Oregon’s Marine Reserves are coastal treasures. These living laboratories protect habitat, strengthen our resilience to climate change, and contribute important science and monitoring to communities dependent on our ocean resources. But Oregon’s proposed legislative budget would remove funding for the program’s Community Engagement Project Leader position, a critical role that serves as the nexus between the science and the coastal community.
Removing this important position is completely inconsistent with the recommendations of the recently released 2023 Marine Reserve decadal science and social review, which calls for increased investments to support community engagement and resilience to climate change stressors in our ocean.
These budget cuts could threaten the Marine Reserves Program, the science and monitoring, and the designation of these ecologically significant ocean places. Oregon’s Marine Reserves and protected areas are legacies that must be protected. We need your help to take action to ensure legislators continue to invest in Oregon’s most iconic ocean conservation program.
One simple way to do that is organizing a letter-writing party, or even just writing a letter or email yourself! Your coastal legislators and the Ways and Means Committee are the key targets.
Letter Writing Directions
Print this document, fill out the name of your senator or representative (look them up here), as well as your name, town/city, and county, and drop your letter in the mail!
Email Writing Directions
You can send an email in a few quick steps:
1) Simply copy and paste the content below into the body of the email.
2) In the email subject line write, “Put the Community Back in Marine Reserves”
3) Look up your legislator’s official email address here and insert their official email address in the “To:” line.
On behalf of the Oregon Marine Reserves Program, our community, and our nearshore ocean, thank you for your support!
Sample Email/Letter Content
Dear Representative/Senator _________________ (last name is fine),
I am urging you to reinstate the $187k biennium allocated for the Community Engagement Project Leader of ODFW’s Marine Reserves Program. Positions like this are an important connection point between coastal communities and Oregon’s Marine Reserves. Our coastal communities suffer without that critical investment in engagement and outreach.
Please also support the Marine Reserves investments in HB 2903 to maximize the community and ecological benefits of these pristine coastal resources.
Thank you,
Jane Smith,
Marine Biologist/Ocean Enthusiast/Small Business Owner/etc.
Walport, OR
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