The pro-energy, pro-development Bush administration has not often inspired euphoria among environmentalists. But the president achieved that rare feat last week, when he created a trio of marine reserves in the Pacific Ocean.

Oregon conservation activists quickly seized on the decision as encouragement for a string of reserves along our own coast. They gushed that the president’s action demonstrated the strength of bipartisan support for marine reserves, providing further justification for pushing their Oregon goal.

Not so fast.

While the three Pacific reserves are a singular accomplishment, the areas they protect are remote and largely unpopulated. These areas have little in common with Oregon’s busy coastline, and they should not influence state policy making. 

Last year a cluster of conservation groups, backed by the national environmental movement’s deep pockets, proposed a “network” of  Oregon reserves that would outnumber Mo’s ubiquitous chowder houses. Naturally, coastal communities that depend on the fishing industry were alarmed.

After much contention, a state panel settled on just two reserves for now, near the only two communities where local testimony indicated acceptance of the idea. Port Orford and Depot Bay are willing to provide the test plots for studying protected fish populations.

Money is the pivotal issue, as it generally is. Establishing and studying a marine reserve is expensive, and a larger project would stretch Oregon’s resources.

That’s one similarity Oregon has with Bush’s remote ocean sites. Bush merely proclaimed the three giant reserves. He left the task of administering and funding them — like so many other problems — to be sorted out by President-elect Obama and the new Congress.

The similarities end there. Unlike the remote reefs and atolls protected by President Bush, the Oregon Coast’s fishing grounds are essential to local livelihoods. Also unlike those faraway waters, marine reserves along Oregon’s coastline are a matter best handled by state authorities, not the federal government.

The acclaim Bush is receiving for his three reserves will partly patch his tattered environmental legacy. He’s welcome to that, and bless him for the achievement. But conservationists should temper their delight. Bush’s action proves nothing at all about Oregon’s fisheries, its budget capacity or its people’s opinions.