House Select Committee on Climate Crisis Field Hearing, August 03 2022

This hearing examines the challenges facing Oregon’s coastal communities and ecosystems due to the climate crisis and opportunities for the federal government to help state, local, and Tribal partners build resilient, climate-ready coasts. The committee received testimony from: Dr. Elaine Placido, Executive Director, Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership. Placido is a veteran of the Coast Guard and has twenty-plus years of local government and non-profit experience prior to working with the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership. Dr. Francis Chan, Director, Cooperative Institute for Marine Ecosystem and Resource Studies; Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University. Chan leads the Institute’s research in conservation, protection, and restoration of marine resources; marine ecosystems; ocean acoustics; and ocean, coastal, and seafloor processes.  Tyler Bell, Director, Westervelt Ecological Services' Rocky Mountain Region. Bell primarily oversees the organization's restoration site planning and development, agency relations and coordination, business development, and management of regional staff.  Aja DeCoteau, Executive Director, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. DeCoteau leads the organization's strategic direction and team of more than 130 employees in four locations in Oregon, Washington and Idaho to put fish back in the rivers, protect treaty fishing rights, share salmon culture, and provide direct services to tribal fishers along the Columbia River.