[4] Senator Richard L. Neuberger introduced a bill to establish a national seashore at the Oregon Dunes in 1959, but it was opposed by governor Mark Hatfield and several local organizations.

[6] A bill reintroduced by Congressman Robert B. Duncan in 1963 unanimously passed the Senate Interior Committee, but Senator Wayne Morse opposed provisions of the bill that increased environmental protections by restricting property uses,[7] and the Forest Service did not wish to see it transferred to the National Park Service.

L. 92–260, sponsored by Congressman John R. Dellenback, was enacted in 1972, protecting 32,186 acres (13,025 ha) as the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.

[4] Dellenback included a local advisory council, restricted mineral extraction, and removed some residential property to gain support and cosponsorship of Senators Hatfield and Bob Packwood.

[9] The national recreation area was dedicated on July 15, 1972 at Eel Creek Campground with the presence of Forest Service chief John McQuire, Governor Tom McCall, Hatfield, and Dellenback.

These plants include red fescue, Port Orford cedar, evergreen huckleberry, seashore bluegrass, shore pine, hairy manzanita, bearberry, bog blueberry, tufted hairgrass, slough sedge, Sitka spruce, and skunk cabbage.

Techniques included restoring the plover habitat along the sand dunes by removing invasive beach grasses and maintaining the appropriate structures optimal for nest building.

The group, formed in 2014, is engaged in efforts to combat the spread of invasive plant species that consume a large portion of the dunes.

The invasive species seen today are a result of a twentieth-century effort by land managers to stabilize the dunes by planting grasses.

Today the group, along with the United States Forest Service, is creating prioritization plans, locating funding sources, and raising public awareness of the project.

[17] The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is among the top United States Forest Service sites in the country for off-highway vehicle (OHV) use.

A revised 1994 Recreation Use Plan restricted the use of OHVs to only 31% of the total site, split between two large units or management areas.