H2ONCoast

Recently, I discovered a new (old) resource for managers and others interested in PNW estuaries published by OSU Sea Grant. The report of the Pacific Northwest Coastal Ecosystems Regional Study (PNCERS) titled Estuary Management in the Pacific Northwest was published by OSU Sea Grant in 2003. The publication received little attention and unfortunately has gone out of print. It contains useful information on management of the region’s estuaries, a description of these important ecosystems as well as the agencies, tribes and others involved in their management. The reader will also find some discussion of trends and issues most of which have only increased in importance since 2003.

The PNCERS was completed early in this decade. It was an ambitious multidisciplinary, multiyear study aimed at helping coastal managers and policymakers understand how estuarine and nearshore ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest coast are affected by natural variability in environmental conditions and human activities. PNCERS was a partnership of the Oregon Coastal Management Program, Washington Sea Grant, Oregon Sea Grant, the National Marine Fisheries Service and funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Since then, the study group has put out some excellent materials on a number of regionally important topics include social, biological and physical science assessments of Oregon coastal communities.

I have aquired just a few copies of Estuary Management in the Pacific Northwest and would like to offer it to people on the North Coast with an interest in the topic. If you are interested, please let me know by referencing my contact page. Caveat: I’m going to give preference for North Coast requests first, then wider coastal audiences. I only have so much of a mail budget!

Another very useful output of the PNCER Study that continues to live on is the Oregon Coastal Atlas. This handy site will allow the user to build maps or explore existing geographic data sources on the Oregon coast.