November 16, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 7A
WHO VISITS HAYSTACK ROCK?
New survey
delves into
where visitors
come from and
how often
COLIN MURPHEY
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
A recent survey shows vis-
itors at Haystack Rock like to
come often and from places
outside of Oregon.
The survey, facilitated by
the federally and state-funded
Oregon Sea Grant, was con-
ducted over six weeks this
summer to study the demo-
graphics of those who visit the
235-foot sea stack each year.
While Haystack Rock
Awareness Program has
tracked the number of visitors
for years — which has now
topped more than 90,000 —
this is the first time the group
has seen a better look at the de-
mographics.
“We really wanted to learn
about why visitors came here,”
said Melissa Keyser, program
director of the Haystack Rock
Awareness Program. “We
wanted to ask them who they
are and figure out how well we
were educating them, so we
can learn how to better engage
with them.”
Haystack Rock is a perennial draw for visitors to the Ore-
gon Coast.
Over the course of the
summer, Dylan Rozansky, the
marine science scholar chosen
by the awareness program to
conduct the study, interviewed
people at the beach and at ed-
ucational events, and collected
data from online surveys. He
asked beachgoers questions
about where they traveled
from, whether they had visited
the rock before and whether
it is important to protect Hay-
stack Rock for stewardship
purposes.
Some of the findings, like
the fact that 95 percent of vis-
itors agree it’s important to
preserve the rock and 49 per-
cent of visitors were between
the ages of 35 and 54, were to
be expected, he said. About 75
percent were women, and 56
percent were aware of the pro-
gram before arriving.
But other findings, like 50
percent of all visitors coming
from outside of Oregon and
the fact more than a third have
visited the marine reserve more
than 10 times, were a surprise.
“And no one surveyed iden-
tified as a local, so that was just
amazing to me … that so many
people outside Oregon were
coming back again and again,”
he said.
For awareness program
staff, the results were an accu-
rate representation of what they
have been seeing on the beach.
On a larger scale, the results
also mirror the rise the state is
seeing in international tourism,
which has grown about 11 per-
cent since 2012, according to a
report from the research firm
Tourism Economics.
“We almost expected to
have higher than 50 percent
outside of Oregon, so that
doesn’t surprise me,” Keyser
said. Many of the program’s in-
terpreters are from out of state
and started volunteering after
multiple visits, she added. “It’s
Time capsule to be
unveiled on Dec. 1
such a unique place,” she said.
In the past few years, the
program has introduced new
initiatives to be more inclusive
of a more diverse visitor pro-
file, including a beach wheel-
chair program and bilingual in-
terpreter for Spanish-speaking
visitors.
Program staff believe the
survey indicates the program’s
recent shift to serve more as an
educational body rather than
as an enforcement group at
the rock is working, and will
ultimately help to show the
program’s relevance in future
grant opportunities.
“It validates why we’re
here. It shows that there is in-
terest … that we have the ca-
pacity to bring more people
from outside the area,” out-
reach coordinator Pooka Rice
said. “From a grant perspec-
tive, it’s significant because it
shows there’s more potential
for the program.”
Public invited
to bring items
for new time
capsule
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
Curious about what was
on the minds of Cannon
Beach residents 50 years
ago? The city will be un-
earthing a time capsule al-
legedly buried near Tolova-
na Hall on Dec. 1 to find out.
This summer, the city re-
ceived a call from a citizen
who said 50 years ago he
was a part of a gentleman’s
club that buried a time cap-
sule. After some digging, an
article marking the moment
on Nov. 7, 1968, was found
in the Seaside Signal.
The time capsule was
in commemoration of the
dedication of the Tolova-
na Community Hall, and
should contain a copy of
the Seaside Signal, a page
from McCall’s magazine
about food and fashion, as
well as photos of a Boeing
737, the latest women’s
hair-dos and a view of
Tolovana State Park. Ques-
tions remain, however,
about the existence of the
time capsule and whether
or not it remains without
deterioration today.
The dig and unveiling
will be held at 1 p.m. at
the Cannon Beach Acade-
my. Residents are invited
to donate items for a new
time capsule that will be
reburied the same day as
long as they are smaller
than the size of a shoe box.
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