Coos Bay Estuary Map Viewing

Coos Bay waterfront.\Photo by Jody McCaffree.

The Coos Bay Estuary Management Plan is being updated, including the maps that undergird it. Residents of the Coos Bay area, and others concerned about the estuary’s future, are invited to a display of these maps in Southwestern Oregon Community College’s Umpqua Hall, Feb. 15-24. The college is located at 1988 Newmark in Coos Bay; the event is free and open to all.

Comments prompted by the maps can be sent to Jill Rolfe (Coos County Community Development Director) at planning@co.coos.or.us. There is also a comment box at the site for those who would like to write a response immediately.

The revised maps, which include updated information about local natural resources, coastal hazards, socio-economic conditions and land uses in the estuary and surrounding shorelands, update the nearly 40-year-old maps that are part of the existing plan. Once adopted by the county and the cities of Coos Bay and North Bend, they are to be incorporated into Phase 1 of the revision of the Coos Bay Estuary Management Plan (CBEMP).

The maps can also be accessed digitally, along with other proposed revisions to the CBEMP. Many observers, including Oregon Shores, are critical of the maps and are calling for improvements; this is a chance to see for yourself. For more on Oregon Shores’ concerns, contact Phillip Johnson, conservation director, phillip@oregonshores.org.