Resilience of Oregon Coastal Communities in Response to External Stressors

Abstract

This study gathers insights from the leaders and residents in of six Oregon coastal communities to analyze what factors affected their resilience in response to external stressors. The impetus for the study was the creation of nearshore marine reserves off the coast of Oregon which included a mandate for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to investigate the social and economic impacts of the reserves on nearby communities. Interviews were conducted with community members in Garibaldi, Depoe Bay, Newport, Florence, Port Orford, and Gold Beach to understand how the different communities had demonstrated resilience and what factors determined their degree of resilience. Individual community case studies were developed from interviews in the communities and were then used to compare and contrast the different stressors, impacts, responses, enabling factors, and constraining factors experienced across the communities. The factors of resilience identified through this analysis were: the presence of foundational assets; community livability; the capacity for effective action; community cohesion, engagement, and support; and the salience of external stressors relative to internal stressors. This study includes implications related to these factors of resilience meant to inform policymakers on how best to support and enhance community resilience to external stressors. These implications include: keeping in mind the need for a healthy demographic within a community; identifying and working within the community aspirations; and the management of community-agency tensions through the recognition of common goals and objectives. These findings are meant to support policymakers in enhancing resilience of these and other communities.