developed. In addition, Oregon's scenic shoreline and beaches have long 

 attracted tourists from throughout the country. Over 40 percent of the 

 coast is used for public recreation while 16 percent is used as private 

 recreation lands. 



5.4.2 History of PCS Operations 



Vigorous OCS exploration began in 1961 off the coast of Oregon. 

 After 3 years of promising geophysical work, the BLM, in October of 

 1964, leased 101 tracts off the coast of Oregon and Washington for $43 

 million in bonus bids. Following this sale eight exploratory wells were 

 drilled but none found commercial quantitites of petroleum. Discouraged 

 by these results, the oil industry diverted their efforts away from 

 Oregon to pursue discoveries off Alaska and California. 2 In 1969 all 

 leases sold in the 1964 sale reverted back to the Federal government. 



During the 1960 's, Astoria, Coos Bay and Newport were the headquarters 

 for supplies and services for the seismic and drilling fleets. The 

 fleet used for these offshore activities consisted of: 1 floating 

 platform, 1 heavy drilling ship, 6 light ships, 7 supply ships, 12 

 auxiliary boats, and 14 seismic boats. OCS operations contributed about 

 $30 million directly to Oregon's economy in the 1960 's. 3 



5.4.3 Status of OCS Development 



BLM has announced the schedule of pre-leasing activities for the 

 OCS sales off Oregon's coast. Both the northern California sale and the 

 Washington-Oregon sale have the same schedule as follows: 



1. Baseline studies will begin in December of 1976. 



2. Interior will call for nominations in August of 1977. 



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