Oregon chapters have been hard at work this winter, reflecting on our victories and setting ambitious goals for the year ahead. As the days slowly get longer, we hope that you'll join us at a cleanup, advocate with us in Salem, or just get out to enjoy the powerful winter swells. Oregon's short legislative session began yesterday, where we will be asking legislators to support HB 4132, a bill to further invest in our state’s Marine Reserves Program. Read on to see how you can lend your voice to this important and historical campaign!
-Kaia Hazard, Oregon Regional Manager
Take Action to Support Oregon's Marine Reserves
This year Surfrider Foundation is supporting and helping lead a strong coalition of voices for Oregon’s Marine Reserves Program in the 2024 Oregon short legislative session. Your voice can help make that happen! Use the action alert below to ask your legislator to vote YES on HB 4132 and support Oregon’s ocean conservation legacy, before it is lost.
Track & Engage in Oregon's 2024 Legislative Session
Every other year Oregon has a "short" legislative session that is just 6 weeks long! These are very fast and often challenging to engage or advance new priorities with a deadline for bills happening pretty much every week. Fortunately, we keep a legislative and policy page to help you track the movement and engage in key issues and policies that Surfrider is working on - often these are bills that got missed during the "long" legislative session prior, like the Marine Reserves bill and Right to Repair. Visit our site to learn more, which will be updated weekly during the session!
Each year, Surfrider releases our State Of The Beach Report, which grades states on their policies to protect our nation’s beaches from coastal erosion, sea level rise, and poorly planned development. Based on the assessments and recommendations in the report, it is imperative that local, state, and federal governments work together to improve coastal management and protect our nation’s beaches. Read on to see how Oregon fared.
Surfrider Newport's Winter Beach Cleanup Series Returns
The Newport Chapter is teaming up with local surf shops and waste haulers to clean up Lincoln County beaches this winter. Wintertime is when we see the most debris washed up on our beaches due to winter storms, and this can be especially true after the King Tides. You can do this cleanup at any beach of your choosing- choose your favorite beach or explore a new one!
Last fall, Oregon's premier ocean scientists and researchers convened for 2 days to prioritize our state’s most pressing marine science and policy issues at Oregon’s Ocean Science Trust Summit, where Charlie Plybon, Oregon's Policy manager acted as a facilitator for a breakout group. Read on for some key recommendations following the release of the summit report from OOST leadership and how Surfrider is working to advance policy and actions on these efforts.
The fearless leadership team of the Newport Chapter (minus a couple!) at our Annual Planning retreat. We celebrated our success and made big plans for 2024! Thanks to the Inn at Otter Rock for hosting us and providing this view while we planned!
The Portland Chapter added an impressive 7 new execs to their leadership team during their November elections! We kept the momentum going at our Annual Planning retreat in Oceanside, where we celebrated the incredible 40 events they put on in 2023, and brainstormed ways to make an even bigger impact in 2024!
The North Coast Chapter hosted Carl Hendrickson, NOAA Coastal Management Fellow with the Dept of Land Conservation & Development, for their January Chapter Meeting. We identified important areas of coastal Clatsop County that are susceptible to sea level rise during an interactive mapping activity.