Background
Portland Audubon has a long history of working to protect Oregon’s coastal habitats and species dating back to our founding in 1902 when we successfully advocated for and established the first wildlife refuge in the western United States at Three Arch Rocks. In recent decades, Portland Audubon has realized a number of successful conservation victories along Oregon’s coast including:
- Securing the Marbled Murrelet as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act
- Designation of Oregon’s system of Marine Reserves and Protected Areas
- Advancing stronger state and federal protections for forage fish species that are a critical seabird food source
Still very significant challenges remain. Seabird species remain among the world’s most threatened species due to anthropogenic causes including overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. Oregon’s fledgling Marine Reserves and Protected Areas protect only a fraction of area needed for them to be an ecologically functional network. Finally, Oregon’s coastal waters are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change including ocean acidification, sea level rise, and increasingly frequent hypoxic (low-oxygen) events triggered by a warming ocean.
Visit our current coastal marine conservation priorities to learn more, how you can help, and what actions we are taking to help protect Oregon’s precious marine environment for generations to come. For more questions, contact Joe Liebezeit, Staff Scientist and Avian Conservation Manager (jliebezeit@audubonportland.org).