JUNE 7, 2018 // 21
Explore a floodplain forest
on Get Outdoors day
A guided walk Saturday,
June 9, at North Coast Land
Conservancy’s Circle Creek
and Boneyard Ridge habitat
reserves is one of 20 free out-
ings offered by 12 Oregon land
trusts throughout the state as
part of Get Outdoors Oregon
Day.
Part of the National Get
Outdoors effort, Get Outdoors
Oregon Day is a chance to
get outside — whether by
attending a land trust event,
exploring Oregon’s hiking
trails or enjoying a local park
with family.
At Circle Creek, geologist
Tom Horning and naturalist
Mike Patterson will lead an
exploration of the Necanicum
River floodplain forest and
lower reaches of Tillamook
Head in their many stages:
newly planted, dead and
Get Outdoors Oregon logo
decaying, and everything in
between.
The outing will begin at
Circle Creek, one of the land
conservancy’s largest habitat
reserves and also one of its
most dynamic. From there
participants will venture into
340-acre Boneyard Ridge,
another large NCLC habitat
reserve serving as a habitat
bridge between Circle Creek
and Ecola State Park.
Land trusts, also known as
land conservancies, such as
NCLC, are nonprofit organiza-
tions that actively work to con-
serve land in local communi-
ties. In Oregon, there are more
than 20 of them. Oregon land
trusts have protected more than
400,000 acres of land — near-
ly four times of that owned by
Oregon State Parks.
Details about this and
other summer outings on
NCLC lands is available at
NCLCtrust.org/on-the-land-
summer-outings.
Get Outdoors Oregon Day,
led by the Coalition of Oregon
Land Trusts, is part of a week
celebrating outdoor recreation
in Oregon from June 2 through
10. The Coalition encourages
Oregonians to explore, discov-
er and learn about Oregon’s
special places that week.
Pull, pile, stomp a most wicked weed
SEASIDE — It’s year No. 2 of the collabo-
rative assault on the weed known as po-
liceman’s helmet in the Necanicum River
watershed, and volunteers are being sought
for a day of weeding at Circle Creek Conser-
vation Center in Seaside, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Wednesday, June 13.
Policeman’s helmet, a highly invasive
non-native plant, has taken hold throughout
the Necanicum River watershed, choking out
native plants and reducing plant and animal
diversity while increasing the risk of stream-
bank erosion.
North Coast Land Conservancy and the
Necanicum Watershed Council are working
together to try to rid the watershed of this
invader.
Four summer stewardship interns have
been hired to pull policeman’s helmet for two
months this summer, and volunteers will be
helping them on Wednesday, June 13, and
again on Saturday, July 21. The plant is easy
to pull; the next step is to pile uprooted plants
and stomp on them to crush the stems and
prevent the seed pods from developing or
maturing.
Get details on the June 13 stewardship day
PHOTOS COURTESY NORTH COAST LAND CONSERVANCY
You can see Sitka spruce, alders and other trees, young and old, on a walk at Circle Creek.
Appearing at the Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival
June 15-17 at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds
Kleiveland & Toppe from Norway
Pajunen/Brynnel Duo
Swedish/Finnish American
Canada’s Tribute to ABBA & Fleetwood Mac
One performance only, June 16 at 7:30 PM
Advance tickets available at the Liberty Theater Box Office
or online at www.libertyastoria.showare.com
COURTESY NORTH COAST LAND CONSERVANCY
Policeman’s helmet grows along the Necani-
cum River, below Tillamook Head.
at NCLCtrust.org/pull-policemans-helmet.
Public engagement is key to getting rid
of this weed. Wherever you live in Clatsop
or Tillamook counties, keep an eye out for
policeman’s helmet on your property. As soon
as you see it, pull, pile and stomp the plants
so they can’t reproduce.
Visit NCLCtrust.org/pull-pile-stomp for
more details and to report suspected sightings
of the plant.
More information at astoriascanfest.org
HERITAGE • TRADITION • FAMILY • FUN • FOOD