July 13, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 3A
Portion of Nehalem River may become ‘scenic’
Decision
could come by
November
By Mateusz Perkowski
Capital Press
SALEM — Oregon parks
officials believe a portion of
the Nehalem River qualifies as
“scenic,” but potential restric-
tions have met with consterna-
tion from agriculture and local
government representatives.
The Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department has
completed a study conclud-
ing that 17.5 miles of the river
meets the criteria for scenic
designation, such as free-flow-
ing water, outstanding views
and recreational opportunities.
The report was submitted
in June to the Oregon Parks
and Recreation Commission,
which oversees the agency
and plans to vote on a “scenic”
recommendation as early as
November.
Restrictions meant to pro-
tect the natural features of
scenic waterways can be prob-
lematic for landowners, par-
ticularly the requirement they
notify state parks at least one
year before making certain
changes to their property with-
in a quarter-mile of the river.
During that time, the land-
owner can negotiate with the
agency over possible alter-
native plans or a sale of the
property.
In the forested areas sur-
rounding the Nehalem River,
the primary concern would
be delayed timber harvesting,
which is already regulated un-
der the Oregon Forest Practic-
es Act, said Mary Anne Coo-
per, public policy counsel for
the Oregon Farm Bureau.
“It’s a complicated struc-
ture that’s on top of anything
else,” she said.
Changes to roads or farm
buildings may also be hin-
dered by the requirement,
Cooper said.
Though the rules for scenic
rivers do make allowances for
agriculture, the construction or
modification of a structure —
such as a pumphouse — must
be compatible with the sur-
rounding aesthetics, she said.
Whether a design is visual-
ly obtrusive is a highly subjec-
tive question that could prove
problematic for landowners,
she said.
The scenic designation is
also meant to protect river
COLIN MURPHEY/THE DAILY ASTORIAN
The Nehalem River passes near the Nehalem Falls Camp-
ground southeast of Manzanita.
flows, potentially interfering
with the development or trans-
fer of new water rights, Coo-
per said. The protections may
have implications for water
quality, which is already reg-
ulated under other laws for ag-
riculture and forestry.
The Farm Bureau is also
skeptical whether the 17.5
mile stretch actually meets the
criteria for a scenic designa-
tion, since the landscape has
long been managed, she said.
“There are homes and
roads throughout the area, so
it’s not really undisturbed,”
she said.
Tillamook County’s Board
of Commissioners has also
come out against the scenic
designation, arguing that re-
strictions on logging will vi-
olate the state government’s
duty to generate revenues
from property donated by the
county.
“Although we support pub-
lic uses on the Nehalem River
… we cannot support the pro-
posed designation as it fails to
take into account the primacy
of timber production on prop-
erties which the county deed-
ed to the state decades ago,”
according to a letter sent by
the board.
Journal explores a nautical tale from the 17th century
A local mystery
lives on
By Edward Stratton
The Daily Astorian
The Beeswax shipwreck,
a local mystery born from
blocks of beeswax and shards
of Chinese porcelain found
along the shores of the Ne-
halem Spit, is the subject of
the Oregon Historical Soci-
ety’s newest quarterly journal,
“Oregon’s Manila Galleon.”
The first article, by author
Cameron La Follette and a
team of archivists, takes a
deep dive into the Santo Cristo
de Burgos. The Spanish galle-
on left Manila in 1693 loaded
with Asian trade goods headed
for Acapulco, Mexico. Re-
searchers have long theorized
the ship, which disappeared, is
the wreck near Nehalem Spit.
La Follette had been
searching the Tillamook
County Pioneer Museum’s
website for something else in
2015 when she came across a
talk about the Beeswax wreck
and looked it up. She later
connected with the Beeswax
Wreck Project, an archaeo-
logical study of more than
10 years looking for the ship-
wreck.
Fascinated by the Spanish
galleon trade and the peo-
ple who risked their lives to
OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Researchers have linked the markings from blocks of beeswax found near Manzanita to ship-
pers in the Philippines that were part of the Spanish galleon trade across the Pacific Ocean.
bring goods across the Pacific
Ocean, she started an archi-
val study of records in Spain,
Mexico and the Philippines
related to the Santo Cristo de
Burgos.
“Archives often have the
most surprising things,” she
said. “Documents get deposit-
ed there, and then all knowl-
edge gets lost over time.”
Her team’s research un-
covered information about
the captain, Don Bernardo
Iniguez del Bayo, from the
Basque region of Spain. The
General Archive of the Indies
in Seville, Spain, had a com-
plete manifest of the estimat-
ed 235 passengers and crew
aboard the ship.
Researchers also found a
partial cargo manifest, includ-
ing 2.5 tons of mercury that
may help with identification
of the wreck, and were able
to link the markings on some
of the beeswax blocks found
in Oregon to shippers in the
Philippines part of the galleon
trade.
“I hope that our archival
research will help the archae-
ological team in locating the
wreck,” La Follette said. “I
would also like other people
to do genealogical research of
the people on the passenger
and crew list.”
Other articles in the quar-
terly recap the Santo Cristo
de Burgos’ crew and cargo,
along with the Spanish galleon
trade across the Pacific Ocean
and the tradition of treasure
hunting around Neahkahnie
Mountain and the Nehalem
Spit. One recaps the research
by the Beeswax Wreck Proj-
ect, started in 2006 to ascer-
tain the nationality, port of
origin, destination, name and
final resting place of the ship.
The Beeswax Wreck Proj-
ect has since been folded into
the Maritime Archaeological
Society, a nonprofit based in
Astoria and focused on doc-
umenting shipwrecks in the
Pacific Northwest. The group
last searched for the ship-
wreck last summer, deploying
side-scan sonar and an under-
water robot to explore rocky
outcroppings along Oswald
West State Park.
Scott Williams, lead re-
searcher with the Beeswax
project, said the archaeolog-
ical society is hampered by a
lack of money for the expen-
sive underwater archaeology
equipment. The group will
dive near the Beeswax search
area this summer in search of
an unrelated anchor chain, but
needs a new magnetometer to
help find metal deposits from
artifacts such as the cannons
the Santo Cristo de Burgos
would have been carrying, he
said.
But Williams is excited
about the potential interest La
Follette’s work could gener-
ate.
“I think it kind of kicks it
up to another level of schol-
arship,” he said. “Having this
out will really raise aware-
ness.”
La Follette, who is active
with the Oregon Coast Alli-
ance, will present her team’s
findings July 8 at the Oregon
Historical Society in Portland.
Copies of the Oregon Histor-
ical Quarterly are available
at the historical society’s mu-
seum store, and starting next
week at the Columbia River
Maritime Museum.
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