Dr. Steve Dundas on the Economics Governing Coastal Armoring Trends

January 11, 2021

The lemming effect on shoreline armoring decisions in Oregon

This week, Peter Ravella and Tyler Buckingham have Dr. Steve Dundas on the show to talk about his use of applied economics to model the potential future armoring of private property on the Oregon coast. Dr. Dundas is a professor of Applied Economics at Oregon State University, and works at the OSU Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station. We discuss the current armoring situation on the Oregon coast, including the ramifications of the State's "Goal 18," which values the preservation of unarmored shorelines, and how a weakening of the laws preventing armoring could result in spillover effects resulting in a much faster armoring of the shoreline than previously thought. Where does this lead, and what can the rest of the American Shoreline learn from this interesting research in Oregon? Find out here. Its interesting and wonky, only on ASPN!

Show Transcription
This transcription was generated by a computer. Please excuse any errors.
Peter Ravella & Tyler Buckingham

Peter and Tyler joined forces in 2015 and from the first meeting began discussing a project that would become Coastal News Today and the American Shoreline Podcast Network. At the time, Peter and Tyler were coastal consultants for Pete’s firm, PAR Consulting, LLC. In that role, they worked with coastal communities in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, engaged in grant writing, coastal project development, shoreline erosion and land use planning, permitting, and financial planning for communities undertaking big beach restoration projects. Between and among their consulting tasks, they kept talking and kept building the idea of CNT & ASPN. In almost every arena they worked, public engagement played a central role. They spent thousands of hours talking with coastal stakeholders, like business owners, hotel operators, condo managers, watermen, property owners, enviros, surfers, and fishermen. They dived deep into the value, meaning, and responsibility for the American shoreline, segment-by-segment. Common threads emerged, themes were revealed, differences uncovered. There was a big conversation going on along the American shoreline! But, no place to have it. That's where CNT and ASPN were born.