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

Snowy plovers on South Beach.\Photo by Cathy Tronquet.

Snowy Plover Nesting Season Begins

Snowy plovers on South Beach.\Photo by Cathy Tronquet. Oregon’s conservationists and resource agencies have been engaged in a decades-long effort to restore the state’s population of the Western Snowy Plover, an endangered shorebird that nests on Oregon beaches (the only shorebird that breeds here). We are now in the nesting season, the crucial period for...Read more
Motel currently located at Coquille Point.\Photo by Vickie Crowley.

Bandon Considers Coquille Point Hotel Proposal

Motel currently located at Coquille Point.\Photo by Vickie Crowley. Just about three decades ago, Oregon Shores was actively engaged in a land use battle over plans for Coquille Point in Bandon, supporting a host of dedicated local residents. Many in city government were pushing for development, but citizen advocacy prevailed. Almost all of the potentially...Read more
Fawn Custer, here leading a field trip at Otter Rock, is stepping down as CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator.|Photo by Dennis White.

Oregon Shores Hiring New Volunteer Coordinator

Fawn Custer, here leading a field trip at Otter Rock, is stepping down as CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator. | Photo by Dennis White. 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...Read more
Marine debris survey training in progress.|Photo by Dennis White.

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 decade. In the wake of the 2011 Japanese tsunami, Oregon Shores (through CoastWatch) joined with four...Read more
Yaquina Bay, with Hatfield Marine Science Center in foreground.|Photo by Alex Derr.

Time for 'Sharing the Coast'

Yaquina Bay, with Hatfield Marine Science Center in foreground. | Photo by Alex Derr. 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...Read more
A Chacabuco 30L daypack, one of the raffle prizes donated by Patagonia.

Raffle Winners Lead the Way to 2019 Monitoring

A Chacabuco 30L daypack, one of the raffle prizes donated by Patagonia. CoastWatch celebrated its 25 th 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...Read more

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

Winter Whale Watch Week in Oregon

Whale fluke. | Photo courtesy of exploremanzanita.com 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...Read more
Coos Bay's entrance.\Photo by Alex Derr.

Jordan Cove Battle Moves into Crucial Year

Coos Bay's entrance.\Photo by Alex Derr. "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 decade. Still...Read more
Spinner kite.\Photo by Kirt Edblom.

Conserve While You Shop

Spinner kite.\Photo by Kirt Edblom. 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 opportunities...Read more