West Coast Governors' Agreement

West Coast Governors' Agreement on Ocean Health

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. In the summer of 2008, the Agreement’s Action Plan was finalized which identifies specific collaborative actions between the three states to better manage the ocean and coastal resources along the entire west coast. The plan addresses the following priority areas:

• clean waters and beaches
• healthy ocean & coastal habitats
• ecosystem-based management
• offshore development
• ocean literacy
• ocean science
• sustainable economic development

The Action Plan and other documents are available here. The West Coast Governors’ Agreement (now called the West Coast Governors' Alliance) provides an important opportunity for Surfrider Foundation chapters on the West Coast to advance our mission through leveraging our grassroots campaigns and projects with a major regional initiative. Stay tuned for more information as implementation efforts move forward!

This article is part of a series on the Ocean Ecosystem looking at the various species of plants and animals which depend on a healthy coast and ocean environment, and the threats that can be posed to them by human activity

For information about laws, policies and conditions impacting the beach ecology of a specific state, please visit Surfrider's State of the Beach report to find the State Report for that state, and click on the "Beach Ecology" indicator link.