Oregon Coastal Salmon Restoration Initiative |
Note: Part I (the first 8 pages) of this chapter is based on material provided in the
August 1996 Draft Conservation Plan. The remainder of the chapter is an update
on outreach and education activities between August 1996 and March 1997.
The Oregon Coastal Salmon Restoration Initiative (OCSRI) and its participants recognize the important role that outreach and education plays in the effort to successfully complete our mission. While outreach and education are difficult to measure and may not have an immediate and direct effect on salmon, they have been an integral part of both the state's short-term and long-term restoration strategy.
This section will describe earlier efforts at outreach and education, current efforts, and future plans for both the short- and long term. Recognizing that restoration efforts will be part of a lengthy process, it is important to note that one intent of the initiative is for outreach and education to continue long after the Conservation Plan is submitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Implementation of the OCSRI Plan requires consistent educational efforts to change Oregonians' views on what reasonably can be expected in the future with the state's natural resource base, which includes salmon. All Oregonians, especially those who live within the habitat of coho salmon, need to know the extent and urgency of the problem with coho populations and what role they might play in offering a solution. Only through a proactive outreach effort utilizing the best educational tools available can an entire societal attitude on natural resource issues be changed. OCSRI's outreach and education efforts are designed to ensure that the welfare of fish is part of the equation as people address natural resource issues and, in fact, as people live their daily lives.
Among the OCSRI's principal goals are several that require direct involvement of local Oregonians; many of the practical solutions and measures are grass roots in nature. To foster that involvement, it has been and continues to be critical that the state reach out to these populations and bring them into the process to give them ownership in the OCSRI Plan.
Without the involvement of the public, the salmon most likely will not return. The state cannot succeed in the restoration effort alone. It needs the support of the public. Outreach efforts are important and effective ways of including the public.
To accomplish both short-term and long-term goals, an Outreach Team has been established consisting of public affairs representatives from the following entities:
The Outreach Team has enlisted various federal partners on an ad hoc basis, including staff from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and Environmental Protection Agency.
The Outreach Team has been meeting bi-weekly since January 1996 and will continue to meet on that basis in the foreseeable future. The team has used small working groups to better facilitate completion of specific projects. Those groups include:
Other small working groups will form and disband as needs are identified during bi-weekly Outreach Team meetings and the work of existing groups is completed.
While individual agencies have adopted their own outreach measures consistent with OCSRI, the Outreach Team is tackling those issues and efforts common to all agencies.
One of the immediate needs and first accomplishments of the Outreach Team was to identify those stakeholders (organizations and various publics) who are most critical for involvement in OCSRI efforts. The matrix developed by participating state agencies has identified more than 170 organizations of varied interests that required initial contact and explanation of the restoration initiative, as well as continued communication as the process evolves. The matrix outlines the appropriate lead state agency in those outreach and communication efforts.
This matrix will serve as a database of interested parties that should continue to be informed. In addition, the matrix could also assist state outreach and education efforts by passing along information to affiliated members. Additional groups and organizations are expected to be added as restoration efforts continue.
Because the Outreach Team involves several state and federal agencies, the opportunity to share and combine resources is a strong benefit to education efforts. To date, the Outreach Team has compiled a list of publications and educational materials available to all interested parties. Those materials range from information specific to landowners, to educational brochures that can be used for schools. The Outreach Team is committed to maintaining and updating the resource list as appropriate.
Educational displays to be used at fairs and other public events are also utilizing the combined resources of participating agencies.
All participating state agencies have developed and implemented outreach and education efforts targeting specific constituents as part of each agency's workplan. The following gives a brief summary and examples of individual agency outreach efforts:
Oregon Department of Agriculture
Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries
Oregon Department of Transportation
Oregon Water Resources Department
As mentioned above, individual agencies have developed and created various outreach materials specific to their own constituents. Meanwhile, the Outreach Team collectively has developed materials that have been distributed to local outlets. They include:
The above publications have enhanced our early efforts to acquaint the public with the problem and some practical solutions on a short-term basis. It is the intent of the Outreach Team to continue developing materials as issues and priorities are identified.
The Outreach Team contracted the services of an exhibit coordinator to design and implement a portable, self-contained salmon education display for use at county fairs, festivals, and other public events. This display offers easy-to-understand principles of the restoration effort and features some practical solutions for affected parties through an interactive process. The display is an example of interagency cooperation as many of its contents are the result of a pooling of resources from various agencies.
In 1996, the display appeared at Lincoln, Curry, Clatsop, Tillamook, and Lane County fairs and the Oregon State Fair. The booth was well attended and alerted the Outreach Team as to the lack of understanding and awareness of factors affecting salmonid decline along the coast. Many visitors attribute the coastal salmon decline solely to marine mammals. The feedback received at the county fair display has been valuable to the Outreach Team in determining what types of information and which groups should receive a high priority for future efforts.
It is hoped the display will be a permanent outreach and education tool in future years.
The Outreach Team planned and organized a series of public informational meetings, which were sponsored by county commissioners, in September 1996 to target key groups and interested individuals in the following locations: Astoria, Tillamook, Newport, Coos Bay, Grants Pass, Gold Beach, Roseburg, and Portland. The meetings included a presentation of the draft OCSRI Plan and allowed time for public comment. Special briefings were provided to the sponsoring county commissions. Also, an executive summary of the plan was distributed to interested parties two weeks prior to the meetings. Visits with local newspaper editorial boards were used to heighten interest in the public meetings.
The Outreach Team is organizing follow-up efforts by offering technical workshops, staffed by qualified instructors, to provide practical suggestions and/or project ideas for fish-friendly management to landowners and other interested people. Besides helping to maintain momentum for the OCSRI Plan, these follow-up technical workshops will indicate the initiative's sincerity in continuing educational efforts well after a plan is submitted to NMFS.
The Outreach Team is organized to bring in new partners as the need arises. Utilizing the skills and experience of federal and local agencies and other organizations allows the team to expand its views and capabilities. As an example, early discussions with the Oregon Department of Education have taken place with the goal of working salmon restoration into K-12 curricula in Oregon. It is hoped that the Outreach Team can align educational opportunities for students with appropriate activities and venues that will teach the long-term values of salmon restoration.
On a more grassroots level, most of the existing watershed councils have already employed various outreach projects of their own including publications, tours of restoration projects, and conservation presentations to classrooms. Watershed councils will continue to identify education/outreach opportunities as they arise.
The comprehensive and inclusive outreach and education effort extends to private groups. The Salmon Watch Program and the proposed Oregon Heritage Stocks Program are examples of conservation organizations getting involved. Descriptions of these programs are provided in the Education and Outreach Attachment.
The Outreach Team will continue to utilize media as a tool in providing information and gaining attention for salmon restoration efforts. To date, print and electronic media have been kept closely informed of OCSRI efforts and have been invited to attend demonstration projects. The publicity gained by media attention has placed a spotlight on salmon restoration and highlighted successes.
To accomplish effective outreach and education, appropriate funding has been identified in agency base budgets and the Governor's Healthy Streams Investment budget. Specific requests for funding are also expected to be made to federal and private entities.
Outreach efforts must include publicizing actions and measures (e.g., on-the- ground projects implemented by local landowners) that are deemed successful and can be used as an example to others. This can be accomplished by dedicating a day each year to celebrate accomplishments in the salmon restoration effort, as well as observing the status of the restoration effort in terms of fish populations-- in essence, an annual report card of our efforts. This dedicated day will publicly keep the initiative alive and serve as a mechanism for encouraging progress and diligence. The annual "Salmon Restoration Day" could include a State of the Salmon speech by the Governor and the publication of an annual report. The Outreach Team will take an active role in planning and implementing this effort.
The following list of measures have been identified by the Outreach Team as establishing the framework for long-term outreach and education efforts:
The above measures will be modified as the Outreach Team continues to meet in the future.
Through the efforts of the OCSRI Outreach Team, a framework has been established to continually address the needs and strategies of outreach and education. The Outreach Team is committed to a long-term involvement with local and federal partnerships. It is expected that actions and measures will be added, deleted, and/or modified as the Outreach Team continues to meet. While our framework allows for flexibility, there is assurance that outreach and education will be a permanent and integral component of the state's plan for coho salmon restoration.
Part II
Outreach and Education
Progress Between August 1996 and March 1997
The OCSRI Outreach Team has made a great deal of progress since the August 1996 draft plan. This addendum is an accounting of the progress that has been made in the past six months and can be favorably compared to the original chapter. The addendum reflects the transition the OCSRI Outreach and Education efforts have made from simply providing information to developing education outreach plans and implementation strategies.
The addendum is organized to follow the same format as the original chapter, including the use of the same headings.
The makeup of the Outreach Team has expanded to include more diverse interests, groups, and skills. In addition to the agencies listed in the original chapter, the Outreach Team now has full time representation from the following:
The Outreach Team continues to meet bi-weekly and often serves as a facilitator to identify partners, audiences, and resources associated with salmon outreach and education.
The Outreach Team, utilizing the opportunity of reaching more than 200 attendees at a February two-day workshop on salmon/watershed education co- hosted by Oregon State University, conducted a survey asking respondents to identify all audiences that should be targeted for salmon education. Our intention was to identify audiences OCSRI was not reaching. Fourteen major audience categories were identified:
Under each major audience category, specific audience groups were identified. In all, 110 target audience groups were identified in the exercise. Workshop attendees also helped to identify front-line communicators (groups and/or organizations) for each of these audiences. Combined with the previously established Outreach Team stakeholder matrix, we have begun to determine gaps in the delivery of salmon and watershed information and education. This information will be useful as work plans are developed to reach all identified audiences (see appendix for Identified Target Audiences and Gaps).
In addition to the summaries and examples listed in the original chapter, outreach efforts of three public agencies should be noted:
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Oregon Water Resources Department
Oregon State University Extension
The Outreach Team assisted in marketing the original OCSRI Draft Plan by coordinating distribution at 110 public sites throughout the coast and affected regions. Copies of the plan were placed at public locations including libraries, city halls, extension offices, soil and water conservation district offices, watershed council offices, and ODFW district offices. The Outreach Team also placed an electronic version of the Plan on the Governor's web site. A news release informing the public of the availability of the plan was written by the Outreach Team and distributed to statewide media.
The Outreach Team produced an Executive Summary of the OCSRI Draft Plan in September and distributed it widely to interested parties. Hard copies were made available at eight OCSRI community briefings in September and October. Copies were mailed to an extensive list of interested parties. An electronic version was also placed on the Governor's web site with links to other agency web sites.
The Outreach Team reviewed public comments on the OCSRI Draft Plan and assisted in preparing written replies to those comments. The team also produced a brochure consisting of the most common questions and answers that resulted from the community briefings. The brochure was distributed to every attendee of the briefings, as well as other interested parties. A major concern in public comments on the plan was the need for a more significant Outreach and Education Chapter. The team has responded by upgrading this chapter with substantial measures taken or planned since the completion of the original chapter.
Two other major recent accomplishments of note:
The survey indicated a high percentage of respondents having access to the world wide web. The creation of a website to act as a clearinghouse for salmon education information (including the directory) could prove to be successful. The survey also asked respondents a series of questions identifying needs/barriers and successes/failures. The Outreach Team and others will be able to use the information to help develop strategies for salmon and watershed outreach and education activities.
Recognizing that not all salmon education entities responded to the survey and that new groups/organizations/individuals will be getting involved in OCSRI efforts, the Outreach Team will continue to update the compendium.
(A copy of the updated compendium and a summary of the survey results can be found in the appendix.)
The purpose of the workshop was to identify ways to effectively deliver educational and outreach programs on salmon and watershed restoration. The workshop was a successful attempt to develop a coordinated system that makes available to citizens current information about salmon, habitat restoration, and related topics. The workshop was also designed to develop a process to assess educational needs and design new programs.
Nearly 200 educators, extension specialists, and representatives of public/private agencies and watershed councils attended the workshop. Participants were able to share information and ideas during the workshop. As part of the event, the Outreach Team presented the compendium of salmon education (see Compendium Survey Results in appendix), which began to identify specific needs and gaps in salmon and watershed education.
Workshop participants worked in focus group sessions to identify needs and mechanisms to deliver services. Key strategy areas that were developed include:
Funding was the common thread and barrier to salmon and watershed restoration. This is especially true for education efforts which are not traditionally viewed as priority actions. In lieu of new funding, existing funds should be evaluated for their effectiveness and appropriateness as education programs and services are developed. These materials will seek to meet the goals and objectives of the OCSRI Plan.
Future meetings of the workshop participants are scheduled. Those meetings will result in the formation of work groups that will design and implement action plans to deliver products associated with these major strategy areas. Those work groups will reflect the diversity of participants attending the February workshop, including representatives of government, education, conservation groups, and watershed councils. The Outreach Team will continue to be involved and will complete the compendium so that a final directory can be delivered in both hard copy and electronic form.
As mentioned in the original Outreach Chapter, an exhibit coordinator (David Heil & Associates) was contracted to design and implement a coastal salmon education display for late summer/early fall of 1996. The OCSRI Fair Exhibit Booth Project was a multi-agency project with involvement from the OCZMA, ODA, ODOT, GWEB, ODFW, ODF, OSUES, ODPR, ODSL, OEDD, watershed councils, and soil and water conservation districts.
The OCSRI fair booth served as a highly visible dynamic platform that both educated the public to the threats facing Oregon's native coastal salmon, and provided a mechanism for surveying attitudes, beliefs, and values of Oregon's coastal residents pertaining to native salmon. The high profile nature of the booth coupled with its interactive hands-on displays made it one of the most heavily visited booths at each fair. It won first place awards at both the Clatsop County Fair and the Tillamook County Fair.
An estimated 77,400 people attended the booth. 1,118 surveys were gathered.
The OCSRI booth revealed that great strides need to be taken in the realm of public education if people are to understand and appreciate problems facing Oregon's fish. Further, it was very apparent that people care about salmon and want to get involved and we need to form an accessible avenue for citizen participation in the restoration of Oregon's native salmon.
Plans for a similar traveling display for Summer 1997 are now underway (see Display Booth Report in appendix).
In September and October, the Outreach Team organized and conducted eight community briefings in cities on the Oregon coast and in basins affected by the salmon crisis. Members of the governor's staff provided an overview of the draft restoration plan and fielded specific questions from attendees. They explained the general decline in salmon populations, then listed major components of the draft plan and how they would affect local citizens and require grassroots involvement. Additionally, agency directors and staff were on hand to answer specific or technical questions from the audience.
The Outreach Team gathered questionnaires from attendees and mailed a written response with answers to the "most frequently asked questions" to all 575 citizens who attended. Specially researched and written responses were prepared for detailed questions. The briefings allowed interested citizens, local officials, and interest groups an opportunity to meet with agency leaders and staff who were directly involved in the drafting of the restoration plan.
Local leaders were personally invited to attend the workshops, and news releases were sent to local media to promote the briefings. More than 540 letters were mailed from the Governor's Office encouraging citizen attendand and informing Oregonians of the importance of these presentations.
The OCSRI Outreach and Education effort has gathered tremendous momentum and participation in the past few months as new groups and individuals become aware of the needs and opportunities. The Salmon and Watershed Education Workshop gathered more than 200 interested individuals associated with salmon/watershed education representing dozens of groups and agencies. The workshop has bonded those groups in a commitment to continue working on identified needs, mechanisms, and products related to salmon outreach and education. Another meeting planned for March 1997 is expected to produce ongoing work groups and a steering committee to oversee the completion of specific tasks. The Outreach Team will continue to be a part of those efforts and will be an integral member of any established steering committee.
The workshop specifically identified the need to involve local government, OSU Extension Service, small landowner groups, and local soil and water conservation districts as key partners in the salmon and watershed education effort.
The Outreach Team plans on working to identify and involve other key education partners in the next several months, specifically those who can provide reach to K-12, community colleges, and other institutions of higher education.
As a prelude to last fall's OCSRI community briefings, a series of editorial board visits were arranged and implemented by the Outreach Team, generating several favorable editorials on coho salmon restoration. The editorials helped generate strong interest and attendance in the community briefings, which themselves were well attended by local media. News releases alerted media to the briefings, as well as the issue in general.
As part of the OSU Salmon and Watershed Opportunities Workshop, print and television media attended the final session, which featured Governor Kitzhaber. Efforts to alert and involve the media have contributed to keeping the need for salmon outreach and education at the forefront in the minds of many Oregonians.
Media will continue to play a central role as the Outreach Team markets the final version of the OCSRI Plan over the next couple of months, recognizing that many Oregonians receive information on such topics primarily through the media.
In addition to actions identified in the original chapter, there are plans for the following:
A follow-up Salmon and Watershed Education Workshop is planned for mid- March 1997 to assemble work groups for completing specific tasks identified in the original workshop. Those include education mechanisms such as a clearinghouse for information, curriculum development, training, communication, and funding. A steering committee consisting of broad representation will oversee the follow-up workshop.
The Outreach Team will update the compendium of salmon education efforts and plans on issuing a directory in hard copy and electronic form by June for all Oregonians to use.
The Outreach Team will continue completing and analyzing the Target Audience Survey to list front-line communicators to the 110 target audiences identified in the survey. We will also attempt to locate gaps and needs for reaching each of those audiences.
The Outreach Team is developing a marketing plan for the final OCSRI Plan for the months of March and April. This will include a new round of editorial board visits, news releases, special events, and at least one more public information meeting.
The Outreach Team will continue meeting on a bi-weekly basis to implement the needs identified by the OCSRI Implementation Team and others as assistance is requested.
We believe this addendum to the OCSRI Outreach and Education Chapter demonstrates our willingness and ability to plan and complete several important short-term measures, as well as the planning for long-term measures that will further Oregonians' understanding of the coho salmon crisis. Although several specific action plans are still needed and yet to be identified, the first steps have been taken to build a broad-based partnership of diverse groups and interests that will lead to a coordinated and comprehensive outreach and education program.
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