INLAND OCEAN COALITION

Engaging inland communities in land-to-sea stewardship

“How can we inspire communities to recognize that the ocean belongs to all of us?”

We are an inland movement that builds land to sea stewardship. Our vision is to support citizens and communities to take an active role in improving the impacts and relationships between the inland, the coastal, and the ocean.

Those who live among mountains, rivers and inland cities have a direct impact on the cycle of life in the ocean. The changes we need to make to address the largest threats facing our seas—lowering carbon emissions, reducing trash and pollution, eating sustainable seafood, safeguarding watersheds, promoting marine protected areas (MPAs)—can happen from anywhere in the world. 

In 2011, Vicki Nichols Goldstein founded the Colorado Ocean Coalition (COCO), an organization focused on inspiring inland communities to be stewards of our waters and ocean. Starting in 2015, other inland communities began forming Inland Ocean Chapters. In 2017, COCO responded to the growing network of Chapters and formed the Inland Ocean Coalition based on the premise that you don't have to see the ocean to protect it.