www.times.org
©2007 Cascadia Times

Order your print copy of "The California Current"

It’s all about the ecosystem 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Western governors sign historic “ocean health” agreement

Oregon and Washington have joined California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a call for a sweeping coastwide collaboration on protecting and restoring marine waters.

In September 2006, the governors of three states signed the “West Coast governors' agreement on ocean health,” which calls on the states to develop regional priorities. The governors' action plan, released in draft form in September, calls on the states to collaborate on climate change and ecosystem-based management issues, as well to continue to oppose offshore oil and gas development.

In September, a Pacific council advisory committee could hardly mask its concern that the governor's might have veered to closely onto the council's turf.

“It appears to be an effort to emulate what has already been occurring with fishery management for many years,” the council's Groundfish Advisory Panel said in a written statement. “We are hopeful that it is not an attempt to usurp a collaborative process that has been successfully prosecuted for a long period of time.”

California emerged as a global leader in the creation of new marine reserves (see map on Page 13) when voters approved the state Marine Life Protection Act in 1999. The state created its own network of reserves in the Channel Islands in 2002, and in 2007 created a network of 29 reserves on its central coast in 2007. It is now working on the development of potential reserve sites on its north central coast, from Point Arena in Mendocino County to Pigeon Point in San Mateo County.

The state of Washington this summer began accepting nominations for new marine reserves in Puget Sound (see story page 16). But in Oregon, a committee known as the Ocean Policy Advisory Council has been working on the issue since 2001, but has yet to propose a single reserve.

Communities are also getting involved. For example, projects to develop ecosystem-based management plans have been launched in the San Juan Islands, Washington; Port Orford, Oregon; and Humboldt Bay, Elkhorn Slough, Morro Bay, and Ventura, California.

The western governors have called for the development of a West Coast ecosystem-based management Network during 2008. In September 2007, the governors issued a draft “action plan” which available at their web site, www.westcoastocean,gov. The governors have proposed a “trust fund” to fuel implementation of their plan.

“This is the kind of leadership our region needs in terms ocean management, protection, investment and recovery,” said Paul Engelmeyer of Yachats, Ore., statewide conservation representative on the state Ocean Policy Advisory Council and manager of an Audubon wildlife sanctuary at Ten Mile Creek on the Oregon Coast.

Next: Council member rips ecosystem study off Oregon Coast

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5