OLCV Talk

The Youth Vote is Green

Check out this editorial by Nick Engelfried a student at Pacific University in Forest Grove.  Nick is a young activist who has stood out in his support for a greener Oregon.  Go Nick go!

Check Out Nick's editorial here!

November Trivia

Queston:  At the start of 2009, Oregon will add water bottles to the state recycling program, adding a five-cent deposit to the price. According to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, roughly how many water bottles will this legislation keep out of our landfills?

Click here to submit your answer!

LCV's Oregon efforts pay off

The League of Conservation Voters made electing Jeff Merkley to the U.S. Senate one of their top priorities in 2008.

LCV, which works to turn environmental values into national priorities, served as an independent voice in support of Jeff Merkley’s candidacy and energy policies throughout the race, promoting his long-term leadership on energy and environmental issues. 

LCV's outreach programs contacted voters in Oregon 111,937 times in support of both Obama and Merkley, while LCV’s television ad, “One, Two, Three,” aired more than 1,150 times statewide. You can still view the ad if you missed it on TV.

In total, LCV spent approximately $350,000 in support of Obama and Merkley in Oregon. And thanks to the interest and involvement of thousands of Oregonians, it paid off.
 
Read LCV's press release.

FAQ: Marine Reserves

This information found its way to my inbox and I thought it was worth sharing.

What is a marine reserve?

At least 23 nations have established marine reserves for various reasons—to protect biodiversity, manage fisheries, or restore depleted populations of marine animals and plants. Marine reserves prohibit the taking or destroying of marine wildlife or its habitat within their borders. Most marine reserves still allow scientific surveys of the area, as well as recreational use such as surfing, swimming, no-take diving and boating.
• More than 100 marine reserves have been established worldwide.
• Marine reserves encompass much less than one percent of the world’s oceans and less than .01 percent of U.S. waters.
• Marine reserves range in size from less than a square mile to hundreds of square miles.

Currently, most marine reserves are quite small, and the media reserve size is less than 1.5 square miles.

Do marine reserves typically accomplish the goals of protecting habitats and restoring plants and animals?

Scientists have studied the performance of more than 80 marine reserves of many different sizes in a variety of temperate and tropical habitats. A comprehensive review of marine reserves reveals that most well-regulated marine reserves result in relatively large, rapid and long-lasting increases in population sizes, number of species, and reproductive output of marine animals and plants. The review found that the average biomass, or weight of all animals and plants studied, is more than four times larger in reserves than in unprotected areas.
Please contact Kirsten Grorud-Colvert at Oregon State University at grorudck@science.oregonstate.edu for more information.

Why do these changes occur within reserves?

Protection from fishing allows animals in reserves to survive longer and grow larger. Also, habitats are protected from anchors and fishing gear, so they can sustain the plants and animals that rely on them. Marine reserves are currently the only marine management tool that promotes the recovery of entire ecosystems, not just target species.

Why are large populations important?

Small populations are more likely to be driven extinct by unpredictable catastrophes, like oil spills or global warming. Large populations contain more individuals, so they are more likely to contain individuals that are capable of surviving various stresses. The extinction of one species can often result in the decline of another, due to the inter-connectedness of this web of life.

Why does fish size matter?

Bigger body size is one of the most important biological changes in marine reserves because large fish and invertebrates can produce enormous numbers of young. The relationship between body size and number of young is well known. For many marine fishes and invertebrates, small increases in body size can lead to large increases in the number of eggs produced. The bigger and more abundant animals living in a marine reserve can produce far more than their smaller neighbors in unprotected waters. As a result, marine reserves can produce higher growth rates. Due to the migratory nature of fish, healthy, large and abundant fish can spill over into unprotected areas.

What problem are we solving by introducing marine reserves in Oregon’s territorial sea?

There are many threats facing Oregon’s oceans: destruction of wildlife, pollution runoff, climate change, loss in biodiversity, dead zones, fishery collapses. Marine reserves are just one tool for managing our ocean resources. Marine reserves won’t solve all of these problems on their own, but they will have a positive impact in bringing back to health damaged marine habitat. And with reserves set aside as research areas, we can better understand the convergence of all of these threats facing our ocean, and leave the ocean closer to its natural state for future generations.

What are the benefits of marine reserves in Oregon’s territorial sea?

(1) Marine reserves provide insurance. We all have insurance against unforeseen events.  Marine reserves provide protection for our ocean resources.
(2) Marine reserves provide places where fish can feed, breed and thrive, and where human impacts are minimized. Marine reserves conserve and protect essential habitat for fish and wildlife and their habitat.
(3) Marine reserves provide a living laboratory for research and education by providing a benchmark to assess the effects of fishing, oil drilling and other human impacts that can harm marine life over the long term.

Why isn’t the current set of ODFW regulations sufficient for ocean-health protection?

Recent fishery collapses and the long-term decline of fish populations in Oregon, show that the current regulations aren’t doing enough to stop this downward trend, and return our fisheries to a healthy, sustainable level. Setting aside areas for fish and other wildlife to feed, breed and thrive may seem like common sense, but it’s a relatively new concept for ocean resources management. Previously, if a species was in decline, protections were placed on that particular species, but not the forage fish and habitat needed for that species’ survival. Protecting whole ecosystems, essentially creating underwater parks, is a new type of management, but it’s been proven to work in numerous studies, and is shown to have an even greater potential for benefit in temperate ocean waters like Oregon’s.

How can marine reserve help fisheries if fishermen can’t fish in these areas?

Animals living inside marine reserve can replenish populations (including fishery stocks) outside their borders because larvae disperse in ocean currents in juvenile stages, spilling over into unprotected areas. It’s no coincidence that the majority of record-breaking game fish in Florida are caught just outside the marine reserve at Merritt Island.

How many people does it take to bottle one bottle of wine?

Lane County OLCV worked extremely hard to help Rob Handy defeat Bobby Green and re-elect Kitty Piercy as Eugene Mayor. They'll be celebrating their accomplishments this fall at a wine bottling party!  

RainSong Vineyard will provide a barrel of 2006 Columbia Valley Cabernet to bottle. 

Suggested donations are a minimum of $100/case (12 bottles) or $60/half case.  Food and desserts will be provided. There will also be wine tasting offered by RainSong.
   

WHEN: Sunday, November 23, 2008, from 12:00 PM -2:00 PM.   

WHERE: RainSong is located about ½ hour outside of Cheshire. 

If you would like to participate, but are unable to attend, OLCV volunteers will bottle your wine and deliver it to you.  This would make a great gift just in time for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

 

If you're interested, please make a commitment for a full or half case by Tuesday, November 18.  We must guarantee the vineyard 25 cases in order for the event to move forward.  We need to sell another 17 cases to reach our goal!

 

To participate, email Meredith or call 503-224-4011 by Tuesday, November 18.

A greener house in Oregon

The Oregon House will be decidedly more pro-environment next session with the huge victories of at least 6 OLCV targeted legislative candidates.

Environment brings wave of upsets

• Brent Barton’s upset over incumbent Linda Flores in Clackamas County is extremely exciting as Flores’ lifetime OLCV scorecard average is an abysmal 17%.
  
• Judy Stiegler’s victory over Chuck Burley in Bend was ever more satisfying because Burley’s bad record on clean energy played a huge role in that race.
  
• Nick Kahl and Suzanne VanOrman, who both won open seats that had long been held by anti-environment legislators.

They will be joined by Jules Kopel-Bailey, Chris Garrett, Michael Dembrow, and Jefferson Smith to round out a great pro-environment freshman class.

Land Use Misconception #1: Regional Differences

As someone who used to work at 1000 Friends of Oregon, one of the more frustrating experiences is having people repeat things about our land use system that simply aren't accurate.

A widely-spread misconception repeated in today's Oregonian is that somehow our statewide land use system, which has state standards that guide local plans, is "one size fits all."

Our laws have different requirements for different types of farmland and forestland, different requirements for lands in the Willamette Valley and outside of it, different requirements for different size cities, and so forth. Five our 19 land use goals only apply to certain areas of the state.

Read this full fact sheet explaining how regional differences are taken into account in our land use system.

Fill in your own punch line

Coke to sell bottled water from the Willamette.

Fill in your own punch line.

JP

The Tribune gets it half right

Portland Tribune editorials often have me scratching my head.

And the premise of this one isn't right: "Democrats Must Not Overreach." My fear isn't that they'll overreach. My fear is they'll be too timid, playing it cautious and safe, rather than fulfilling the change agenda that swept them in.

But when the Tribune talks about priorities -- education, jobs, and the environment, they nail it, particularly the interconnections between the issues.

"A third area of emphasis must be to maintain Oregon's leadership on environmental issues and global warming. Such an initiative not only addresses a moral issue, but also positions the state for strong economic growth as it develops new technologies for a greener future. These three priorities -- education, jobs, and the environment -- are interconnected. By investing in education and the environment, Oregon will boost its economy and enhance its quality of life."

Couldn't have said it any better ourselves. Interested in some ways to do that, check out our priorities for 2009.

Congratulations Jeff!

The Oregonian has declared it for Merkley. Not that they get to decide. But the numbers are unrelenting at this point. Merkley's now ahead with the vast majority of the remaining vote coming from Lane and Multnomah Counties, where he's winning by very large margins.

Congratulations Jeff!