Yaquina Bay Estuary Management Plan

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The ongoing update of the Yaquina Bay Estuary Management Plan (YBEMP) is of double significance. Not only will it inform management of one of the state’s most economically and ecologically important estuaries, but the process is being used as the test case for development of a “guidance document” that the Department of Land Conservation and Development’s Coastal Management Program will use to assist updates for all of the state’s estuaries.

The process of updating the Yaquina Bay EMP has now passed the public comment stage; the comment period ended July 14. The final draft from the consulting planners, Willamette Partnership, is due by Aug. 31; it will then be submitted to the three local governments with jurisdiction over Yaquina Bay—Lincoln County, and the cities of Newport and Toledo—for eventual adoption. Hearings will be held by the county and cities, giving members of the public another opportunity to comment and seek to shape the ultimate plan.

The current draft elements of the YBEMP have been released to the public, and are available here. (We will provide a link to the final draft here when it becomes available.)

The map viewer, providing access to the maps that underlie that plan, in now online as well.

Photo of egret in Yaquina estuary by Rena Olson.
Egret in Yaquina estuary.\Photo by Rena Olson.

Our YBEMP comment guide, designed to help Lincoln County residents and other Oregonians write impactful comments on the plan content, can be obtained here. It remains a good resource for understanding the plan and what we are advocating for, i.e. what is still missing from the update. This is Tier 1 of a three "tier" process to fully update the estuary management plan to prepare for the challenges of coming decades. Oregon Shores and other conservation groups argue that much of the critical work remains to be done; once these initial elements of the plan are updated, the planning effort should move directly into "Tier 2" work without delay.

Oregon Shores partnered with Lincoln City Audubon to host a webinar on June 28 providing background on the EMP, ecological information about Yaquina Bay, and assistance in making comments. Featured presenters were Laura Brophy, a wetland ecologist who has studied Yaquina Bay extensively and describe the estuary's wetlands; planner Ethan Brown of Willamette Partnership; and Annie Merrill, Oregon Shores’ land use coordinator, discussing ways to get involved and providing information on how to contribute effectively to the planning process. A recording of this session can be found on Oregon Shores' YouTube channel.

A total of three local “town halls” were held in July. Members of the community attended to learn more about the proposed plan updates and provide verbal and written feedback. 

The YBEMP update is greatly needed; the current plan is some four decades old. Some of the provisions in the current update (labeled “Tier 1”) are definite improvements. Oregon Shores and other conservation groups have been active in providing critiques of drafts of the update, and the planner have been responsive in many ways; the penultimate draft is a much-improved document. (We will wait to see how much further the planners have gone in responding to critiques when their final draft is submitted.) However, this first phase of the update, while an important first step, does not address many elements that need to be a comprehensive In particular, we are concerned at the lack of firm commitment to continue the process with “Tier 2,” addressing fundamental questions of climate change resilience, habitat protection, water quality, and restoration. See our most recent comments to Willamette Partnership.

For more information, contact Annie Merrill at annie@oregonshores.org, or Phillip Johnson, Oregon Shores’ conservation director, phillip@oregonshores.org, (503) 754-9303.

Campaign for Oregon's Estuaries links:

Aerial photo of Yaquina Bay marshes at high tide by Rena Olson.
Yaquina Bay marshes at high tide.\Photo by Rena Olson with support from Lighthawk.