10A • September 11, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com NeCus’ Park: Visioning plan will earmark former Native American land for preservation, education By Dani Palmer Cannon Beach Gazette NeCus’ Park will one day become a site dedicated to teaching the public about its native cultural back- ground. The Clatsop-Ne- halem Confederated Tribes, city of Cannon Beach and community organizations have come together to draft a vision plan. “The place where the tide comes in,” NeCus’ was once home to both the Clatsop and Nehalem people who had a bi-cultural, bilingual village, said Dick Basch, vice chairman of the Clat- sop-Nehalem tribe. It was visited by William Clark, Sacagawea and other mem- bers of their party as they traveled to see a beached whale, and occupied until the mid to late 1800s. Less than two acres of land near the former Can- non Beach Elementary School, Basch said one of the goals of the property is to provide educational experiences to adults and children, like Fort Clatsop. He added that it’ll “be nice to have another education spot where kids could learn traditional history and envi- ronmental priorities.” “When the site closed, that was pretty sad,” said Greater Ecola Natural Area Chairwoman Katie Voelke, referring to the closure of Cannon Beach Elementary School in 2013. “There was some solace in that the site could be reincarnated.” ERICK BENGEL PHOTO Public works employees Kirk Anderson (left) and Paul Phillips (right foreground) place the NeCus’ Park sign atop its base near Fir Street last winter. Dick Basch (center background), Vice Chairman of the Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes, enjoys the moment, along with Diane Collier, the tribe chairwoman; Jan Siebert-Wahrmund, a Cannon Beach resident; and Robin Risley, a member of the Parks and Community Services Committee. The visioning includes gardens of native plants for food, medicine, habi- tat enhancement and edu- cation, along with a canoe landing on the northwest- ern corner of the site with non-motorized boat access, she added. Canoe travel ZDVDVLJQL¿FDQWSDUWRIWKH 3DFL¿F 1RUWKZHVW WULEHV¶ FXOWXUHV XVHG WR KXQW ¿VK and visit other communities to trade items. And travel along the coast, especially around Tillamook Head, was treacherous. “NeCus’ was a good place to come in and rest and be safe,” Basch said. There will also be a natu- ral play area with wood for fort-building, boulders for climbing and open mead- ows for rolling in, along with a small gathering area oriented toward the canoe landing, Voelke said. The gathering area will con- tain rustic seating and ac- commodate school groups, community presentations, tribal gatherings and other educational opportunities, she added. NeCus’ is the home of tribal ancestors and a place that welcomes all visitors, tribal members or not, Basch said. An elderly Native Amer- ican woman once told him that the “old ones” are still in the trees, waiting for the voice of the young ones to sing again. When tribal members do go to NeCus’, they often sing or play drums. Basch said they can “feel the spirit of the old ones.” “It’s a very powerful place for everyone, for the tribe,” he added. “We feel a direct connection with the past.” He noted that the tribe began to speak with Seaside School District 10 about the property around 15 years ago. When Cannon Beach Elementary closed, the dis- cussions became more se- rious. The city of Cannon Beach also expressed in- terest in the site, so the two parties teamed together. The city acquired the land from the county, and now holds a 50 percent undivided interest with the tribe, Basch said. In the future, the tribes, city and community orga- nizations intend to acquire the entire site, including land owned by the school district, to build a log house. Tradi- tionally, native people sat in long, waterfront rows that served as several functions, including living spaces, stor- age areas, meeting halls and ceremonial purposes. Voelke said they’d repur- pose the gym, or deconstruct it and construct a model long house that could serve as a cultural museum, gathering place and classroom. “We believe in honoring our elders,” she said, “we believe in honoring our her- itage.” Basch said they plan to begin installing interpre- tive signs along the trail in the park within the next six months. Several groups have provided money, such as the National Park Service, and the city has placed the vi- sioning on the 2016-17 bud- get, but Basch said they still KDYHVLJQL¿FDQWIXQGLQJKXU- dles to complete their goals. Seeking elk, and finding them as officials tour region Group visits Gearhart, Jewell Meadows Wildlife Area By Katherine Lacaze EO Media Group More than a dozen Ore- gon Fish and Wildlife Com- missioners and their staff gazed through telescopes set XSLQD¿HOGDWWKH5HVHUYHLQ Gearhart. They were seeking elk — and they found them during their day-long tour RI¿VKDQGZLOGOLIHIDFLOLWLHV along the North Coast on Sept. 3. 7KH5HVHUYHZDVWKH¿UVW stop on the tour, a precursor to the commission’s monthly meeting, Sept. 4 at the Best :HVWHUQ2FHDQ9LHZ5HVRUW in Seaside. The subsequent tour through Clatsop County provided commissioners a ground-level look at some of places, facilities and issues they are responsible for as governor-appointed trustees of Oregon’s wildlife resourc- es. In Gearhart, commission- ers used the telescopes to view an elk herd which had separated from the main herd of about 70 elk seen roaming LQWKH¿HOGLQGD\VSULRU In that area, the elk are “in their natural element, which is kind of low-density devel- opment and golf courses,” said Herman Biederbeck, a wildlife biologist for the Or- egon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The reserve is sur- rounded by two golf cours- es, Gearhart Golf Links and Highlands Golf Club. The North Coast Land Conser- vancy has 30 acres to the east RI 7KH 5HVHUYH DW *HDUKDUW that is part of the conservan- cy’s Neacoxie Wildlife Cor- ridor project, started in the 1990s, to create a reserve for wildlife resources along the 1HDFR[LH5LYHU “The elk have their pros and cons, for sure, out here,” Biederbeck said. He and local wildlife photographer and natural- ist Neal Maine talked with commissioners about the ways elk present a challenge for ODFW. As the Clatsop Plains get increasingly de- veloped, elk and humans have more run-ins, creating some precarious situations for both. Maine shared a number of photographs that showed what can happen when elk KATHERINE LACAZE/SEASIDE SIGNAL Members of the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission and staff members look for elk on the North Coast Land Conservancy’s habitat to the east of The Reserve At Gearhart during the group’s tour Sept. 3. cording to the department’s website. At the wildlife area, the department provides a winter habitat and supple- PHQWDO IHHGLQJ IRU 5RRV- evelt elk and black-tailed deer, Jewell Meadows Wild- life Area Manager Bryan Swearingen said. A part of the department’s management plan at the wildlife area is to keep the elk SRSXODWLRQ DUWL¿FLDOO\ ORZ or about 225 when the land’s capacity is approximately 400, Swearingen said. Ad- ditionally, the department provides supplemental feed in the wintertime to mitigate the animals’ negative impact on the land uses of adjacent properties, which are owned by Weyerhaeuser company, Stimson Lumber Company and the Oregon Department of Forestry. A portion of the wildlife area, near Fishhawk Creek, is designated for refuge. Some tracts are open to the public for hunting. Jewell Meadows The department uses Wildlife Area members in helicopters to Farther inland, at the Jew- assess the elk population. In ell Meadows Wildlife Area the future, the department LQ WKH 2UHJRQ &RDVW 5DQJH plans to partner with Oregon mountains, the department State University and use the manages a different elk pop- wildlife area as a control area for testing elk census work ulation. The area, which now using unmanned aerial vehi- encompasses about 1,114 cles. They would like to get acres, is meant to protect and enhance habitat to ben- the data “in a way other than H¿W QDWLYH ZLOGOLIH VSHFLHV having people in helicop- reduce wildlife damage to ters,” which is costly and surrounding properties and carries a risk factor, Bieder- provide the public with an beck said. The group will use the opportunity to observe wild- life in a natural setting, ac- wildlife area to calibrate interact with humans and their infrastructure. In one photograph, a young wom- an scurries away from an elk she angered by approach- ing the animal and its calf to take a picture with them. Some residents spend money on landscaping and making their yards attractive, which makes them more appeal- ing for elk, as well, Maine said. Additionally, the ani- PDOV FUHDWH WUDI¿F KD]DUGV by occasionally crossing U.S. Highway 101 and other roads. Citizens have differing opinions about the elk and how to deal with them. Some people like the elk; some peo- ple have interests, generally commercial, that aren’t com- patible with giving the elk free range. Because of the strong contrasting opinions, the de- partment tends “to deal with elk issues on an individual, case-by-case basis,” Bieder- beck said. and test equipment before jumping the program to the