Yaquina Bay Bridge in Newport crosses the Yaquina Bay estuary, where fishing charters pass daily to catch halibut, tuna, salmon, rockfish and crab. (Photo by Mia Maldonado/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
A nonprofit group representing fishermen’s loved ones and Lincoln County are suing to return a Coast Guard helicopter to the Newport Airport Facility.
The county and the Newport-based nonprofit, the Fishermen’s Wives, on Friday filed a lawsuit in the District of Oregon in Eugene challenging the helicopter’s removal.
The search-and-rescue helicopter has helped Oregon’s central coast residents, fishermen and tourists since 1987, until earlier this month when the helicopter was quietly relocated 95 miles south to North Bend as rumors floated that a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility was underway at the Newport Municipal Airport.
“This vital asset also provides assistance to our local first responders and search and rescue teams. Not having the helicopter where it is supposed to be will put lives at risk,” said Lincoln County Commissioner Walter Chuck, adding that the winter months are an especially important time of year to keep Newport’s fishermen safe.
Newport is the dungeness crab capital of the world, and with crab season scheduled to start on Dec. 16, Fishermen’s Wives president Becca Bostwick-Terry said the helicopter’s removal is deeply concerning.
“Commercial fishing is one of the nation’s most dangerous occupations, and Oregon’s cold waters make rapid helicopter response a matter of life and death,” she said in a statement.
The nonprofit in 2013 was a part of a similar legal battle ensuring the helicopter remained in town, and it succeeded as Congress intervened.
State Sen. Dick Anderson, R-Lincoln City, also spoke against the helicopter’s removal. On Friday, Anderson sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem requesting that the department return the helicopter to Newport “at least” for the crabbing season.
“Fixed-wing aircraft and boats cannot perform hoist rescues in the low ceilings and heavy seas that dominate our winter coast,” Anderson wrote. “The absence of a helicopter in Newport during crab season creates an unacceptable and preventable threat to human life.”
The state of Oregon announced it will file its own lawsuit on Monday in the same court, arguing that the removal violates federal statutory requirements and standards that mandate public notice, community input and formal risk assessments before the Coast Guard may relocate an air station or rescue asset.
Attorney General Dan Rayfield said the federal government pulled away a safety net Oregon’s central coast community relies on without transparency to the public.
“The Coast Guard plays an irreplaceable role in coastal safety,” Rayfield said in a statement. “If federal officials want to change that footprint, they must follow the law. Sneaking a helicopter out in the middle of the night is not following the law.”
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, is planning a town hall in Newport on Sunday and has asked the Coast Guard to meet him at the city’s airport.
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