Lecture on the Coastal Edge

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

Katie Voelke, executive director of the North Coast Land Conservancy, presents "The Wild and Rare in Our Own Backyards:  Life on the Coastal Edge" at 7 p.m. in the Lovell Showroom of the Fort George Brewery (the showroom is located at 14^th and Duane streets in Astoria).  The free event is part of the Nature Matters series sponsored by Lewis and Clark National Historical Park and the North Coast Watershed Association.

Voelke will discuss her organization’s Coastal Edge Initiative and the ongoing efforts to conserve the wild and rare on the north coast. The Coastal Edge Initiative seeks to preserve complete, contiguous coastal watersheds, allowing the once and future temperate rainforest indigenous to this coastline to again thrive. The goal is to create a corridor of ecological connectivity of unprecedented scale in Oregon, stretching from the ridgetops to the ocean, in one of the world’s most biodiverse regions.

Katie Voelke settled on Oregon’s north coast with her husband Scott in 2003 and spent time doing field work with the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife before beginning to work on land conservation with NCLC. She started as NCLC’s first stewardship director working under founding Executive Director Neal Maine. After three years of learning the ropes alongside Maine, she took the helm in 2008 as executive director.

Doors for this event open at 6 p.m.  Food and drink available (no host) through the establishment.