One of the Marine Board's key priorities is protecting the environment. The agency funds floating restrooms, pumpouts, and dump stations. The agency also awards grant funding for onshore restrooms. But there's more to protecting the environment than containing human waste. We also protect our waterways by:
- Preventing aquatic invasive species from contaminating waterways
- Ensuring that marine fueling stations are correctly discharging gasoline
- Advocating for boaters to invest in clean motors for air quality
- Certifying Clean Marinas and encouraging boaters to use them
- Taking responsibility to keep your boat well-maintained and seaworthy.
Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Program
Conservation is the #1 goal of the
Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Program. This program is co-managed with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The program is funded by:
- Oregon motorized boaters through registration and titling fees
- Paddlers with craft 10 feet and longer through Waterway Access Permit sales.
Revenue pays for education, outreach, and law enforcement. It also funds inspection stations (managed by ODFW) on main roadways near our borders.
We are protecting Oregon's waterways from a most significant environmental threat. Prevention efforts will help prevent aquatic invaders from out-competing native species. If aquatic invaders like zebra or quagga mussels gain a foothold, they remove nutrients from the water that fish and other native organisms need to survive. These species represent another roadblock to salmon survival and harm restoration efforts.
Clean Marina Program
The Oregon
Clean Marina program is voluntary and focuses on marinas, boatyards, yacht clubs, and floating home moorages. Facilities that adopt and use best management practices to improve water quality and promote a cleaner marine environment can qualify for certification. Certified marinas have:
- recycling programs
- oil spill mitigation
- native planting practices
- swales or other methods of filtering stormwater runoff.
Clean Boater Program
The Clean Boater Program is a voluntary education program that shows boaters how to lower their impact on habitat, and water quality. There are also suggestions on how to extend the useful life of their boat investment. Take the
Pledge to be a Clean Boater. Ready to get started? Check out the
Clean Boater Guide.
Abandoned and derelict vessels left in ports, marinas, or open water can be an environmental problem and navigation hazard. The Marine Board sets aside $150,000 per biennium to assist enforcement and natural resource management agencies in removing these boats.