Friday, November 13, 2020 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3
New protections sought for coast’s rocky shores
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
CANNON BEACH —
When considering possi-
ble new state protections for
popular rocky outcroppings
near Cannon Beach, Tabea
Goossen can think of three
priorities.
“No. 1: Leashing dogs. No.
2: Leashing dogs.”
And No. 3? Take a guess.
Goossen has patrolled the
beach from Chapman Point
north of downtown to Indian
Beach in Ecola State Park
as a local citizen scientist for
nearly four years, observ-
ing the activities of a dis-
tinctive shorebird: the black
oystercatcher.
These shorebirds sport a
brilliant orange beak and are
an important indicator of the
health of intertidal ecosys-
tems — the tide pools where
they and their chicks forage
for food and the rocky areas
that become fully exposed at
low tide where they roost and
build their nests.
The birds’ global popula-
tion is small. Like many res-
idents of the intertidal zone,
they are vulnerable to human
disturbance, particularly at
popular sites near Cannon
Beach where low tides in the
summer provide a hard-to-re-
sist opportunity for people to
wander and explore.
This year, Goossen saw
some of the lowest black oys-
tercatcher chick survival rates
she’d ever recorded. She feels
she is constantly asking peo-
ple to stay off the rocks or keep
their dogs away from nesting
sites. For the most part, she
said, they just don’t realize the
impact they are having.
Now a local group hopes to
take advantage of an update to
Oregon’s Rocky Shores Man-
agement Plan to place these
areas under state protections
similar — though less strin-
gent, in some cases — to those
The North Coast Rocky Habitat Coalition is trying to designate new protections for Ecola Point,
Tillamook Head and Chapman Point.
that apply at sites like Hay-
stack Rock and Cape Falcon
Marine Reserve.
This week, the North Coast
Rocky Habitat Coalition pre-
sented their plans to propose
new protection designations
for Tillamook Head, Ecola
Point and Chapman Point to
the Cannon Beach City Coun-
cil. They were looking for
feedback and support as they
prepare to submit fi nal plans
to the state in December.
Visitation to the coast con-
tinues to increase, they noted.
Some areas not included
under the state’s plan in 1994
are feeling the pressure more
now than in the past and new
protections are necessary.
These sites are import-
ant for thousands of seabirds,
which are the most threatened
group of birds globally, noted
Joe Liebezeit, staff scientist
and avian conservation man-
ager at Portland Audubon.
The designations could
also provide some additional
help to the Oregon Parks
and Recreation Department,
whose budget took a major
hit because of the coronavi-
rus pandemic. Though the
designations do not neces-
sarily come with resources
for enforcement or educa-
tion, they open the doors for
community groups that rally
around the sites to apply for
other types of funding.
The rocky shores coalition,
led by Margaret Treadwell, the
coordinator for the Friends of
Cape Falcon Marine Reserve,
is still refi ning proposals for
the three Clatsop County sites
and plans to hold several pub-
lic virtual meetings to collect
community input.
They’re striving for a bal-
ance, she told the city coun-
cilors: Something poised
between allowing people to
enjoy the area while still pro-
tecting the creatures that call it
home.
Protection options
The coalition believes a
marine conservation desig-
nation, which comes with the
highest level of protections
and restrictions, would make
sense for Tillamook Head.
This dominant landmark at
the south end of Seaside and
an entry way into Ecola State
Park was considered for des-
ignation under the rocky shore
plan in the ‘90s.
Kari Henningsgaard, the
communications coordinator
for the Haystack Rock Aware-
ness Program, examines tide
pools near Ecola Point during
a site visit in September to dis-
cuss possible protections for
rocky shore areas near Can-
non Beach.
Though a hiking trail leads
up and over Tillamook Head,
much of the area is inaccessi-
ble, punctuated by steep cliffs
and crashing waves below.
The headland provides ref-
uge to over a thousand birds
and houses nine sea bird col-
ony sites.
Chapman Point, a head-
land that marks part of the
northern boundary of Can-
non Beach and the beginning
of Ecola State Park, features
rocky islands populated by
nesting seabirds and shore-
birds to the west and beach-
front properties rising out of
the dunes to the east.
In the middle is a nub of
protected land, the very tip of
the headland that people are
not supposed to hike, climb
and clamber on but which, to
Seniors lose Medicare Advantage option in county
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
recently as 2009.
Medicare
Advantage
plans have been leaving rural
areas over the years because
of several factors. The scar-
city of rural providers make
such markets less appeal-
ing to insurers providing
Medicare Advantage plans
that bundle services. Medi-
care recipients can get care
from any provider, but Medi-
care Advantage plans usually
require patients to fi nd pro-
viders in the plan’s network.
Meanwhile, the Congres-
sional Budget Offi ce has
found that Medicare Advan-
tage plans underpay tradi-
tional Medicare by 3% and
negotiate even lower reim-
bursement rates with rural
hospitals, where it is more
diffi cult for people to stay in
network coverage.
Hospital executives in
Eastern Oregon, another
area with scarce Medicare
Advantage options, recently
partnered with Moda to cre-
ate Summit Health, a new
Medicare Advantage plan
spanning 12 counties.
“We created Summit
Health following our suc-
cess with the Eastern Oregon
Coordinated Care Organiza-
tion,” Nicholas said. “... Its
owners include regional pro-
viders who have for decades
been focused on meeting the
health care needs of their
communities. All of us at
Moda like to think that Sum-
mit Health could indeed be
a model to bring more care
options to the coast.”
The open enrollment
period for Medicare began
earlier this month and runs
until Dec. 7. The two options
left in the county are a tra-
ditional Medicare supple-
mented by a wide array of
Medigap policies for spe-
ciality services like prescrip-
tion drugs, and a new Medi-
care medical savings account
being offered by Lasso
Healthcare.
Gearhart: Process
will not be rushed
Continued from Page A1
help to determine use,
Morey said. “All of these
will impact the decision
regarding how to best use
the former elementary
school.”
The process will not be
Proposed plan by Jeff and Celeste Bodner for Gearhart
Elementary School.
rushed, Morey said. “It is
an exciting time to own
such a key piece of prop-
erty in our wonderful city.
We look forward to work-
ing cooperatively with
the council, staff and the
entire community to cre-
ate something special.”
It’s time to review your
MEDICARE Coverage
Call us for a
Broadway: ‘I’m
proud of this board’
review of your
current
Medicare Health Plan!
Continued from Page A1
Darlene Warren
will detail fi nancing, partner-
ships and potential uses for
the property, board member
Celeste Bodner said, with
participation from board,
staff and the public. They are
scheduled Dec. 7, 14 and 21.
“I’m proud of this board
and the due diligence in this
transaction,” Bodner said.
“We want to provide some
visibility about what’s been
done and what’s ahead in
this process.”
‘A ghostly place’
At Ecola Point, just north
of Chapman Point, the rocky
shores group is proposing a
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marine conservation or marine
education designation.
The point can be a ghostly
place — a feeling punctuated
by the drawling, lonesome
cries of gulls or the frantic pip-
ing calls of black oystercatch-
ers raising an alarm.
A perpetual mist seems
to wrap around the rocks.
White harbor seals sometimes
lounge on the outer rocks
like strange, pale mermaids.
A beachcomber squinting
from the shore may fi nd them
already staring back, well
aware of a human presence,
wary and watchful.
For the fi rst time in sev-
eral years, those same rocks
are also dotted with specks
of purple and orange — sea
stars making a comeback
after a mysterious wasting
disease decimated their popu-
lations on the West Coast.
While many people have
already shown their support
for the group’s proposals,
some wonder if formal pro-
tections will simply shine an
unwanted spotlight on areas,
putting them on a new kind of
map and increasing the num-
ber of visitors seeking them
out.
It is something the weighs
on Treadwell’s mind.
“A lot of people I bring
that up to say, ‘Look, peo-
ple are going to come any-
way and it’s better to get
ahead of it and protect places
than worry that you’re bring-
ing attention to them,’” she
said. Also, she added, they’re
already here.
On an early morning tour
the group took of Ecola Point
and Chapman Point in Sep-
tember, a low tide revealed
wide stretches of tide pools.
Despite the early hour, they
saw visitors and locals alike
pick their way among the
rocks. People wandered next
to the cliffs of Chapman Point
and leaned in to investigate
anemones. They tossed balls
and sticks to their dogs.
S
Clatsop County is losing
its only Medicare Advantage
plan starting next year after
Moda Health decided to pull
out. But Medicare recipients
changing coverage by early
December will have access
to a newer, hybrid medical
savings account.
As of September, more
than 9,100 people in the
county were covered by tra-
ditional Medicare, the fed-
eral health insurance pro-
gram for the elderly covering
basic hospital and medical
services. Nearly 1,200 peo-
ple were covered by Moda
Health’s Medicare Advan-
tage plan, which bundles
hospital and medical cover-
age with other specialty ser-
vices such as dental, vision
and hearing.
Medicare enrollment site
The open enrollment
period for Medicare started
earlier this month and runs
until Dec. 7.
Jonathan Nicholas, a
spokesman for Moda, said
in an email that the insurer
couldn’t continue providing
a Medicare Advantage plan
with reasonable coverage at
a reasonable cost.
“We also, I should say,
felt bound to consider our
responsibility to Moda
members throughout the
rest of the state,” Nicholas
said. “Had we continued to
offer plans at a loss in Clat-
sop County, other members
across Oregon would have
faced increased premiums to
offset those losses.”
Moda’s departure comes
two years after Family-
Care Health pulled its Medi-
care Advantage plan out of
Northwest Oregon, leav-
ing 600 people in the county
to fi nd new coverage. The
county had seven Medi-
care Advantage providers as
many summer visitors, pres-
ents an irresistible opportu-
nity to do exactly all of those
things.
Because of the point’s easy
accessibility and proximity to
Haystack Rock — you can
see the iconic rock distantly to
the south — the rocky shores
group is expecting to ask for a
marine education designation.
The designation, also known
as a marine garden, could
come with harvest restrictions.
There are already a number
of locals who live at the north
end of Cannon Beach and who
are concerned by the level of
human activity they witness in
these fragile areas, Treadwell
said. Many of them also walk
the beach at low tide.
“It’d be great to build on
that concern and activity to
make a more formal and prob-
ably mostly volunteer group
to do education out there,” she
said. She envisions a “light-
weight” version of the educa-
tion and outreach that already
occurs at Haystack Rock.
“Part of the magic at Hay-
stack Rock is you’re both
letting people know what
impacts they can have and
preventing that while giving
them opportunities to learn,”
she said.
Volunteers and employ-
ees with the Haystack Rock
Awareness Program routinely
set up scopes when puffi ns
return to begin seasonal nest-
ing at the rocks.
“They can see the birds
they’re being asked not to get
too close to,” Treadwell said.
Kelli Ennis, the director of
the Haystack Rock Awareness
Program, said she expects her
organization to be a partner
to any community group that
forms around Chapman Point,
providing training, outreach
and other types of support.
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