and the policy and legal alternatives, both those that are possible under Oregon’s current land use laws, and those that would require new legislation. We plan to provide public education about the shoreline through webinars, in-person seminars, and social media.

While working toward long-term solutions, we will collaborate on more immediate goals, such as advocating for tighter regulations to limit shoreline protection structure permits through the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, and developing a strategy for preserving Oregon’s legacy of coastal state parks. We will also work together to strengthen city and county comprehensive plans in terms of preserving the shoreline and limiting development in hazard areas.

As the Oregon Beaches Forever campaign develops, there will be plenty of volunteer opportunities, ranging from helping to organize educational events, to advocating within city or county land use processes, to lobbying for new state legislation.

For more information, contact Phillip Johnson, Oregon Shores’ Shoreline and Land Use Manager, (503) 754-9303, phillip@oregonshores.org. To connect with Surfrider concerning this campaign, contact Kaia Hazard, the group’s Oregon Region Manager, at khazard@surfrider.org.

Photo: Beach at Cape Blanco, sunset, photo by Randy Scholten.

  • Climate
  • Land
  • Oregon Beaches Forever