Cape Foulweather is familiar to residents and visitors as one of the most iconic viewpoints on the central Oregon coast. But the headland offers more than sweeping vistas of the Pacific Ocean.
People can learn more about a collaboration to ensure longterm stewardship and protection of 27 acres of Cape Foulweather during a talk by Margaret Treadwell, central coast conservation program manager of the McKenzie River Trust, at the Inn at Otter Crest on Saturday, June 22.
Cape Foulweather comprises critical habitats ranging from intertidal rocky shores to unique salt-misted meadows to dense Sitka spruce forests. The habitats support a variety of threatened and endangered species of animals and plants.
The area is also of cultural and ecological significance to the Siletz people and served as a hunting, fishing and gathering site. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians have long helped steward the Oregon coast even though they lost 100 miles of coastal shoreline ownership within what once was one million acres of land set aside for the tribe in 1855 by the federal government.
In 2022, a group of conservation partners, including McKenzie River Trust, the Siletz tribe and Lincoln County came together to ensure long-term stewardship and protection of 27 acres of Cape Foulweather. McKenzie River Trust purchased the land with a loan and intends to return ownership to the Siletz in the fall after a successful grant application to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s coastal zone management program.
This will be the first property with access to these critical and iconic habitats in the intertidal zone to be returned to ownership by the Siletz people, which is of great significance to the tribe.
Saturday’s event is hosted by Friends of Otter Rock Marine Reserve. Light refreshments will be served.
The talk begins at 10 a.m. in the Spyglass meeting room at the Inn at Otter Crest in Otter Rock. For more information, go to www.mckenzieriver.org.
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