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West Coast Governors Alliance on Ocean Health
Welcome from the Governors of California, Oregon, and Washington
California Governor Edmund G Brown Jr. (left), Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber (center), and Washington Governor Christine Gregoire (right) participate in the West Coast Governors Alliance on Ocean Health to address critical ocean and coastal protection management issues facing all three states.
Our oceans are home to a great diversity of marine life and clean beaches, and oceans are vital to West Coast fishing communities, recreation and tourism. We know that isolated local efforts cannot adequately address the breadth of degradation to our oceans. By cooperating, our three states will combine our resources and influence to make a real difference in the fight to clean and protect the oceans.
- Governor Gregoire
Oceans in the News
West Coast
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NOAA Designates Additional Critical Habitat for Leatherback Sea Turtles off West Coast—NOAA announced January 20, 2012 the designation of additional critical habitat to provide protection for endangered leatherback sea turtles along the U.S. West Coast. NOAA is designating 41,914 square miles of marine habitat in the Pacific Ocean off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington (more).
- WCGA Hosts Regional Data Network Meeting—On December 13-14, 2011, about 60 state and federal agency staff, tribal representatives, and NGO and academic staff from California, Oregon, and Washington gathered in Oakland, CA, to discuss the formation of a regional data network for the West Coast. The group had a productive conversation that resulted in several action items, as well as volunteers to help with the tasks that were identified. Most notably, a sub-group volunteered to craft a proposal to the WCGA to create a Regional Data Action Coordination Team (ACT) that will coordinate with the 10 other ACTs and carry forward the ideas identified at the workshop through an ACT Action Plan. Two other sub-groups that were created focused on data and information technology infrastructure; both groups developed a list of near- and longer-term goals to address regional data needs, as well as identified volunteer coordinators to keep the groups moving toward those goals. The proceedings will be published within the next one to two months. For more information, contact Todd Hallenbeck (todd.r.hallenbeck@state.or.us) or Christina Cairns (christina.cairns@noaa.gov).
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West Coast Integrated Observing Systems sign MOU to expand and strengthen collaboration—To further the mission of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) and serve the requirements for ocean observations, data, and information at the scale of the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME), the three regional components of IOOS on the West Coast recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to expand and strengthen West Coast regional ocean observing collaboration (more).
California
- California Permitting Guidance for Ocean Renewable Energy Test and Pilot Projects—The California Ocean Protection Council, in consultation with the California Marine Renewable Energy Working Group, developed a permitting guidance document to support the state’s long-term energy and carbon reduction goals, particularly the development of experimental wave, tidal and offshore wind energy technologies. The guidance document provides license and permit processing guidance for early test and pilot hydrokinetic and offshore wind projects located in and adjacent to California marine waters. This guidance can help project proponents prepare for and meet anticipated regulatory requirements by providing a level of certainty about the review and issuance process of state permits for these types of projects. More information about OPC and partner efforts on ocean renewable energy can be found on the Wave Energy Development page.
- California OPC recommends the California Energy Commission adopt a state policy on Ocean Renewable Energy—At its December 16, 2011 meeting, the California Ocean Protection Council approved a recommendation to the California Energy Commission (CEC) suggesting that the CEC consider adopting an ocean renewable energy policy as part of the state’s Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) update.
- Southern California Marine Protected Areas Effective January 1—New marine protected areas (MPAs) will go into effect Jan. 1, 2012 from Point Conception in Santa Barbara County to the U.S./Mexico border. Last week, the state Office of Administrative Law approved the regulatory package put forward by the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) that sets rules and boundaries for the south coast MPAs (more).
Oregon
- Oregon's Marine Reserves Moving Forward—Oregon is moving forward with the recommendations of the Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) to establish marine reserves at Otter Rock, Redfish Rocks, Cape Perpetua, Cascade Head, and Cape Falcon (more).
- Oregon Produces Detailed Ocean Maps—A meeting held in Astoria, Oregon in December of 2011 brought wave energy developers together with ocean planners to review maps of existing and potential ocean uses (more).
Washington
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Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) Invites Public to Share Photos of High Winter Tides—Ecology is inviting the public to share photos of the high winter tides, or king tides, that will occur this winter from late December 2011 through January 2012. Check out Ecology’s King Tide Initiative website for more information.
- WCGA Sea Grant Fellow Narrates Video on Puget Sound Pelagic Food Web Study—Alan Lovewell produced a video on a study currently being done on the Puget Sound food web to see how various bodies of water throughout the sound differ in their ecological communities and how the health of the Puget Sound Ecosystem relates to human activity.
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