Coastal Conservation News Archive

A complete archive of our past news articles, beginning in Fall 2016; older articles from our previous website are available in the historical archive

Fawn Custer, here leading a field trip at Otter Rock, is stepping down as CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator.|Photo by Dennis White.
March 25, 2019

Oregon Shores Hiring New Volunteer Coordinator

6cculyqa.jpg Long-time CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator Fawn Custer, who held that post for most of this decade, stepped down in April. She continues to work with us as a teacher and trainer, thankfully, but we've been seeking a new Volunteer Coordinator to direct the program. We are close to making the final choice among some great candidates for the position...Read more
Marine debris survey training in progress.|Photo by Dennis White.
March 15, 2019

CoastWatch Has Key Roles in Marine Debris Efforts

Marine debris survey training in progress. | Photo by Dennis White. CoastWatchers have been actively cleaning beaches of marine debris since the program was founded more than 25 years ago, and CoastWatch has had an organized marine debris project for the past eight years. In the wake of the 2011 Japanese tsunami, Oregon Shores (through CoastWatch) joined with...Read more
Yaquina Bay, with Hatfield Marine Science Center in foreground.|Photo by Alex Derr.
February 20, 2019

Time for 'Sharing the Coast'

rvxeqpla.jpg For the tenth year, CoastWatch is joining forces with the Northwest Aquatic and Marine Educators (NAME) to sponsor the Sharing the Coast Conference, an annual cornucopia of information about coastal science, natural history, and shoreline monitoring. This year’s conference takes place March 8-10 at the Hatfield Marine Science Center (2030 S.E. Marine...Read more
A Chacabuco 30L daypack, one of the raffle prizes donated by Patagonia.
January 24, 2019

Raffle Winners Lead the Way to 2019 Monitoring

daypack_chacabuco30lmicg_sm.jpg CoastWatch celebrated its 25th anniversary year in 2018. As the final stage of this celebration, during the final quarter of the year we held a special kind of raffle to reward active mile adopters. Tickets couldn’t be bought, they had to be earned, with a ticket awarded for each CoastWatch report filed or for...Read more
January 10, 2019

Spring Whale Watch Week Arrives

Grey whale breaching. | Photo by Joe Morris Gray whales have the longest known migration of any mammal. They travel 10,000-12,000 miles round-trip every year between their winter calving lagoons in the warm waters of Mexico and their summer feeding grounds in the cold Arctic seas. Their nearshore migration route allows us to view them here on the Oregon coast...Read more
November 29, 2018

Winter Whale Watch Week in Oregon

whale_tail Gray whales have the longest known migration of any mammal. They travel 10,000-12,000 miles round trip every year between their winter calving lagoons in the warm waters of Mexico and their summer feeding grounds in the cold Arctic seas. Their nearshore migration route allows us to view them here on the Oregon coast while they head towards the warm...Read more
Christmas lights at Shore Acres State Park.\Photo by Bruce Swenson.
November 26, 2018

Support Oregon Shores While You Shop

Christmas lights at Shore Acres State Park.\Photo by Bruce Swenson. There are many ways to support Oregon Shores and coastal conservation. Perhaps somewhat counter-intuitively, one of those ways can be shopping. Both Amazon and Fred Meyer have community support programs in which Oregon Shores participates. In each case, purchases result in contributions to our...Read more
Coos Bay's entrance.\Photo by Alex Derr.
November 19, 2018

Jordan Cove Battle Moves into Crucial Year

coos_bay_entrance_by_alex_derr.jpg "Hurry up and wait" is an old Army saying, and it fits the battle over the proposed Jordan Cove LNG (liquefied natural gas) export terminal. Oregon Shores, along with many allies, has been battling to prevent this threat to public health and safety and to the North Spit and Coos Bay estuary for more than a...Read more
Spinner kite.\Photo by Kirt Edblom.
October 29, 2018

Conserve While You Shop

kite_spinner_kirt_edblom.jpg There are many ways to support Oregon Shores’ work to preserve our public shoreline and coastal resources. Join or renew membership, donate, gift stock to us, leave a bequest. But there is also another way, one you will never notice once you set it up, but will keep contributing in the background. There are two...Read more
Spring Street development site.\Photo by Elaine Karnes.
October 7, 2018

Geologic Permit Hearing Raises Coastal Hazard Issues

Spring Street development site.\Photo by Elaine Karnes. The Newport Planning Commission is now deliberating on a question of great interest to Oregon Shores and anyone concerned about good land use planning. The commission is considering an appeal by local citizens, with Oregon Shores in support, of a geologic permit for a proposed development on Spring St...Read more