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The North Coast Temperate Rainforest Isn’t Disappearing — It’s Gone.

North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection (NCCWP) is sponsoring a presentation of aerial photographs by Richard Felley entitled: The North Coast Temperate Rainforest Isn’t Disappearing — It’s Gone.

 On Wednesday, July 15, 5:30pm at KALA, 1017 Marine Drive in Astoria.  Doors will open at 5pm. Food and drinks will be available for purchase.  Free Admission 

 Richard Felley will present his aerial photos of clearcuts on private and state forests, with a discussion and information on what you can do about it. He will discuss how the timber industry transforms our native, real forests into clearcuts, and then into tree farms. The aerial photos were taken from a helicopter flying over Tillamook and Clatsop counties. 

 Felley says: “My purpose for acquiring the images is that I have gone into the woods (tree farms) for over 40 years now to cut firewood and I feel most people really just don’t see up close what I have seen. My concern is that these lands can’t handle the kind of rotations that their owners are imposing on them and, combined with a warming, drying local climate, they are cutting their own throats and impacting the watersheds of everyone by continuing business as usual. Many of the images show tree farms that have clearly been planted 10 to 20 years ago with much die off occurring and no replanting occurring either. In a word I simply call it mismanagement.”

Just as the salmon inspire you to keep swimming upstream, let us keep speaking up to advocate for healthy forests and clean drinking water for all.

NCCWP wants no more logging and pesticide use in community drinking water sources regardless of who owns the land, and wants an end to pesticide applications near where people live, work, and recreate. Safe drinking water and clean air are part of the public trust that we all are entitled to have. Please help North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection safeguard and restore our drinking watersheds.  For more information contact rockawaycitizen.water@gmail.com.

MONTHLY MEETINGS-ASTORIA

At our April 15 meeting, we will be preparing for the release and review of the Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) Annual  Operating Plan (AOP). The 45 day public comment. Is expected to begin on April 30. This year‘s AOP‘s will still be under the guidelines set by the current Forest Management Plan. That means that the target of 30% complex forest structure will still apply. We will pay special attention to sales that may affect domestic drinking water..

MONTHLY MEETINGS-ROCKAWAY BEACH

North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection again will be holding regular monthly meetings the last Tuesday of each month. Meetings will take place starting at 6:00 p.m. and going until about 7:00 p.m. at the St. Mary by the Sea Parish Hall; 275 S. Pacific St.; Rockaway Beach, Or 97136. 

JETTY CREEK HAPPENINGS

SOURCE OF DRINKING WATER FOR THE TOWN OF ROCKAWAY BEACH, OREGON

In April of 2026, the City of Rockaway Beach voted to acquire 800 acres of forestland, 600 acres of which are in the Jetty Creek Watershed, the source of drinking water for Rockaway Beach. Leading up to this decision, NCCWP commissioned two reports (links below), by Herb Hammond and Trygve Steen, to supplement the planning document created for the city by Springboard Forestry LLC. As journalist Nathan Gillis stated, “Local ownership solves only part of the problem, the other half is proper management.”  

About Herb Hammond: Herb Hammond is a forest ecologist and retired Registered Professional Forester with more than 45 years of experience in research, industry, teaching and consulting. He is best known for his concept and application of nature-directed stewardship. He is the author of Seeing the Forest Among the Trees: The Case for Wholistic Forest Use (Polestar Press), and Maintaining Whole Systems on Earth’s Crown: Ecosystem-based Conservation Planning for the Boreal Forest (Silva Forest Foundation). 

 About Trygve Steen: Trygve Steen retired as Professor of Environmental Science and Management at Portland State University. He spent over 45 years teaching courses that included forest ecology at all levels as well as other courses focused on the principle of sustainability for environmentally related decision making.  He has done region-wide documentation of forest management, including hundreds of hours doing aerial photography as well as more recently using drones.

JETTY CREEK 1994-2022

SOURCE OF DRINKING WATER FOR THE TOWN OF ROCKAWAY BEACH, OREGON

Trygve’s photographic timeline of Jetty Creek from 1994 through 2022.

COASTAL FUTURES

The Path Forward 2026

In April of 2026, students in the Master of Landscape Architecture program at the University of Oregon presented “Coastal Futures: the Path Forward” in Rockaway Beach.

This was the second year that Rockaway Beach was been used as the basis for a project led by professor Ignacio López Busón, Assistant Professor of Climate Change Resilience. The presentation includes maps and graphics, covering issues that are important north coast communities, including tourism, ecology, erosion and flooding, water quality, and more, with a focus being resilient as the climate changes.

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Please Sign Our Petition

Our petition, "SAFE WATER AND AIR", is aimed at building momentum around protecting our forests and drinking watersheds.

Learn more here and share it with everyone you know.

Thank you North Coast Community!