Urge Oregon Legislators to Support HB 4132 to Fully Fund the Marine Reserves Program 

Oregon’s Marine Reserves are both living laboratories and underwater state parks, and the state’s Marine Reserves Program is the nexus between conservation, science, communities, and ocean ecosystems. It’s an essential tool in managing and protecting our ocean habitat but needs adequate funding and resources to carry out its mission. These special areas protect an underwater wonderland of rocky reefs that support rockfish, sandy bottoms that support Dungeness crab, and towering kelp forests that give sea stars and myriad other creatures a place to call home. Unfortunately, Oregon’s legislative budget for Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), which administers the Marine Reserve Program, has made significant cuts to the program’s budget and staffing.

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 essentially moves forward the OSU recommendations and would steer the program back in the right direction. For a relatively small fiscal request (1.2 million biennium) the ODFW Marine Reserves Program will be fully supported and help efforts to keep Oregon’s ocean healthy for years to come.