Where's this special place? This highly visited Oregon rocky habitat area serves as critical habitat to all kinds of wildlife above and below the water and serves as an important recreational area along Oregon's coast. Answer at bottom.
Summer has been a hustle of outside activities, events and activism for Surfrider volunteers and leaders here in Oregon. Long days, stellar weather and great ocean conditions have turned out some optimism for Oregonians coming out of our dark winter and tough political climate. Following a tough legislative session with some highs and lows coming out of Oregon's Capitol, our chapters sprung into summer events from the annual Otter Rock n Roll to community workshops, field trips and cleanup series. And hot of the press is our documentary covering our collaborative project efforts to combat plastic pollution in partnership with Oregon's oyster aquaculture industry - read more below!
- Charlie Plybon - Oregon Sr. Policy Manager
New Short Film Celebrates Solutions for Aquaculture Marine Debris
Filmed in Yaquina Bay on Oregon’s central coast, this documentary highlights the story of a unique, collaborative effort to address a persistent marine debris problem caused by expanded polystyrene (EPS) floating docks, plastic ropes and mesh bags used in oyster farming. Surfrider Foundation developed the project after several years of ongoing cleanups in the area to better directly work with the industry on solutions. Through the focused work of Dr. Sarah Wolf, an Oregon Sea Grant Natural Resource Policy Fellowship with the Surfrider Foundation, the project has surpassed our expectations of success and we're beyond excited to share this great new short film about the work.
Victory! Two Oregon Bills Aim to Better Oregon's Beaches
Last month Governor Kotek signed the second of two new laws aimed at protecting and better managing Oregon's public beaches. Climate change, coastal hazards and traditional responses to erosion such as rock armoring and seawalls are shrinking Oregon's beaches and demanding an evolved approach to management. Both bills (HB 2925 & SB 504) were key campaigns of our Oregon Beaches Forever effort this legislative session and their passage further affirms Oregon's intention to better protect public beaches and access along the shore as well as develop nature-based solutions for coastal erosion.
Despite likely the only rain we really saw all summer long, the Newport Chapter's annual Otter Rock n Roll event built serious stoke, stewardship and fun. Celebrated in June each year in recognition of International Surf Day, the Otter Rock and Roll is Oregon’s longest-running and only surf contest designed exclusively for kids, even featuring a Best Beginner division to support young learners and a cleanup challenge for young beach stewards! This year's event turned out 57 youth surfers, along with their families and friends, plus many dedicated volunteers and contest sponsors that all hit the beach for some friendly competition, stewardship and fun.
This summer Surfrider helped organize and run a workshop in Cannon Beach to engage and gather input from community members to further our Ecola Creek Nature Based Solutions project. The project is a collaboration between Surfrider, CREST, The City of Cannon Beach and the homeowner's association of Breaker's Point condominiums to help resolve long-standing erosion and sand management issues through a nature-based alternative to more traditional hardened strategies like rock armoring (rip rap) or seawalls. The project represents a strategy within our broader Oregon Beaches Forever campaign that seeks to model community solutions to protect public beaches.
While on our campaign database scoreboard the legislative policy victories were many this year, much of the final outcomes of this legislative session were extremely challenging. Despite strong bipartisan and diverse public support, nearly all of our budget requests for ocean and coastal conservation efforts went unfunded by the legislature; meanwhile major development projects ranging from baseball stadiums in riparian habitat to port and estuary development received $800M and $100M respectively. Some bright notes came from our ability to expand on some important no-nonsense policies across nearly all our initiatives and we successfully defended attacks on important policies and laws we care about. Check out the key takeaways and outcomes across all our initiatives on our legislative page and the 2025 legislative write up below.
This year's report features a great highlight of work in Oregon
The Surfrider Foundation is pleased to present our sixth annual Beach Cleanup Report, highlighting beach cleanup data, regional case studies, and current science of 2024 from across the nation. As we reflect on the impacts of the national Beach Cleanup program, it’s amazing to hear the heartfelt stories of how our network grew together and increased our power in the fight against plastic pollution. Read more and download the report here.
July 5th Cleanup Results
Surfrider Oregon Chapters got busy last month for the "Dirtiest Beach Day of the Year"! Spanning the state, the Portland, Newport, and Coos Bay chapters hosted 6 cleanups on July 5th, engaging 161 volunteers and clearing 1,705 lbs of trash from our beaches and roadways! Thank you to everyone who contributed!
Upcoming Events!
August 19 – North Coast Trivia Night - RSVP & Info
August 20 - Portland OFR Committee Meeting - RSVP & Info
August 20 - Portland Wave Watch Wednesday - RSVP & Info
August 23 - Portland SUP Saturday Paddle - RSVP & Info
Sept 17 - Portland Surfrider Needs More Friends Happy Hour
Sept 20 - International Coastal Cleanups
Sept 27 - Coos Bay StandUP for the Bay - RSVP & Info
Scenes from the Oregon field!
Volunteer Sarah found a bow during Surfrider Newport's World Ocean Day Highway Cleanup and decided to leave a present for ODOT when they picked up! During that cleanup, 14 volunteers collected 23 bags of trash along Highway 101.
Surfrider Portland volunteers pose with their haul from their July 5th Ross Island paddle cleanup! 32 volunteers took to the water to clear 474 lbs of trash from Ross Island in the Willamette River after the holiday.
Attorney Eric Wriston from Crag Law Center, one of our partners on the Oregon Beaches Forever Campaign, chatting public beaches and the historic fight to save them at our campaign update event at Fort George Brewery in Astoria.
Scenes from our Oregon Beaches Forever Field Trip in Newport with renowned oceanographer and author Kim McCoy! We learned about wave and beach dynamics, and he showed us how beaches can be shaped by a single blade of grass.
Seal Rock, Oregon. Located on the central coast, this rocky basalt island chain is protected within Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. These rocks host homes for many nesting seabirds and shorebirds above the water as well as hundreds of different species of invertebrate and other tidepool animals below the surface.
