Online Rocky Habitat Meeting

Rocky shore habitat at low tide.\Photo courtesy of ODFW.

The current public comment period on the draft of the state’s new Rocky Habitat Management Strategy ended on March 1.  After taking some time to consider the comments, the Rocky Habitat Working Group of Oregon’s Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) will meet on Friday, March 20, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., to discuss the results and consider what will become the final draft of the strategy.  The public is welcome to listen in.  This had been an in-person meeting, but as a coronavirus precaution it is now entirely online.  For connection information:  https://www.oregonocean.info/index.php/component/jevents/eventdetail/107/24|32/rocky-habitat-working-group-meeting?Itemid=175.

The working group’s recommendations will then go to OPAC, and eventually to the Land Conservation and Development Commission for final approval.  Oregon will then have a new set of policies governing the management of rocky intertidal and offshore rock habitats, updated for the first time since the 1990s.  Once the plan is in place, a site designation phase begins, during which members of the public can propose specific levels of protection for specific sites.

For more information about the meeting or the process, contact Michael Moses at michael.moses@state.or.us.