Liquid sanctuary.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Goal 19 of Oregon's land-use planning system requires the state "to conserve marine resources and ecological functions for the purposes of providing long-term ecological, economic and social value and benefits to future generations."

Oregon falls sadly short of that lofty goal. Major environmental concerns - declining fishing stocks, increasing development of coastal areas, growing disruptions from climate change and other issues - have received scant attention in recent decades.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski wants to remedy this situation with a proposal to convert Oregon's entire coastline into a national marine sanctuary. The move would allow state and federal agencies to work with fishermen, tribes, recreational users and others to protect a coastal ecosystem that's hurting badly from years of neglect. It would also extend state jurisdiction, which currently runs a slender three nautical miles from the beach, to cover the continental shelf, a distance averaging 25 miles.

Quick reality check: The odds of a Republican Congress and administration embracing Kulongoski's proposal are as long as those of a rain-free January in Florence. It's simply not going to happen, especially given the relentless push in Washington, D.C., for offshore oil and gas drilling. Kulongoski, however, is not oblivious to that political reality and says his border-to-border proposal is only a "starting point" for public discussion in determining the size and location of sanctuaries.

It's long past time for that discussion to occur both in Salem and in Washington. The three-decade old National Marine Sanctuary System is made up of 14 protected marine areas that cover more than 150,000 square miles, including four sanctuaries in California and the 11-year-old Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary in Washington state. Despite previous efforts, including an unsuccessful push by former Gov. John Kitzhaber to establish a network of state marine reserves, Oregon still doesn't have a single square mile - or a square inch, for that matter - of marine sanctuary to its name.

Establishing even one or two substantial sanctuaries in the most biologically productive offshore areas would help ensure the long-term recovery of Oregon's battered fishing industry, and would make certain those areas are not further despoiled by the intrusion of massive fish farms or extractive activities such as oil and gas drilling and seabed mining.

Kulongoski also may have defused some potential opposition by emphasizing that commercial and recreational fishing would continue in the sanctuary and remain under the control of the Pacific Fishery Management Council. That's a shrewd and necessary move - the governor's proposal won't go anywhere without the support of fisheries.

Skeptical fishermen should also consider that sanctuaries offer their industry one of its best hopes of recovery. A study of more than 70 marine reserves around the world found that after just two years of protection, population densities of marine life forms nearly doubled and their total weight tripled. Meanwhile, fishing in neighboring waters also showed marked improvement.

Kulongoski's proposal has extra importance in light of the Bush administration's failure to take seriously the recommendations of his own U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, which called for a thorough overhaul of policies in the 4.4 million square miles of ocean off the nation's coasts. In the absence of a forceful, cohesive national response, Kulongoski is taking the initiative to empower his state to protect its own coastal waters, just as Oregon and other states are moving to fill a similar void in national leadership on climate change.

Several decades ago, Oregon had the wisdom to establish the goal of protecting the state's coastal waters. It's time to fulfill that obligation.