An undated handout photo showing research moorings which provide continuous monitoring of ocean conditions as part of the National Science Foundation Ocean Observatories Initiative.
Courtesy of Oregon State University
The Trump administration’s decision to remove buoys that help track ocean conditions puts the safety and economic stability of Oregon’s coastal communities at risk, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers said Wednesday.
In a joint letter to the National Science Foundation, which has reportedly been removing these buoys from off the coast of several states, lawmakers called the move “a profound loss for Oregon and the nation.” They urged the federal government to “reverse course” and pause removing the systems that were submerged hundreds of feet beneath the sea.
“For Oregon’s coastal communities, whose livelihoods depend on accurate, real time ocean information, the removal of these buoys is not an abstract policy decision,” the seven lawmakers said. “It is a direct threat to safety, economic stability, and our ability to respond to rapidly changing ocean conditions.”
The letter was signed by five Republicans and two Democrats who represent the Legislature’s Oregon Coastal Caucus. They were “deeply concerned” that this decision came without input from scientists, community members and Congress, sparking outrage among some coastal residents.
“They were damn mad, right?” State Sen. David Brock Smith, a Port Orford Republican, told OPB Wednesday. “There’s a lot of individuals that were pretty upset that we’re losing this resource.”
The buoys are part of the foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative, helping provide critical information and data for a variety of professions that uphold coastal communities, including fishermen, scientists and mariners. At least three of them were off the coast of Newport, two of which were removed in September, KUOW reported.
With hundreds of sensors that collectively cost more than $386 million, the initiative was expected to continue for up to two more decades.
“They were designed for a 30-year scope of work,” said Brock Smith, who is the Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat and will face Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley in November. “And pulling them out early is just, I believe, and my caucus members agree, that it’s an ill-conceived plan.”
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The buoys assess ocean conditions, including the waves, wind and currents, and forecast the weather and other shifts in the climate, such as marine heat waves. They are also used to help manage fisheries that are a cornerstone of local economies and prepare for coastal hazards stemming from the potential future rupture of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a fault line off the Pacific Northwest coast that is capable of producing devastating earthquakes and tsunamis.
The National Science Foundation, which is an independent agency of the federal government, did not immediately return a phone call and email requesting comment. In an email reported by the Associated Press, the foundation said it wasn’t canceling the program. Rather, the move was part of a “wider strategy of a nimbler approach to prioritize support for evolving scientific priorities and emerging technologies, as well as smart lifecycle management within its research infrastructure portfolio.”
Losing the buoys is a “huge step back” for the coastal employees who rely on them, Oregon State Climatologist Larry O’Neill said in the letter. The removal of the weather tracking systems comes at an especially bad time, O’Neill warned: This summer, scientists are expecting an El Niño, a period of ocean warming that can upend weather patterns and cause marine heat waves.
The removal would be the federal government’s latest blow to ocean research in Newport. Job cuts have previously hit the local National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration center.
The letter is signed by state Rep. Court Boice, R-Gold Beach; state Rep. Boomer Wright, R-Coos Bay; state Sen. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford; state Sen. Dick Anderson, R-Lincoln City; state Sen. Suzanne Weber, R-Tillamook; state Rep. Cyrus Javadi, D-Tillamook; and state Rep. David Gomberg, D-Newport.
Federal lawmakers have also decried the removal of the observatories. On Monday, Merkley and a bipartisan group of senators, including Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, said it “threatens the safety of our coastal communities while undermining our nation’s ability to monitor coastal environments, marine currents, and extreme weather events.”
Oregon state lawmakers are calling on the federal government to conduct a scientific review with local researchers and explain to Congress why it is seeking to scale down the program.
