FLORENCE, Ore. (AP) -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski has proposed using the remaining $2.8 million the state received in a settlement from the New Carissa shipwreck for research projects on seafloor mapping, wave energy and marine reserves.

KGW File Photo

Wreckage from the New Carissa on Oregon's Coast.

In a letter to the members of the state's Ocean Policy Advisory Council, the governor recommends a limited system of marine reserve pilot projects at Otter Rock north of Newport and Redfish Rocks south of Port Orford.

He also recommended further study at four areas located in Oregon's state-owned waters, which stretch from the beach to three miles into the Pacific Ocean.

Michael Carrier, the governor's natural resources adviser, said he's optimistic the Legislature will approve the governor's proposal for the projects despite a $2 billion deficit in the state's budget for the biennium beginning July 1.

It helps that funding for the projects would come from the New Carissa settlement, Carrier said, and money would not only be spent on marine reserves but other research in the state as well.

"Scientists and policy-makers in coastal communities have said we really need better information about the content of the ocean floor in order to plan for its uses," Carrier said.

The New Carissa ran aground in 1999 and broke apart, leaving about half of the wood chip freighter stuck in the sand on a beach near Coos Bay and the other half washed ashore near Waldport on the central coast.

It eventually was towed off of the beach and had to be sunk with a Navy torpedo.

The Florida-based company that owned the ship agreed to a roughly $22 million settlement with the state in 2006.

The governor envisioned funding marine reserve projects but a contentious process resulted in far fewer proposals than the governor envisioned.

Many in the Oregon Coast's fishing fleet feared the reserves could cut down on the industry's catch.

In response to widespread criticism about the potential economic harm of a marine reserve network, Kulongoski promised no more than 10 reserves. The Ocean Pacific Advisory Council recommended only two pilot project reserves.