Urge Oregon Legislators to Fully Fund the Marine Reserves Program

Thank you all so much for your support helping move the Oregon Marine Reserves Bill (HB 4132 A) through its first legislative committee successfully! The bill is now in the Joint Ways and Means Committee. We need your support again to let the legislators on this committee know how important this bill is and to urge them to vote yes! 

Oregon’s Marine Reserves are both living laboratories and underwater state parks that protect almost 10% of our state waters for biodiversity. It’s an essential program for managing and protecting our ocean habitat but needs adequate funding and resources to carry out its mission. In 2022 Oregon State University conducted a 10-year review of the Marine Reserves Program and recommended increased investment in the program including:

• • More robust long-term ecological and socio-economic monitoring
  • Better engagement with coastal communities (including tribes)
  • Develop strategies to enhance ecological resilience to climate change stressors

HB 4132 A essentially moves forward the OSU science-based recommendations. For a relatively small fiscal request ($1.1 million biennium) the ODFW Marine Reserves Program will be fully supported and help keep Oregon’s ocean healthy for years to come.