Land-Sea Conservation Lecture

The coastal edge at Cape Falcon. | Photo courtesy of ODFW

Hear about the natural wonders of Oregon’s complex marine food web when Paul Engelmeyer, a respected coastal conservation voice, will speak about “Coastal Conservation issues and strategies, and the Land-Sea Connection.” Paul will talk about efforts to protect forage fish, the prey base for seabirds as well as the unique habitat requirements for the Endangered Species Act-listed Marbled Murrelet. Engelmeyer has managed lands for The Wetlands Conservancy located in Alsea Bay, Beaver Creek and Yaquina Bay. He will also discuss landscape conservation efforts and partnership.

He will be drawing upon his years of experience managing the Ten Mile Creek Sanctuary (located near Yachats) for the Audubon Society of Portland and on his service on Oregon’s Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC), which has developed a system of marine reserves and protected areas for Oregon’s coast. Engelmeyer’s presentation will include information about the Wetlands Conservancy parcels in Alsea Bay, Beaver Creek and Yaquina Bay but the designated Globally Significant Central Coast Marbled Murrelet Important Bird Area (IBA), which extend over 100,000 acres from north of Yachats basin to south of Heceta Head, as well as the Marine IBA effort which includes partners from Baja to Barrow, Alaska. 

Engelmeyer's update will include the current status of Oregon’s five marine reserves, including the formation of the Oregon Marine Reserve Partnership. Engelmeyer has decades of experience working in partnership to achieve conservation goals, including the Siuslaw Forest Stewardship groups, which received the 2010 Two Chief’s Partnership Award. This award is presented annually to a handful of projects by the Chiefs of the U.S. Forest Service and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to recognize exemplary efforts working across both public and private lands to promote conservation and forest stewardship.