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Strategic Plan through the 40th Anniversary |  Goal for the coming year: To host a major celebration of our 40th anniversary in spring, 2011 as an organization with greater visibility, clearly defined programs, stronger communications and an emerging grassroots network, with an augmented staff.
PROGRAM GOALS AND PRIORITIES
Ocean Program
Where we stand now
We have an important place at the table when decisions are made about Oregon’s nearshore ocean. Our Ocean Program director sits on the state’s Ocean Policy Advisory Council, and chairs its working group on wave energy; we have played a key role in demanding that legitimate scientific studies of potential impacts be conducted before wave energy development is permitted. The program director also sits on the steering committee of the Our Ocean coalition that successfully pushed for the creation of the state’s first two marine reserves. We will continue to exert our influence in these policy-making and coalition settings.
Where we intend to go
1. Priority: Develop an organizing campaign that will actively engage our members and CoastWatchers in marine reserves and other ocean issues, more firmly establishing our identity as the group that can bring strong grassroots support to the table;
2. Organize a task force of staffers, volunteers and at least one board member to thoroughly review the Pew Ocean Commission and USCOP reports with an eye toward Oregon applications;
3. Drawing from the work of this task force, develop a “We are all part of the ocean” campaign (educational, but including suggested action plans), and launch it at the 40th anniversary;
4. Seek opportunities to collaborate with the Land Use and CoastWatch programs on a “land-sea connection” strategy to identify and address sources of nearshore ocean pollution;
5. Work along with CoastWatch on a marine debris education and abatement project;
6. Advocate for higher levels of protection for intertidal areas as part of the Territorial Sea Plan (working with CoastWatch to mobilize support).
Land Use Program
Where we stand now: We play a role, often the crucial role, in land use cases throughout the coastal region. Our Land Use Program director advises members and other local citizens in a wide variety of cases, and intervenes directly for Oregon Shores in cases of major importance. We have established a strong track record of blocking or modifying the impacts of inappropriate development by working within Oregon’s land use planning system. Through our Coastal Law Program partnership with the Crag Legal Center we have expanded our reach, enabling us to handle more major cases simultaneously while increasing our ability to offer advice to citizens engaged in local land use concerns.
Where we intend to go
1. Priority: Establish a strong strategic orientation around protecting rivers, estuaries and water quality, and create high public visibility in this role (note: in case it doesn’t go without saying, development issues directly impacting the shoreline will always merit priority status—this is so much a part of who we are historically that it isn’t set apart as a priority);
2. Play an active support role in climate change adaptation strategy;
3. Actively collaborate with other programs on land-sea connection project of identifying and addressing sources of nearshore ocean pollution;
4. Make significant strides toward creating a network of land use activists;
5. Provide training sessions for CoastWatchers and the general public on land use process as it bears on the shoreline;
6. Play a support role in developing the “We are all part of the ocean” campaign;
7. Play a major role in launching at least one coalition effort devoted to comprehensive watershed or estuarine planning and restoration.
CoastWatch
Where we stand now: Some 1,300 “mile adopters” have been organized; essentially every mile of the Oregon shoreline has been adopted. CoastWatchers regularly provide information to State Parks and other agencies responsible for managing coastal resources, while serving as an early warning system for Oregon Shores. CoastWatchers’ reports on their miles are made publicly available, along with a great deal of other information, on our well-regarded section of the Oregon Shores website. Many CoastWatchers, acting as individuals but inspired by the program, have become actively engaged in coastal conservation activities. CoastWatch also serves as a key source of new members and volunteers for Oregon Shores.
Where we intend to go
1. Priority: Create the solid beginnings of a systematic, comprehensive training program for our volunteers
2. Make significant progress toward getting reports filed on miles each quarter;
3. Start a marine debris monitoring survey;
4. Provide systematic training on invasive species, enabling CoastWatchers to monitor for a range of invasives on their miles;
5. Educate CoastWatchers more actively on water quality issues and testing;
6. Build network of CoastWatch county support groups
Climate Action Program
Where we stand now: Oregon Shores has begun to emphasize impending climate change in many aspects of our work. We advocated for a “Goal 20” in Oregon’s land use planning system which would have mandated that future coastal planning take projected sea level rise and increased storm surges into account; while the proposal was not adopted by the Land Conservation and Development Commission, by forcing the issue we pushed into active consideration by the Department of Land Conservation and Development. Our 2009 and 2010 annual conferences have been devoted to climate change and the coast.
Where we intend to go
1. Priority: Lead a successful campaign to create either a Goal 20, or the necessary language within other goals to accomplish the same thing;
2. Partner with local governments to begin pilot comprehensive climate planning;
3. Speak forcefully and with high public visibility on climate change implications for coast (including such aspects as transportation, sprawl, fossil-fuel-intensive tourism and the climate effects of land use decisions);
4. Ready “Pullback Project” for launch at 40th anniversary conference.
ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS
Where we stand now: Oregon Shores has an executive director, CoastWatch director (position currently occupied by the executive director), and part-time Ocean and Land Use program directors. We currently have a nine-member board of directors. We have a website which is a solid source of information about coastal issues, a newsletter, and an annual conference. We exercise fiscal diligence through the executive director, board officers and a professional bookkeeper.
Where we intend to go
1. Staffing: We will have a full-time executive director and full-time volunteer coordinator serving all programs, together with staff for each program and possible use of interns.
2. Funding: Develop a thorough, well-executed fund-raising plan in which all board members participate actively together with the executive director, well on its way to raising the budget we need to fulfill our vision; we have a solidly based five-legged stool (membership, individual donors, grants, merchandise, events); we have developed a culture in which fund-raising is understood as a form of outreach and communication.
3. Structure: Lay the foundation for a volunteer structure within which board members and volunteers can collaborate on committee work.
4. Organizing: We will make progress toward developing a strong grassroots network, with a staffer whose time is largely devoted to this (plus some assistance for the ED); we will be developing a reputation as a grassroots organization, as the place to go to volunteer if you care about the coast. We will be increasingly effective at turning out our members for public meetings or other events we target.
5. Chapters: We will develop at least one and possibly two chapters that are successfully connecting our members, conducting their own activities and providing support for coastwide efforts, with another one or two in the process of being organized by the time of the anniversary.
6. Communications: We will create a solid external communications plan that results in regular newsletters, e-newsletters, CoastWatch bulletins, a frequently updated website, use of press releases and op-ed articles at all appropriate opportunities, and use of letters-to-the-editor columns (spurred by our grassroots organizing); internally, we have developed a set of practices that keep all board members, staffers and key volunteers updated on all our activities and positions.
7. Legislative: The degree of focus will depend on events (e.g., where things stand on marine reserves and whether we are part of a major legislative push). At a minimum, we will champion a bill to give State Parks clear authority to manage rocky shore areas on an ecosystem basis. We will utilize our emerging grassroots network to more effectively mobilize our members on legislative issues (which can carry over to mobilizing for agency hearings and the like).
8. Youth/Next Generation Team: We will continue to develop the “Next Generation Team” model through grant funding or available intern programs. We will maintain our current Facebook page and make careful decisions about other youth outreach options. We will work harder to promote our events and activities through campuses and find other means of engaging the next generation of coastal activists in our work. |
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