How does wave energy fit in with marine reserves?
Marine reserves, like wave energy facilities or other new uses, may or may not impact traditional uses of Oregon’s ocean. It depends on where they are located. Perhaps the best reason to prepare a comprehensive ocean resources planning process in Oregon—anchored at the local level—is to develop an ocean plan that can meet the needs of all interest groups. Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski’s Executive Order 08-07 (E.O.), and the Governor’s public statement to Oregon’s commercial fishermen on November 1, 2007, codified a state policy that marine reserves and wave energy facility siting will not have a significant impact on the economy and culture of the Oregon Coast. The process will be about working together to find those places in the ocean so we can avoid conflicts. That’s why the meaningful participation of informed ocean users in the process is essential.
