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Our Land Use Program has increased its capacity to handle numerous important cases at once,
and has won a string of victories.
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| | EVENTS | | | Thu Aug 12 7:00 PM New Hearing Scheduled on Crook Ranch Resort |  Faced with detailed comments from Oregon Shores and other conservationists, and with expressions of concern by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about potential impacts to the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, the Crook County Planning Commission deferred any decision on the proposed Crook Ranch Golf Resort at their July 8 meeting.
Instead, a new public hearing has been scheduled for 7 p.m., Thursday, August 12, in the Showcase Building at the Crook County Fairgrounds in Gold Beach. This gives citizens more time to study the lengthy proposal and comment on their concerns, either in writing or by attending the public hearing. Plans for the resort proposal, and the detailed county staff report, can be found on the Curry County website.
The proposed resort would be located between the Pistol River and the ocean. It borders the Crook Point Unit of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and as Oregon Shores pointed out in our comments, provides no buffer whatever for this highly significant habitat area for seabirds and other wildlife. It also borders Pistol River and Boardman state parks.
The county recently adopted its new Destination Resort Ordinance, which cleared the way for the Crook Ranch proposal. Oregon Shores worked hard to improve this ordinance, urging the clearest possible language protecting resources and assuring compliance with statewide land use policy for coastal areas. While we may not be enthusiastic about the ordinance and the development it may allow, Curry County’s version is considered the best such destination resort ordinance in the state, according to 1000 Friends of Oregon, so we can take pride in having achieved the best possible result in the circumstances.
Oregon Shores has deep concerns about many aspects of the proposal. In our July 8 Comments on the initial proposal, we noted that the development as planned would threaten severe impacts on wildlife and on public recreation areas. As drafted, the resort proposal does not adequately address such matters as buffers between the golf course and protected areas, water quality in streams and impacts to wetlands, landslide potential, transportation effects and many other issues.
Members or other citizens interested in getting involved in the permitting process for the proposed resort are urged to contact Oregon Shores.
Related resources available for download from the Curry County Planning Department:
Crook Point Destination Resort Table of Contents
Two-page Introduction
Crook Point Master Plan Book (246 MB PDF, 60 pages)
Coastal Shoreline Bounda[r]y Map
Full text of Curry County Destination Resort Ordinance
Other Oregon Shores articles on 'Destination Resorts':
Jul 8 Proposal for Major Resort at Pistol River Due for Hearing
Apr 29 Curry Destination Resort Ordinance Hearing April 29
Dec 3 09 Curry County Destination Resorts Hearing December 3
Oct 10 09 Curry County Workshops on Destination Resorts Mapping
 Contact: Phillip Johnson, CoastWatch Director, (503) 238-4450, or EMAIL
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| | | NEWS | | | Jun 19 Oregon Shores Takes Stand Against Suction Dredging | We recently commented extensively on the proposal by Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to issue suction dredge mining permits on Oregon rivers. Our complete comments, drafted with the help of our partners in the Coastal Law Partnership, the Crag Law Center, are posted on this website for all to read.
Oregon Shores joins a wide range of other conservation groups, and countless individuals who love Oregon’s rivers, in opposing the destruction of habitat caused by suction dredge mining. The rivers of southern Oregon that are the primary target of this new gold rush include many of the state’s most ecologically healthy, and hold many important anadromous fish runs.
We reject claims by mining proponents that suction dredges do no environmental harm. On the contrary, we would compare this form of mining to sucking all of your internal organs up with a vacuum cleaner, running them through a blender, then pouring the resulting mess back into your body cavity and expecting everything to keep functioning. That is approximately what suction dredge mining does to river bottom habitat.
Suction dredge mining negatively impacts Oregon’s rivers, streams and the fish that depend upon them. By vacuuming up riverbed sediment to search for gold before discharging it back into the water, suction dredge miners disturb rivers in a way known to harm fisheries, aquatic habitat and water quality. The process can reintroduce mercury into the food chain and turn clear water into a murky and dangerous place to swim. Salmon are particularly affected by suction dredging as the unnatural disturbance destroys spawning habitat. Dredging can also suck up the eggs of lamprey, sculpin and other fish into the dredge itself.
Due to a recent moratorium on suction dredge mining in California, miners are expected to flock to Southern Oregon’s rivers and streams. Oregon Shores supports a similar moratorium on suction dredge mining until the California Department of Fish and Game completes its environmental analysis, as a minimum step to protect our rivers.
6/8/2010: Oregon Shores comments, to ODEQ
6/7/2010: The controversy over suction dredge mining received front-page treatment in the Oregonian.
Contact: Phillip Johnson, CoastWatch Director, (503) 238-4450, or EMAIL
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MORE NEWS... | Jul 28 NEW Efforts to Protect the Lower Rogue Continue
Oregon Shores’ Land Use Program continues to battle proposed gravel mining by Tidewater Contractors in the lower Rogue River watershed at Wedderburn. We contend that mining in this area, as intended by Tidewater, threatens water quality through pollution and sedimentation, and could thus impact riverine habitat and endangered species. Our latest effort focuses on Tidewater’s application to ... MORE | |
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