On Wednesday morning, House Bill 3580 and House Bill 3587 had their first hearing in the House Committee on Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water. These bills support two essential ecosystems along Oregon’s coast: eelgrass meadows and rocky habitat areas.
Rocky habitats are rugged and marked by towering sea stacks, tide pools, and underwater reefs which encompass over 40% of our coastline and play a crucial role in maintaining the health of marine ecosystems. Despite their beauty and ecological significance, these habitats face mounting threats, making their protection more urgent than ever.
Eelgrass meadows exist as underwater grasslands that thrive in the shallow estuaries and bays of the Pacific Northwest. Though often overlooked, eelgrass meadows play a critical role in maintaining the health of marine ecosystems, support biodiversity and combat climate change.
If passed, these bills will help improve these areas by supporting better coordination between state agencies, the development of conservation targets and goals for eelgrass meadows, and increase community education and engagement for rocky habitats.
Environment Oregon proudly submitted testimony for both bills as well as a letter to the House Committee on behalf of 36 conservation-minded organizations. However we’ll need to continuously need to show support to get them through the full legislature.
Below are excerpts from testimonies submitted by Ian Giancarlo, Environment Oregon’s Oceans Advocate supporting House Bill 3587 and House Bill 3580 respectively:
“Oregon’s rocky habitats provide an idyllic image of the sea. Rocky cliffs, tidepools and offshore islands encompass a significant portion of our over 300 miles of coast. These habitats support countless marine species such as sea stars, anemones, urchins and millions of nesting seabirds. To support wildlife, it’s essential that they are healthy.”
“Despite their importance, Oregon has already lost significant portions of eelgrass habitat due pollution, development, dredging and the impacts of climate change. These meadows also are not regularly monitored and there is an apparent lack of coordination amongst state agencies which manage estuaries. More investment in interagency coordination, restoration, adaptive management and goal setting is needed to better support these ecosystems – something that House Bill 3580 seeks to address.”
You can read other submitted testimony for both bills here and here and join us in calling on our legislators to support Oregon’s coastal ecosystems by passing these bills.
