A3
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, OcTObER 28, 2021
R.J. Marx/The Astorian
People gather at the beach during Hood to Coast in August.
North Coast Land Conservancy
Katie Voelke, the executive director of the North Coast Land Conservancy, leads a tour at the
Rainforest Reserve property before the nonprofit purchased it. The reserve includes important
habitat and is home to rare animals and plants.
Reserve: ‘We need it for
ourselves. For our sanity’
continued from Page A1
The Arch Cape Water Dis-
trict is pursuing the remain-
ing 1,500 acres in order to
secure full ownership of Arch
Cape’s watershed and create
a community forest. A pur-
chase could be finalized by
next summer.
The land conservancy has
pushed for the reserve for
more than a decade and it is
certainly the most ambitious
project they have tackled,
said Katie Voelke, the execu-
tive director.
Besides the scale of the
project, there was the cost.
After signing a purchase and
sales agreement in 2016, the
land conservancy launched a
five-year effort and $10 mil-
lion fundraising campaign to
acquire the acreage.
In 2021, the cost increased
unexpectedly to $11.8 mil-
lion. An appraisal of the
property, required ahead of
purchase, came back reflect-
ing a historic high in lumber
prices tied to supply-and-de-
mand issues exacerbated by
the coronavirus pandemic.
It may be tempting to
think of the purchase as an
ending, Voelke said. But, she
added, “really it’s the begin-
ning of the rest of the story.”
The land conservancy will
need to create a final steward-
ship plan for the reserve that
spells out how the property
will be managed and what
kind of public access and
recreation will be allowed,
among other details.
For now, public access at
the Rainforest Reserve will
not change, though some
areas will be closed because
they are dangerous or sensi-
tive. People can still walk into
the reserve to hike or hunt for
deer and elk. Daytime access
only. No camping.
Not every property the
organization conserves is
open to the public, but Voelke
is adamant that the reserve
needs to be one that is.
“It’s wild, it’s huge, it’s
tall,” she said of the reserve.
“You’re in the clouds. You’re
above the rain. All this
incredible coastal wildness
and it’s just right there. You
can get to it. You can go for a
day hike and have one of the
most incredibly rich experi-
ences on the coast, and we all
need that.
“We need it for ourselves.
For our sanity.”
Up until the purchase
documents were signed
on Tuesday, Voelke found
herself getting nervous
when she was out in the
reserve.
“Because the more I’m
out there, the more I know
how irreplaceable this par-
ticular place in the world is
and how terrible it would
feel to fail at this vision that
we have,” she said.
Grants provided about
$4 million for the purchase
of the land. The rest of the
funding came from numer-
ous donors, including peo-
ple from all walks of life and
political backgrounds: Peo-
ple who hiked around the
property as kids or who have
hunted there all their lives.
It was a place they had been
to and seen and cared deeply
about.
Years from now, Voelke
hopes the conservation of
the Rainforest Reserve will
seem inevitable — maybe
even a little unremarkable, a
natural course of events.
“Like, of course this hap-
pened,” she said.
Hood to Coast: ‘Smoother every year’
continued from Page A1
“We’ll continue to have
open dialogue with every-
body here in this room,
outside this room to make
sure that we continue to
be welcome members and
contributing members to
this community,” Floyd
said.
Next year is the last of
the five-year Hood to Coast
contract with the city. In
2022, the relay will pay
more than $30,000 to the
city. The event is scheduled
for Aug. 26 and Aug. 27.
In 2015, City Coun-
cilor Randy Frank moder-
ated a workshop where he
and local business own-
ers complained about rude
behavior by runners, arro-
gant organizers and ven-
dors who tapped into pri-
vate power supplies.
“It’s become a much
better event,” Frank said
Monday night. “And not
only here, but all the way
along the route, whether it’s
restrooms or volunteers. ...
It just gets smoother every
year, and it was great hav-
ing it in town.”
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