Coastal management issues don't stop at the shoreline. As a result, coastal resource managers often have to wade into the ocean's multijurisdictional waters to address everything from oil and gas leasing to water quality to the laying of fiber-optic cables. To ensure the state has a say in these matters, Oregon has created a robust institutional framework for ocean resource management as part of its coastal management program.
"For the state, this [ocean management] program has been very important," says Robert Bailey, administrator of Oregon's Ocean Program. "I don't know if we've changed the world, but we've certainly given the public and ocean users and interest groups a mechanism for getting their concerns heard and addressed in a way that is fair, open, and looks to the future in a very conservation-oriented sense."
The core of ocean management in Oregon is its Ocean Plan, which examined a wide variety of ocean management issues in both state and federally governed waters, and recommended future state policies and management interests.
The Ocean Plan created a starting place for a more detailed plan and policies for Oregon's territorial sea, which is the three-mile ribbon of ocean along the shoreline under the state's jurisdiction. A 23-member Ocean Policy Advisory Council gives policy advice to the governor and state agencies, and provides a public forum for discussing ocean-use issues.
The state's ocean management program has helped Oregon develop policies for issues such as federal oil and gas leasing and offshore minerals mining, directing commercial uses, protecting marine habitat, addressing overuse, and managing sand and water quality.
Jim Good, coastal resource specialist for Oregon Sea Grant, advises, "To actually do this kind of planning and set up this kind of forum takes some kind of driving issue."
Lighting the Fire
There were actually two issues that sparked the development of Oregon's comprehensive ocean program. "In our case, it was the fear of [federal] area-wide leasing for oil and gas, and the potential for marine minerals mining," says Eldon Hout, former manager for Oregon's Ocean and Coastal Management Program. "There was a lot of scary language that came out in those days . . . like rubblizing the ocean floor to get at marine minerals."
"We starkly realized that we didn't have the amount of information necessary to make a decision" about these issues, explains Nan Evans, the current manager of the Oregon Ocean and Coastal Management Program. "That was the spark that started it. That was the political incentive that got everybody to the table."
Fanning the Flames
Oregon committed itself to ocean management, Bailey points out, "back in the early 70s when we first began to tackle the whole question of management of the coastal zone." Even one of Oregon's statewide planning goals established in 1976 is for ocean resources.
But it wasn't until 1983 when the issues of oil and gas leasing and minerals mining in the federal government's newly designated 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone were being brought up did the state realize how important ocean management might be for coastal communities, and that it wasn't adequately prepared to proactively address ocean-related issues.
"There was no book on how you plan for the marine environment," says Hout, who is now coastal coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Coastal Services Center. "When the window of opportunity opens, you've got to go through it. We did that both in terms of the legislation and the planning program that came afterwards. The time was right."
The Forging Process
State legislation was passed in 1987 that established an Ocean Resources Management Task Force to provide a written assessment of the state's ocean management capability and recommend ways to address ocean issues.
"We took the time," Hout remembers, "and went through three different drafts. We took it not only to people on the coast, but elsewhere in the state trying to make sure we were getting down what we were hearing from people. The process was perceived as legitimate and open, and you've got to have that if your product is going to have any degree of acceptability."
The resulting Ocean Plan designated an Ocean Stewardship Area, where the state has policy and management interests in resources and activities, that extends from the shore seaward to the toe of the continental margin, which includes some federal waters.
"We're not asserting our jurisdiction or authority" in federal waters, says Bailey. "It's a question of making clear that this part of our ocean environment is a critical part of our economy and ecosystem."
"Having [the Stewardship Area] defined gives us clarity in where to put our resources, and if something is occurring, we want to be really aware of it and have a role at the decision-making table," adds Evans. "We are able to use this as a rationale to get a seat at the table, but there is no legal framework to give that seat to us."
Good, however, suggests that the Coastal Zone Management Act's federal consistency clause, which ensures that federal activities that affect the coastal zone must be consistent with state policies, is an incentive for federal agencies to include the state in their decision-making process.
"Legally, states that develop an ocean management plan for the territorial sea can extend their authority indirectly through federal consistency further offshore," explains Good. "I think it has a powerful influence and plays a role in fostering intergovernmental coordination."
Hammering Out the Details
In 1991, the state legislature acted on the task force's recommendations and created a permanent Ocean Policy Advisory Council that is part of the governor's office and is supported by the state's Ocean Program in the Department of Land Conservation and Development. The 23-member council includes directors of seven state agencies, as well as governor-appointed representatives of ocean interests, such as commercial and recreational fishermen, coastal tribes, environmental groups, and local governments. The council meets on a quarterly basis but will convene more often if a particular issue is being addressed.
The legislature gave the council the job of developing a plan to manage the territorial sea, providing a forum for discussing ocean issues, and offering policy advice to the governor, state agencies, and the legislature.
"Our view," says Bailey, "is that the state of Oregon has authority and jurisdiction over 1,200 square miles of ocean area [within the territorial sea], and we would be remiss if we didn't do the best job we could in managing that area for future generations."
Using the Ocean Plan as a framework, and holding statewide public input meetings and working with federal partners, the council spent three years developing the Territorial Sea Plan, which established policy and procedures, coordinated state agencies, and provided a strategy for protecting rocky shores, the state's most significant marine habitat.
In 1995, the Territorial Sea Plan was approved by NOAA as part of the state's Coastal Management Plan.
Using the Tools
"Ocean management for Oregon coastal managers means addressing or taking on whatever issues at the time are hot," says Jim Good.
In addition to creating policies for oil and gas leasing and minerals mining, some of the ocean management issues that have been addressed in Oregon include assessing the feasibility of a commercial kelp leasing program for state waters; dealing with overuse in rocky intertidal areas; managing sand in littoral cells; and determining the location of ocean outfalls for sewer facilities. The council helped establish rules for the laying of fiber-optic cables and currently is addressing whether the state should establish marine-protected areas.
"Basically ocean zoning is what it amounts to," says Hout.
Refining the Process
"One of the biggest obstacles we have faced, and continue to face, is the lack of detailed, site-specific or resource-specific information necessary to develop and apply appropriate, acceptable management measures," Bailey says.
Evans suggests that there could be a "greater link between state information needs and federal research and data gathering efforts. It would be really helpful to have the information we need at the scale that we need it."
Hout thinks ocean management in Oregon also might benefit from managers having a "better understanding of the economic value of the coast and marine environment. We need to know just how important the ocean is to the economy of the state."
While those interviewed see room for improvement, they also say they are proud of the state's ocean management efforts.
"Our notions of what we need to do as a state have definitely changed over time," says Bailey. "We really see ourselves as part of a much larger marine ecosystem, and we've really begun to look at the way we manage ocean resources in the context of that larger system."
For more information on Oregon's Ocean Program, point your browser to www.lcd.state.or.us/coast/offshore.html. For more information on Oregon's Ocean Policy Advisory Council, contact Robert Bailey at (503) 731-4065, ext. 27, or bob.bailey@state.or.us. To view an Ocean Planning Information System (OPIS) created for the Southeast, point your browser to www.csc.noaa.gov/opis/.
