Talk on Oregon Dunes

Lone hiker in the Oregon Dunes.\Photo by Dina Pavlis.

Spanning more than 40 miles, the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is the longest expanse of coastal sand dunes in the United States. Stretching from Florence to Coos Bay, the Oregon Dunes NRA attracts more than one million visitors each year and is recognized for its unique habitat amid the temperate rainforests of the Oregon Coast range. Oregon’s dunes are important for the opportunities they provide for recreation and tourism, as well as the vital habitat they provide for sensitive and threatened plants and animals. Due to the rapid spread of invasive species, the Oregon dunes are disappearing before our eyes.

To learn more about the Oregon Dunes and the efforts being made to preserve and restore them, come to the Siuslaw Public Library (1460 Ninth St.) in Florence on Saturday, July 14, 1 p.m., to learn more about the dunes, their history, the problem with invasive plants and the goals of the Oregon Dunes Restoration Collaborative to help save them. This presentation is free and open to the public.

The speaker will be Dina Pavlis, a local author, photographer and dunes enthusiast (not to mention a CoastWatcher). She has volunteered for the U.S. Forest Service as an interpretive guide and educator at the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area since 2003. Pavlis is a member of the Oregon Dunes Restoration Collaborative, a diverse group of stakeholders, agencies and community members working together to save the Oregon Dunes from disappearing due to rapidly spreading invasive grasses and plants.