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Take Action to Protect Eight Important Rocky Habitats on the Coast

We need your help to advance eight proposals that would protect critical rocky habitats along the Oregon coast, each a vital habitat for marine life like nesting seabirds, underwater kelp forests, and intertidal species, from sea stars to anemones.

The plan that charts out management and protection of Oregon’s rocky habitats is being updated for the first time in more than 25 years. The public was given the opportunity to balance habitat protection and public access by developing site-specific proposals – a key objective of the plan. Eight of the proposals brought forth by our coastal partners have strong community support, based on intensive public outreach, engagement with key stakeholders, and expert input. Proposals are currently under evaluation by the Rocky Habitat Working Group who will send a recommended list of proposals to the Ocean Policy Advisory Council for approval in May.

Unfortunately, the evaluation process has had challenges due to a lack of an objective evaluation rubric to rank proposals as well as a lack of communication between agencies and the public. This has led to an unnecessary politicization of the process and, in some cases, incorrect information being used to rank proposals. The public has invested thousands of hours in this process to date. It would be a disservice to the public to not take these seriously.

A Black Oystercatcher stands on a rock in front of the ocean.
Black Oystercatcher, photo by Scott Carpenter

Take Action

Whether you visit or live on Oregon’s amazing coast, please take this opportunity to help ensure strong protections for this incredible habitat and state resource!

Please submit comments by 11:59 p.m. April 15, 2021.
Email: TSP.comments@state.or.us

*View key talking points below.

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Rocky Habitats Wildlife Tidepools, photo by Thomas Shahan.

Talking Points:

Please ask the Rocky Habitat Working Group and the Ocean Policy Advisory Council to do the following:

  • Please work with site proposers to clarify any misrepresented information in the initial site proposal evaluation summaries that are currently available for the public to review. Any misinformation should be corrected and updated as soon as possible and prior to the working groups re-evaluation of proposals after the 30-day comment period.
  • Please do not evaluate proposals based on funding or the capacity of agencies’ programmatic support for implementation. The proposals were meant to help shape long-term efforts and goals to improve site management. The rocky habitat plan clearly states that proposals cannot be rejected based on funding or capacity concerns.
  • We recommend strong consideration for 8 of the 12 proposals that have gotten significant stakeholder and community support, expert input, and include clear long-term goals and objectives. This includes: Ecola Point MCA, Chapman Point MCA, Cape Lookout MCA, Cape Foulweather MCA, Coquille Point MG, Blacklock Point MCA, Cape Blanco MRA, and Crook Point/Mack Reef MCA. Six of these sites were recommended for designation in the original 1994 Rocky Habitat Management Strategy so now is time for the State to follow through.
        • If you have a personal connection with any of these sites, please include any testimonials or stories to make your case compelling.
  • In the future, we recommend DLCD use an objective evaluation rubric that is similar to other state agency frameworks. DLCD staff can take ideas from other state or federal agency public proposal processes. Objective evaluation processes are essential to any state-run public proposal process and would minimize much of the politicization of the process that has emerged.

Background and Resources

Thank you for helping protect Oregon’s iconic coastline.

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