| Welcome | ||
 |
 |
 |
|
"Just as our western states have started to work together to fight global warming and protect our air, we now join forces to make sure we are doing everything in our power to maintain clean water and beaches along our coast." - Governor Schwarzenegger "Our oceans provide critical economic, environmental and social benefits to the Pacific Coast states. Today¹s historic agreement will mean clean water, healthy oceans and a better future for our children." - Governor Kulongoski "Our oceans are home to a great diversity of marine life and clean beaches and oceans are vital to West Coast fishing communities, recreation and tourism. We know that isolated local efforts cannot adequately address the breadth of degradation to our oceans. By cooperating, our three states will combine our resources and influence to make a real difference in the fight to clean and protect the oceans." - Governor Gregoire |
||
| | ||
| WCGA Update - Sign me up! | ||
Please send me updates about the West Coast Governors' Agreement on Ocean Health. Enter your Email address: Note: subscribers to the State of California’s oceanpublic listserv automatically receive all WCGA Updates. | ||
West Coast Governors' Agreement on Ocean Health
| NEWS! |
|
9/19/08 Governors respond to NOAA Fisheries' release of $100 million in salmon disaster relief funding: 8/20/08 WCGA held a public workshop on Alternative Energy Development in the West Coast Ocean Environment on September 23rd in Portland, OR. For more information and the link to the archived webcast see the WCGA meetings page. 8/15/08 WCGA on the radio in Seattle. Jennifer Hennessey (WA) and Usha Varanasi (NOAA) appeared on Seattle Public Radio station KUOW as part of a round table to discuss the Action Plan. Read about the panel and listen to the podcast. 7/29/08 The final Action Plan is now available (6.8 Mb / 2.2 Mb). View the state press release and federal press release announcing the plan. Watch the video of the release announcement. Listen to a podcast with California Assistant Secretary Brian Baird. 7/29/08 Governors request $5 million to support implementation of the Action Plan. View the letters to the House and Senate. 7/11/08 Governors urge the President to sign the Maritime Pollution Prevention Act of 2007. View the letter. 6/13/08 Governors oppose the federal Administration's proposed removal of $70 million from funding directed to salmon fishing communities. View the letter. |
|
Governor Gregoire, Governor Kulongoski, and Governor Schwarzenegger announced the release of their landmark Action Plan for the West Coast Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Health on Tuesday, July 29, 2008. |
  6.8 Mb / 2.2 Mb
|
On September 18, 2006 the Governors of California, Oregon and Washington announced the West Coast Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Health. The Agreement launched a new, proactive regional collaboration to protect and manage the ocean and coastal resources along the entire West Coast, as called for in the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission.
The Agreement seeks to advance the goals of:
Clean coastal waters and beaches
Healthy ocean and coastal habitats
Effective ecosystem-based management
Reduced impacts of offshore development
Increased ocean awareness and literacy among the region’s citizens
Expanded ocean and coastal scientific information, research, and monitoring
Sustainable economic development of coastal communities
The Agreement also underscores the importance of managing activities that affect our oceans on an ecosystem basis. That is, managing human activities and their impact on ocean resources in a way that accounts for the relationships among all ecosystem components, including people and other species and the environment in which we all live.
Olympic Coast, Washington
The Agreement directs staff of the three Governors to take certain immediate actions, and to develop a more extensive action plan within one year. The three states prepared a discussion paper to guide public input on actions for consideration during development of the action plan and sponsored a series of meetings to obtain public and stakeholder input on the Agreement. The public comment period on the draft Action Plan is now closed. Thank you for your input. The draft Action Plan was released on October 19, 2007 and public comments were accepted through December 1, 2007. The Governors released the final Action Plan in July 2008 (6.8 Mb / 2.2 Mb). View the press release or watch the video.
We invite you to sign up for the WCGA Update to receive email updates about meetings, plans, and actions under the Agreement (see box above left).
