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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 2015)
spend the summer ON THE LAND Mike Paterson shows Toby Hussa, 7, and his father, Jason Hussa, a sample from a pond in the Seaside Mill Ponds during a North Coast Land Conservatory On the Land event. Discover the natural history and biological diversity of the local area with the North Coast Land Conservancy’s guided walks to fens, bogs, coastal prairies and dunes this summer Story by JON BRODERICK Photos by JOSHUA BESSEX A handful of sure-footed hikers pause on a promontory EeloZ 1eahkahnie 0ountain its Easalt À anks risinJ alZays suddenly from the sea and disappearinJ today in a summer foJ aEoYe Around them nestinJ Formorants huJ the Fliffs Juillemots Jather on the roFks EeloZ a sea lion sZims in the sZells ³, had no idea this Zas here´ someone marYels ³, loYe to hear people say that´ says their Juide .atie 9oelke the e[eFutiYe direFtor of the 1orth &oast /and &on- serYanFy (Yen those Zho for deFades haYe e[plored the 1orth &oast¶s EaFk roads and trails enMoy neZ disFoYeries Zhen they Moin the 1orth &oast /and &onserYanFy¶s summer 2n the /and outinJs A Growing conservation Toby Hussa, 7, smiles as he holds a snail he caught from a pond at the Seaside Mill Ponds during a North Coast Land Conservatory On the Land event. A sculpin caught from a pond at the Seaside Mill Ponds. 12 | July 16, 2015 | coastweekend.com 7his day 9oelke has Moined 1adia *ardner orJani]er of the )riends of &ape )alFon 0arine 5eserYe to desFriEe the FonneFtion EetZeen land and sea Zhere a uniTue opportuni- ty e[ists to proteFt FontiJuous natural haEitat stretFhinJ from offshore seas to Foast ranJe summits 7he 1&/& has reFently assumed FonserYa- tion of aFres of forest and subalpine meadow on 2nion 3eak part of what the 1&/& Falls the ³&oast- al (dJe´ that mountain ranJe with its watersheds that stretFhes between 7il- lamook Head and Nehalem %ay 9oelke enYisions like *oY 2swald :est and 6tate 3arks 6uperintendent Samuel Boardman before her a natural reserYe span- ninJ it all :hen harYest prohibi- tion starts in January 2016 in the &ape )alFon 0arine 5eserYe 12 sTuare miles of oFean habitat will adMoin the proteFted land of 2s- wald :est State 3ark 7he North &oast /and &onser- YanFy hopes one day to e[pand and FonneFt its 2nion 3eak reserYe to Freate a remarkable Tuilt of FonneFted and pro- teFted natural habitat ‘I feel so strongly about conservation because the land I grew up in has been developed, paved and lost to conservation forever. I don’t want to see that happen to the North Coast.’ SinFe 2012 2reJon has desiJnated four other Foastal ma- rine reserYes ² at &asFade Head 2tter 5oFk &ape 3erpetua and 5ed¿ sh 5oFk ² but none of these haYe the potential to adMoin suFh siJni¿ Fant and diYerse FonserYed habitat ³7he North &oast /and &onserYanFy¶s loFal role in pri- Yate land FonserYation ² seekinJ to link toJether other proteFted areas suFh as state parks and marine reserYes ² makes it possible to take a systems approaFh to FonserYation rather than a willy-nilly one´ e[plains 9oelke ³7he Jreater the FonneFtiYity of natural systems the Jreater resilienFy those systems will haYe throuJh time´ Carla Cole discusses a hemlock tree during an NCLC On the Land foraging event July 7. The balance of accessibility (Yeryone who loYes wilderness feels the tension thouJh between publiF aFFess and habitat FonserYation ³, feel it myself all the time , loYe to tromp around outside but it¶s dif¿ Fult to deFide where that¶s appropriate´ says 9oelke ³:e don¶t want to mistakenly loYe plaFes to death´ AFFess to N&/&¶s proteFted habitat is therefore limit- ed Some of it is fraJile Some of it unsafe Some of it is seldom Yisited eYen by land FonserYanFy staff None of it howeYer has been taken from publiF aFFess sinFe the land N&/& manaJes was always priYate in the ¿ rst plaFe ,n an effort thouJh to responsibly inYite the publiF into some of its FonserYed land oYer the ne[t few years N&/& will be buildinJ a publiF trails network at &irFle &reek its larJest habitat reserYe 9oelke worked as a ¿ eld bioloJist for the 8S )orest SerYiFe the Bureau of /and 0anaJement and the 2reJon 'epartment of )ish and :ildlife before MoininJ N&/& in 200 She Jrew up amonJ the oak trees east of SaFramen- Carla Cole, natural resources project manager with Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, holds duckweed during an On the Land foraging outing July 7. to &alifornia 7hose trees are Jone now ³, feel so stronJly about FonserYation beFause the land , Jrew up in has been deYeloped paYed and lost to FonserYation foreYer , don¶t want to see that happen to the North &oast´ Discover hidden gems 7houJh opportunities to Yisit FonserYed land are limit- ed and as yet none e[ists to e[plore the reserYe at 2nion 3eak the North &oast /and &onserYanFy inYites the publiF to disFoYer other ³hidden Forners´ of its FonserYed land by partiFipatinJ in its 2n the /and outinJs Naturalists e[pert in eaFh speFi¿ F habitat Juide the two-hour trips to fens boJs Foastal prairies and dunes to desFribe the natural history and the bioloJiFal diYersity proteFted there 5emaininJ 2n the /and outinJs in July inFlude a trip to the Butter¿ eld )en a 00-aFre wetland riFh in natiYe Fran- berry inseFt-eatinJ sundew and sphaJnum moss BrinJ your loups and maJnifyinJ Jlasses 7hen leJendary loFal natu- ralist founder of the North &oast /and &onserYanFy Neil 0aine leads a patient obserYant trip to the Sitka spruFe swamp near &irFle &reek <ou miJht brinJ a foldinJ Fhair and binoFulars ,n AuJust reJistration is now open Yarious outinJs will take hikers to e[amine N&/&¶s restoration proMeFt at :ar- renton¶s &lear /ake to wander throuJh the reFoYerinJ forest at the headwaters of Boneyard &reek to obserYe new eYolY- inJ wetland near 7hompson &reek and to stroll the transition from open Foastal prairie to anFient Sitka spruFe forest be- side NeaFo[ie &reek As summer¶s end approaFhes September outinJs will enMoy birdinJ and wildlife spottinJ at :halen ,sland in the middle of Sand /ake estuary or behind the dunes at the Nea- Fo[ie :ildlife &orridor 2n the /and also offers one more FhanFe to obserYe up Flose the new wetlands at 7hompson &reek 0aybe the ¿ rst Foho will be runninJ by then (aFh outinJ is free but limited to small Jroups of 1 or Carla Cole, natural resources project manager with Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, shows some of the plants that can be foraged near Creep and Crawl Lake during the so 5eJister in adYanFe online at nFlFtrustorJ or by FallinJ North Coast Land Conservancy’s On the Land foraging event July 7. the North &oast /and &onserYanFy of¿ Fe at 0--126 Aug. 6 – Clear Lake Walk ‘I feel so strongly about conservation On the Land Aug. 8 – Boneyard Ridge Hike because the land I grew up in has www.nclctrust.org Aug 15 – Stanley Marsh Walk 503-738-9126 been developed, paved and lost to 25 – Neacoxie Forest Walk Aug. Registration required 10 – Whalen Island conservation forever. I don’t want to Sept. see at Sand Lake Walk Free Sept. 19 – Birding in the Dunes that 22 happen to Connection the North Coast.’ July – Land-Sea July 28 – Botany in Butterfi eld Fen Walk Aug. 3 – Circle Creek Watch Sept. 30 – Stanley Marsh Walk Toby Hussa, 7, watches a small fi sh caught from a pond at the Seaside Mill Ponds during a North Coast Land Conservatory On the Land event. July 16, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 13