The proposed rule updates create the first clear statewide guidance for how Oregon's coastal cities and counties should protect, maintain, and expand public access to the coast under Statewide Planning Goal 17. While public beach access has long been a core Oregon value, these new rules establish clearer expectations for local governments by defining key terms, requiring public access planning, improving coordination with state agencies and Tribes, and creating more consistent tracking of public access sites. Surfrider Foundation celebrates the rulemaking as a major milestone victory in our Oregon Beaches Forever Campaign.
As ocean shore development, shoreline armoring and climate change continue to narrow and shrink many Oregon's beaches, planning for and ensuring access for future generations is critical for our state. Limitations in equity of access, cultural concerns and a lack of adaptive planning necessitates a modernized state policy framework to support generational beach access. Identifying this need within our Oregon Beaches Forever campaign, Surfrider Foundation made modernizing the state's beach access policy framework a key strategy.
Surfrider's beach access work has increased significantly in Oregon as development, erosion and climate change impacts threaten traditional access locations.
Surfrider participated over 2 years in a Coastal Access Advisory Team led by Oregon's lead statewide land use agency, the Department of Land Conservation and Development. The highly diverse group of beach stakeholders, tribal, municipal and state governments established the policy framework and a modernized beach access inventory and planning tool. In late 2025, the state launched a Rulemaking Advisory Committee to incorporate the policy recommendations into the state's rules for beach access. Following the recommendations of the committee, the state's Land Conservation and Development Commission unanimously adopted the rules this summer in late June - read the state's updated rule summary here.
Not all beach access is equal. A key area in the planning and rulemaking was to understand a wide variety of users and accessibility needs for the public.
Summary of Updates:
For beach lovers, the rules are designed to help ensure that public access is not quietly lost over time. If a public beach access route or right-of-way is proposed for closure or vacation, local governments must provide public notice and consider whether access can be retained or replaced with an access point that meets or exceeds the quality of the original site, while maintaining connections to the Oregon Coast Trail and other public trail networks whenever possible. Such planning principals ensure there is "no net loss" over time of both quality and quantity of access points. The rules also require communities to report changes to public access sites so Oregon can maintain a current, coastwide inventory, supporting greater public transparency. Language in the rule also distinguishes both access to, but also along, the ocean shore.
For coastal communities, the updated rules provide greater clarity and consistency rather than creating an entirely new public access program. By establishing a common framework, the rules are intended to help local governments make informed decisions, improve coordination among agencies, and better protect one of Oregon's most cherished public resources—safe, reliable access to the state's beaches for residents and visitors alike. Even before these rules were adopted, Clatsop County utilized the new planning tool and policy framework to update the County's local access plan. Surfrider Foundation is excited and proud of this work that will continue to ensure generations to come will be able to access and enjoy Oregon's public beaches!