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