Dune grading along the Oregon coast, USA: a changing environmental policy

In 1984, an amendment to coastal regulations in the state of Oregon permitted grading of coastal dunes to provide views of breaking waves from beachfront homes. Passage of the amendment represents a change in the trend toward increased restrictions on human activities in environmentally sensitive coastal areas. This study is an assessment of the effects of the new policy on the value of dunes for shore protection and implications of the policy for future shoreline management. Potential effects include increased wave attack of dunes in more seaward locations, higher erosion rates on sediments emplaced by earth-moving equipment, increased deflation of unvegetated sediments, and greater human effort to maintain the modified dunes in a condition that is out of equilibrium with natural processes. The Oregon initiative underscores the need to re-evaluate and alter environmental controls according to public needs. It represents a shift of policy from strict compliance with standards of environmental compatibility to a more lenient approach that seeks to accommodate the land use rights of individual property owners.