December 4, 2020
The Columbia Press
5
Rainforest Reserve campaign nearing its $10 million goal
A Clatsop County nonprofit
wildland preservation group
won a large grant to preserve
a local stretch of rainforest
and now is appealing to the
public to raise the rest of the
funds it needs for the project.
North Coast Land Conser-
vancy received a $400,000
grant from M.J. Murdock
Charitable Trust for its Rain-
forest Reserve landmark con-
servation project.
The proposed Rainforest
Reserve is a 3,500-acre tract
of forested coastline south
of Arch Cape, adjacent to
Oswald West State Park and
above Cape Falcon Marine
Reserve. When completed,
the reserve will create an
uninterrupted
32-square-
mile conservation corridor
stretching from the summits
of 3,000-foot peaks — the
horizon visible south of Can-
non Beach — to Short Sand
Beach and the sandy seabed
and rocky reefs of the ocean.
“Once again, the Rainforest
Reserve rises to the top be-
cause of the incredible place
it is,” said Katie Voelke, exec-
utive director of the conser-
vancy. “The Murdock Trust
is the last big funder we have
reached out to and, after a
rigorous screening process,
they chose to support us gen-
erously. This grant is a win
for all who love the Oregon
Coast.”
Creeks high in the reserve
provide drinking water to
local communities. Allow-
ing this stretch of temperate
rainforest to grow to matu-
rity will help mitigate the
effects of climate change by
drawing down carbon diox-
ide from the air and storing it
in the trees.
“We believe the strongest
and most sustainable solu-
tions come from a spirit of
collaboration,” said Steve
Moore, executive director of
the Murdock Trust. “Orga-
the Rainforest Reserve and
a donation link can be found
at
NCLCtrust.org/creat-
ing-a-rainforest-reserve.
NCLC launched its Rain-
forest Reserve campaign in
2016 when it signed a pur-
chase and sales agreement
with Ecotrust Forest Man-
agement, a forestland invest-
ment company that had just
purchased the property.
But NCLC had been nego-
tiating with EFM and previ-
ous landowners for nearly a
decade, attempting to find a
Tom Horning/North Coast Land Conservancy
A view of Onion Peak in the proposed reserve south of Cannon
Beach.
nizations like the North
ownership of all prop-
Coast Land Conservan-
erty within the reserve
cy help our communi-
by the end of 2021. Gifts
ties thrive by working
from individual donors,
to build solutions that
public agencies, and pri-
serve the common good
vate foundations have
through an inclusive ap-
now contributed $9.3
proach. We are grateful Voelke million toward the cam-
for their efforts to help
paign goal of $10 mil-
preserve and protect the lion, leaving $700,000 yet to
natural beauty of our region be raised.
while also modeling a collab-
“This grant award launches
orative method to find solu- us into the last stretch of this
tions.”
marathon campaign,” Voelke
With support from the com- added. “It’s all hands in now.
munity, NCLC hopes to com- Every donation counts.”
plete fundraising and take
More information about
way to conserve the property,
which contains rare plant and
animal species. The effort to
put the land into conserva-
tion began in the first half of
the last century with Samu-
el Boardman, Oregon’s first
state parks superintendent,
who envisioned creating “one
of the great natural parks in
the nation.” Unfortunately,
he wasn’t able to achieve that
vision before his retirement.
The conservancy protects
habitat reserves and conser-
vation easements totaling
nearly 5,000 acres between
the Columbia River and Siletz
Bay.