Meet the Oregon Coast Wildlife Refuges
The FOHR is an official friends group of Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and Haystack Rock is one of over 1,500 islands that comprise this refuge. Managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Islands NWR and five other refuges are administered as a Complex and span more than 320 miles of Oregon’s spectacular coastline. Oregon Islands and Three Arch Rocks NWRs are also federally designated Wilderness and provide protected habitat for nesting seabirds and resting and breeding sites for marine mammals. The spectacular rocky headland of Cape Meares NWR protects old growth forest and the state’s largest Sitka Spruce. Nestucca Bay NWR is complete with tide flats, a forested headland, verdant pastures, and coastal prairie, each supporting a different suite of wildlife from bobcat to geese. The tidelands of Siletz Bay and Bandon Marsh NWRs provide habitat for migratory shorebirds navigating the Pacific Flyway and anadromous fish as they make their way to and from the ocean.
The OCNWRC’s team of eight full-time staff manages all six refuges from offices in Newport and Bandon. Four temporary Interns and Technicians provide support in various roles. The small staff is grateful for the roughly thirty part-time, seasonal, and year-round volunteers who donate their time to the refuges and make up the remainder of the OCNWRC team. The Refuge Complex works closely with many partners including Friends Organizations, like the Friends of Haystack Rock, to promote the Refuges and further the National Wildlife Refuge System’s mission.
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September Creature Feature
Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus)
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Steller Sea Lions are a near-threatened species found in the Northern Pacific Ocean. These are very large sea lions with adult males measuring up to 10 feet long and weighing on average 1,200 lbs, with females a bit smaller. They historically bred as far south as the Channel Islands and their range extended north into the Gulf of Alaska. Steller sea lions prefer cooler temperate climates, like that of the coastal waters of the subarctic where they spend time in water and on land. They are opportunistic predators and will feed on a wide range of species, including fish and cephalopod, preferring schooling fish. Their diet varies based on the most abundant prey species in their current area. They have been known to prey on mammal pups, like those of seals and otters. Females will have one pup each year and the pup may stay with the female up to four years.
You might spot these large mammals if you explore offshore or you could see them swimming up the Columbia River estuary, as they have been known to do. The population along the West Coast has been in decline since the 1970s due to several reasons including overfishing, increased predation by orcas, and climate change impacts.
Steller Sea Lions by Tiffany Boothe
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Our Tufted Puffin expert volunteer reports that the puffins have now left Haystack Rock. Their breeding season is over already! We wish them safe journeys on the open ocean, and look forward to their return to Haystack Rock next April.
The Black Oystercatcher pair that nested in the gravel area on Haystack Rock hatched 2 chicks in early August. We wish the chicks good luck and we hope to see them back next year!
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As Leonardo Da Vinci once observed, everything is connected to everything else. This pithy and essential statement about the Universe has been repeated to students of science so many times it has become a cliche. But what does it really mean, at gut level? What does it feel like? How can we experience Nature like John James Audubon or John Muir?
Obviously you’re not going to find out sitting at home or behind a desk. You need to be outdoors, away from filtered air and white noise. To feel connected to Nature, you need to be actively engaged with her. To accomplish that, you have to take your opportunities where you find them, and if you find one in your own backyard, well, lucky you.
And to take it to the next level, to prevent that dreaded curse — self-consciousness — from robbing you of your natural bond to all living things, you need to share that connection with others. That’s how it works. That’s how you get outside yourself. That’s how you turn off that chatterbox known as your analytical mind.
Volunteers at Haystack Rock (and Nature lovers everywhere) have figured this out. The diversity of marine life at the Rock and the never-ending flow of visitors give them ample opportunity to stay present, to stay engaged. In fact, when the visitor count is through the roof, you are living outside Time. When you are that busy with so much to share, there is no clock and before you can say opalescent nudibranch, the tide is in and you go home. Now that’s living in the moment. It’s the best of all possible worlds. Catch it if you can.
And yes, there are many opportunities to volunteer and any number of worthy environmental causes to support. Most Cannon Beach residents spread their donations and their time among them. Friends of Haystack Rock is grateful to be on the list.
See you on the beach.
Craig Davidson, FOHR Board Member
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Wanted: Volunteers for Beach Clean-Up |
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October 18, 2020 10:00am-12:00pm
Did you know that an estimated eight million tons of plastic enter the global ocean every year, impacting nearly 600 species of marine animals?
Join us on the beach in front of Haystack Rock where we'll be handing out bags and gloves (though if you have your own reusable gloves that would be great). Make sure to register before you get there through this link:
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Wanted: New Board Members! |
Interested in the protection of Haystack Rock and Marine Gardens? Want to work with an incredible group of people?
Friends of Haystack Rock is recruiting new Board Members. We are looking for interested and committed volunteers to join our amazing Board. If you are interested, send an email to fohrap@gmail.com with your contact information and qualifications.
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Tufted Puffins will soon molt their tufts and head out to sea for winter. But keep summer alive with this stylish and sturdy canvas bag featuring this iconic species, a resident of Haystack Rock.
Great for holding your field guide and binoculars or laptop and work supplies, with your favorite Cannon Beach seabird with you throughout the year.
The vivid photo of the Tufted Puffin is printed on both sides of this beautiful bag.
Click the link below to order yours.
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Photo contest submissions due Sept. 15! |
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Friends of Haystack Rock
PO Box 1222
Cannon Beach, OR 97110
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Friends of Haystack Rock is a non-profit organization that promotes the preservation and protection of the intertidal life and birds that inhabit the Marine Garden and Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge at Haystack Rock.
We do this in cooperation with Haystack Rock Awareness Program and other partnerships.
Friends of Haystack Rock is guided by a volunteer board of directors and advisors consisting of committed community members.
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Board Members
Angela Benton, Tiffany Boothe, Hannah Buschert, Keith Chandler, Craig Davidson,
Tia Degerstedt, Lisa Kerr, and John Underwood
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You can help Friends of Haystack Rock earn donations just by shopping with your Fred Meyer Rewards Card!
How? It's Easy! Sign up for the Community Rewards Program by linking your Fred Meyer Rewards card to Friends of Haystack Rock.You can search for us by name or by our NEW nonprofit number #NA959
At the end of each quarter, Fred Meyer will make a donation to participating nonprofits based on the accumulated spending of the Rewards customers linked to each nonprofit.
You still earn your reward points, fuel points and rebates just as you do today but every time you shop and use your rewards card you are helping Friends of Haystack Rock earn a donation!
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