4A • February 24, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Views from the Rock
Feeling ‘blue’ at Falcon Cove Marine Reserve
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Sunset at Short Sand Beach in Oswald West State Park, the gateway to the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve.
D
uring a late February presentation,
Jane Lubchenco, a distinguished pro-
fessor in the Oregon State University
College of Science, shared lessons about
ways “to use the ocean without using it up.”
In her presentation, the OSU professor
pointed out that achieving the long-term
potential of blue growth — sustainable
management of our oceans — will require
aligning short- and long-term economic in-
centives to achieve a diverse mix of benefi ts.
“Blue growth refers to long-term strate-
gies for supporting sustainable growth in the
marine and maritime sectors as a whole,” she
said.
That philosophy is to be seen in the desig-
nation of the Cape Falcon Marine Preserve,
which celebrated its fi rst birthday a little
over one year ago.
At 12.4 square miles, Cape Falcon, along
the coast from Manzanita to Falcon Cove, is
the second largest of Oregon’s fi ve marine
reserves, where ocean development and
removal of sea life are prohibited.
“They mean no take, no development,
no ocean animal or plant can be removed,
and nothing can be developed there without
a scientifi c permit,” Friends of Cape Falcon
Reserve Coordinator Chrissy Smith said this
month. “Cape Falcon unites land and marine
conservation.”
The reserve is located in the ocean just off
the northern coast between Falcon Cove and
Manzanita. Cape Falcon is one of fi ve ma-
rine reserves in the state — Cascade Head,
Otter Rock, Cape Perpetua and Redfi sh Rock
are the others.
A tide change?
A month after its debut, Cape Falcon
played host to a statewide summit, with
experts weighing in on our changing ocean
habitat. More than 80 state agencies, wildlife
and conservation groups, professors, vol-
unteers and civic leaders joined in “A Tide
Change: Inspiring Engagement in Oregon ‘s
Marine Reserves.”
As director of the Science of Marine
Reserves Project at Oregon State University,
Kirsten Grorud-Colvert presented evidence
that within 124 marine reserves the mass of
animals and plants increased 446 percent
on average after protections, the number of
animals and plants in an area increased 166
percent, animals’ body sizes increased 28
percent and the number of species increased
21 percent. Heavily fi shed species increased
Ecotour, anyone?
CANNON SHOTS
R.J. MARX
most dramatically.
Anne Nelson, of the Marine Protected
Areas Center, a partnership with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
and U.S. Department of the Interior, encour-
aged the growth of “sustainable tourism.”
“We have this unbelievably beautiful re-
source that people want to see,” Nelson said.
“How can we let people in, but still make
sure areas are protected?”
Avian Conservation Manager Joe Lieb-
ezeit of the Audubon Society of Portland
heralded the diverse bird population which
could benefi t from marine protections.
A community volunteer at Newport’s Ot-
ter Rock, Karen Driscoll, said Cape Falcon
was “outstanding” because of its diversity,
with “something of everything: grasslands,
forest, rocky headwater.”
Could Cape Falcon fulfi ll its goals with-
out compromising an economy dedicated to
tourism?
Fishing impact
Ten years ago, fi shermen were concerned
about the impact of placing land off-limits to
fi shing in protected areas.
“There are areas there that haven’t been
touched with any kind of gear,” a commer-
cial trawler said at a hearing reported in The
Daily Astorian in 2008. “For them to say we
need more area to study seems like a back
door approach to adding more restrictions.”
Today, Cape Falcon Marine Reserve is
off-limits to fi shing up to the low tide line
and all rocky intertidal areas in the marine
reserve are protected. “Fishermen are re-
specting that rule,” Smith said.
Tamara Mautner, owner of Garibaldi
Deep Sea Fishing, brings deep-sea fi shing
enthusiasts up the North Coast.
Cape Falcon Marine Reserve has “not re-
ally had a whole lot of a lot of effect in terms
of taking away our fi shing grounds,” Maut-
ner said. Fishermen were more impacted by
restrictions at reserves along the central and
southern coasts, Mautner said. Cape Fal-
con’s designation did take away “a couple of
places we like to fi sh sometimes, but nothing
that’s our main bread and butter.”
Ecotours of Oregon, based in Port-
land, off ers the Northern Oregon
Coast Tour. Along with wine-tasting
and gallery visits, tourists “stop at
Ecola State Park for world-class views
of the of rocky cliff s, gorgeous beach-
es, and enormous off shore volcanic
rocks including the famous Haystack
Rock.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Garibaldi Charters leads environmental
and whale-watching tours along the North
Coast.
“If it helps people feel they’re doing
something good, that’s great,” Mautner said.
“We all want there to be a lot of fi sh out there
— us maybe more than anybody, because we
depend on it. The main thing that’s happening
right now is we’re trying to make sure our
fi shing grounds don’t get taken away any
further than they have been.”
Connected to the reserve are two 7.6-mile
marine protected areas, where some fi shing
activities are allowed.
Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce
Executive Director Court Carrier said he had
seen “no pushback” from visitors seeking to
fi sh North Coast waters.
“If we had more of a diversifi ed economy,
and we had a lot of fi shing boats or a marina,
we’d hear about it a lot,” Carrier said. “I
don’t think it’s impacting people’s ability to
make a living out there on the ocean.”
Tourist attraction
As early as 2009, then chamber director
Jeffrey Jewel labeled ecotourism “one of the
big boom businesses of the future.”
In a spring 2015 presentation to the Can-
non Beach City Council, Friends of the Cape
Falcon Reserve volunteer chairwoman Nadia
Gardner called ecotourism a “burgeoning
market.”
“We’ll see if we will get charter boats or
ecotourism,” Gardner said. “I’d love that.”
“It’s one of our missions for the chamber
of commerce and our marketing committee
to implement sustainable travel as part of our
mantra,” Carrier said last week. “How do we
make that connection to the visitor? I think
it’s a good thing, but as far as a direct connect
“EcoTours carries 45-power wildlife
spotting scopes on all tours, in order
to view wildlife such as the harbor
seals and pelagic birds which sun and
nest on these off shore wildlife refug-
es,” they write; for more information,
visit ecotours-of-oregon.com.
In addition to their deep-sea fi shing
traffi c, Garibaldi Deep Sea Fishing
off ers two-hour whale-watching and
ecotours are off ered for $40 per per-
son, with a minimum of 10 per tour;
garibaldicharters.com.
right now, it remains to be seen.”
More than 700,000 visitors visited Short
Sands Beach last year, Cape Falcon coordina-
tor Smith said.
“The ocean’s big and when you parcel
off a portion, without much effort, a marine
reserve will become a destination location,”
she said. “Our stance is to encourage it, but to
encourage people to be conservation-mind-
ed while they’re here. We’re trying to take
the stance: ‘Please come visit, but let’s talk
about the consequences of our choices and
actions.’”
Smith said she foresees speakers’ pro-
grams, interpretative guides, hikes and even
a boat tour.
“We really just want people to be aware
it’s there,” Smith said. “It’s such a new ma-
rine reserve. A lot of people come and they’re
not aware it’s there. We want them to under-
stand know it’s something Oregon is doing.”
For more on this topic, the Haystack Rock
Awareness program presents Tommy Swear-
ingen, Ph.D., of Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife Marine Resources Program, at
the Cannon Beach Library on Wednesday,
March 8, at 7 p.m. He will speak on “Oregon
Marine Reserves: An Overview of the Human
Dimensions Research Program.”
Finding birding opportunities all around town
I
have been staring at my com-
puter screen for about an hour
trying to come up with a snap-
py bird note for you! I was start-
ing to think that my memory is
just shot, because I couldn’t think
of any recent birding adventures.
Where’s the passion, the drive and
love of birds!
As I more deeply pondered
the many recesses of my mind, I
thought about my days. Then it hit
me! Although it’s rapidly changing,
I often go to work in the dark and
come home in the dark. That does
not leave a lot of time for this work-
ing girl to get out and bird.
Oh sure, I’ll drive down a certain
street (such as 11th in Seaside
where a northern mockingbird has
Publisher
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BIRD NOTES
SUSAN PETERSON
been visiting a feeder all winter)
or spend a couple more minutes in
front of my picture window on the
weekends (I can usually tally about
15 species in 15 minutes), but I like
to tell you about my adventures
with people and birding. It just
hasn’t worked out like that lately.
But spring is swiftly coming
and that means more daylight and
hopefully some dryer weather.
The Great Backyard Bird Count
was President’s Day weekend. It
Contributing writers
Lyra Fontaine
Rebecca Herren
Katherine Lacaze
Eve Marx
Nancy McCarthy
is always a highlight in my birding
year. This year I have been chal-
lenged to do motorless birding.
So my backyard will be covered
as well as my neighborhood. If
weather and time are smiling on me,
I may venture out to the beach for a
little ocean action.
This is a good warm up for the
Necanicum Bird Day on April 1 at
the Bob Chisholm Center in Seaside
and then the 5th Annual Birdathon
Fundraiser for the Wildlife Center
of the North Coast. We are opening
it up to a 24-hour period as a cele-
bration. Starting at noon on April 8
and wrapping up noon on April 9.
Find all the details at the Wildlife
Center’s website at coastwildlife.
org.
CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
The Cannon Beach Gazette is published every other
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1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside, Oregon 97138
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Right after that, we’ll be
celebrating more outdoor adven-
tures with Cannon Beach’s unique
12 Days of Earth Day, including
lectures, plantings, clean-ups and
a parade and street fair. Watch for
details coming soon!
And don’t forget the First Sun-
day Cannon Beach Bird Walk. The
next one will be on March 5, join a
small group at 9 a.m. at the Lagoon
Trail on Second Street. Bring binoc-
ulars and wear appropriate clothing.
Everyone is welcome!
Lots of birding in my future,
how about yours?
Susan has spent her life enjoying
the great outdoors. Susan resides on
Neawanna Creek in Seaside where
her backyard is a birder’s paradise.
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PUBLIC MEETINGS
Friday, Feb. 24
Cannon Beach Emergency Preparedness
Committee, 10 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, March 7
Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m., City
Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, March 14
Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30 p.m., work
session, City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Thursday, March 16
Cannon Beach Parks and Community Ser-
vices Committee, 9 a.m., 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Design Review Board, 6
p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, March 21
Cannon Beach Public Works Committee,
9 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Seaside School District, 6 p.m., 1810 S.
Franklin, Seaside.
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