Winter is a time of planning at Surfrider, and your Oregon chapters have been hard at work visioning and gearing up for the year ahead. Despite immense collective grief at the federal level, our communities have come together to show love and support at beach cleanups, stewardship events, and of course out in the surf. In these moments, it's important to take care of one another and yourself, and remember that there is true change to be made here in Oregon for the places we care about. The short legislative session is already firing, and we're excited to hit the ground running with our coalition partners at the capitol. With a good run of nice (but disturbing) weather to steel us as we face the remaining weeks of winter, I hope to catch you at a stewardship or advocacy event soon!
- Kaia Hazard, Oregon Regional Manager
And We're Off!
Oregon's 2026 Legislative Session is Underway
It's a short session year in Oregon meaning our legislative process is a full on sprint - just 35 days long. We typically don't build big policy in short session years, and much of the time is spent dedicated to unfinished business from the 2025 session and, this year in particular, making up for significant budget shortfalls from reduced spending and federal reductions. Those reductions impact many of the ocean and environmental programs we care about, like marine reserves and protected areas, ocean acidification and hypoxia monitoring, water quality testing, and more, meaning that much work before and during the session is aimed at protecting what we can.
Our legislation webpage is a one stop shop for updates on bills we're tracking, opportunities to engage in the legislative process, and resources to help you do so. We'll be updating it often, so keep an eye on it as we move through the next month in the capitol!
To help you engage in the legislative process, we have a few tools available, including a civic engagement video series on youtube and a Testimony 101 Toolkit which will walk you through how to navigate OLIS and how to submit oral or written testimony.
Comment Period Now Open: Help Inform Drone Use in State Parks
Until February 15, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is accepting feedback on their draft rules regarding drone takeoff and landing in State Parks and the ocean shore. Drones are quickly becoming ubiquitous in natural spaces, necessitating strong regulations in order to balance responsible recreation with protections for wildlife and beach users. Read on for more information on how you can submit your input to OPRD.
This Thursday at the Oregon State Capitol, Surfrider Foundation is excited to be leading the Oregon Ocean Alliance for a "Love Your Ocean" lobby day! We will be meeting with legislators to advocate on key priorities to protect Oregon's coast and ocean. This year, Surfrider is taking the lead for the coalition and is joined by seven other amazing conservation organizations within the Alliance. Learn more about our priorities and the event below.
At the end of last year, nearly 100 people gathered on Rogue Ales last night in Newport (unknown at the time) to discuss Oregon Department of Transportation's (ODOT) plan to put one or more massive rip rap revetments (rock armoring) along the beach between Moolack and Beverly Beach in an effort to "hold the line" and protect Highway 101 from the rising Pacific Ocean. These plans would cause permanent beach loss and take away valuable resources from the public.
Armoring this stretch of beach would necessitate an exception to Oregon's land use law, and while realignment of the highway may seem like a big move, it was highly discussed at our last event, and would provide the highest level of protection for both the highway and the beach.
Stay tuned! We're planning more events for the coming months, as we dig deeper into what armoring or realignment might mean for the community. There will be more information and opportunities to get involved as our campaign to save Beverly Beach progresses! We'll also be looking for local folks to help lead this effort.
Learn more about the issue below, as well as a recap of the community discussion.
March 4 – OBF Webinar: Landslide Dams - RSVP & Info
April 17 - Coos Bay Paddling Film Festival - save the date!
April 19 - Coos Bay Earth Day Beach Cleanup - save the date!
April 25 - Newport Earth Day Beach Cleanups - save the date!
June 20 - Newport Otter Rock and Roll - save the date!
Scenes from the Oregon field!
Coos Bay chapter Vice Chair Patrick poses with pup Blanche at the chapter's annual New Year's Day beach cleanup. 22 volunteers cleared 300 pounds of trash from Bastendorff Beach - mostly food and beverage waste, party supplies, and fireworks.
Surfrider Portland volunteers enjoyed beautiful weather for their annual MLK Jr Day cleanup. 60 volunteers removed 225 lbs of trash!
Last month, volunteers gathered in Newport for the chapter's annual Volunteer Appreciation Party. This year, we also paired the party with a silent auction. Thank you to all our generous donors for your contributions for the auction! And thank you to so many local restaurants for providing tasty food to help us celebrate our volunteers!
For the December King Tide set, Surfrider North Coast chapter hosted a "King Tide Crawl", stopping at two locations in Cannon Beach to watch this seasonal phenomenon and do a bit of learning. At each stop we were joined by our friends at CREST, Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition, Haystack Rock Awareness Program, and Cannon Beach Lifeguards to give short educational talks on their intersections with King Tides and get the download on some local projects. The above photo is from our first stop at Ecola Creek and the below photo is from our second stop at Pacific Dr.
