Dear Friends of Clean Water for All
North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection has a busy schedule this season.
A highlight: member Richard Felley presents “The North Coast Temperate Rainforest Isn’t Disappearing — It’s Gone.” Richard took photos of North Coast clearcuts from a helicopter in order to get a better idea of the scope of industrial logging. He will present his findings, and ways to fight back, on July 15 in Astoria, and also in Rockaway Beach on August 25. More info below.
Mark your calendar!
Special Presentation: “The North Coast Temperate Rainforest Isn’t Disappearing — It’s Gone”
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, offering an eye-opening perspective on the cuts. What you can see from roads and trails is not the whole picture.
In Astoria: Wed., July 15, doors at 5 p.m., event at 5:30 p.m., Kala, 1017 Marine Drive, free, with food and drink available for purchase
In Rockaway Beach: Tues., August 25, doors at 5:30 p.m., event at 6 p.m., St. Mary by the Sea Parish Hall, 275 S. Pacific Street, free
Community Meetings
All are welcome at our monthly meetings in Rockaway Beach and Astoria. Come learn, hear stories, join discussions, give input, plan and meet others working to ensure clean air and drinking water.
We meet in Rockaway Beach on the last Tuesday of each month at St. Mary by the Sea Parish Hall, 275 S. Pacific Street, Rockaway Beach, at 6:00 p.m. The next meeting is Tuesday, July 28.
The Astoria Chapter of NCCWP holds its monthly meetings on the third Wednesday of the month at Kala, 1017 Marine Drive in Astoria. The next meeting is July 15 at 5 p.m.
The following link is an article by Anna Kaufman on processing her grief from the clearcutting of Davis Ridge that is happening now near Brownsmead.
Our former colleague, artist and woodland warrior, Anna Kaufman, has recently published this on Substack. She was the leader of the fight to stop ODF from selling the timber on Mothball Hill and Davis Ridge in Clatsop County. We were successful in stopping this Mothball Hill sale, however we need to keep working for permanent protections. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stop the Davis Ridge sale. The trees are hitting the ground now with substantial environmental and emotional impacts. Here is her beautifully written article about that journey.
Ongoing: NCCWP, the Tillamook Library, and University of Oregon present an exhibit, “Coastal Futures.” The display offers maps, illustrations, and explains the importance of wetlands for environmental health and clean drinking water. The exhibit runs through July at 1716 3rd Street in downtown Tillamook.
Save the Date – Fundraiser at Fort George
Please join NCCWP on September 29, at Fort George Brewing in Astoria for an evening of art and fund-raising. Fort George has generously pledged 10% of sales for the day to NCCWP (including any takeout and merchandise sales). We will also be holding a silent auction of locally-made, nature-inspired art and a basket of products from local businesses. Contact rhonda.nccwp@gmail.com if you have art to donate.
Updates: Roger Dorband Book Donation
The estate of Roger Dorband, the nature writer and photographer from Astoria, donated lots of two of his books to NCCWP, The Rogue, with photos and writings about the Rogue River, and Out There, celebrating the Steens Mountain region, with poems by Ursula LeGuin.
This incredibly generous donation was also a bit of a logistical challenge. Through a cooperative effort, the majority of the books were purchased by Powell’s bookstore to generate funds for NCCWP. There are also a few available for a donation at our monthly meetings.
Huge thanks go to:
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Brian Manning of Revolutions Bookshop in Portland
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Patricia Dorband and Bucky Barnett in Astoria
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The Astoria High School Fighting Fish football team and their coach, Howard Rub
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Bob Larson for transporting the books to Portland
Another thank you: We would like to thank the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Tillamook staff for being good neighbors. Recently, ODF representatives Ed Wallmark and Nick Stumpf met with NCCWP members and concerned landowners to inspect a fragile parcel of forest. The Chartiers have been living on their land outside of Nehalem since the 1970s. Their drinking water source is a creek whose headwaters flow from the bordering state forest and down through their property. When the Chartiers acquired this land, it was in the early stages of recovering from the Tillamook Burn. The Chartiers cared for this land and supported its gradual rewilding. Today the creek provides good quality and quantity of drinking water and the habitat is beautiful, healthy and wild, supporting numerous native plants and animals. (This year was an amazing year for salmon berries.) We can all learn from the Chartiers about how to restore the coastal forest.
When they became concerned that that forest would be logged, we worked with them to organize a site visit from ODF. ODF listened to and worked with the Chartiers. The ODF mapping showed this land has a high slide risk, which logging would increase, endangering residents and drinking water. NCCWP initiated a letter writing campaign, asking the state to reclassify the parcel as a Habitat Conservation Area. Thank you to everyone who wrote in! Grassroots activism works!
Issues we are following: Jetty Creek Watershed & the Nedonna Beach Wetlands
North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection thanks the City of Rockaway Beach for continuing to work towards raising the funds to purchase the lower half of the Jetty Creek watershed. (The entire Jetty Creek watershed, lower and upper, is the primary source of drinking water for the City.) The City has been working with a consultant to develop “forest management” plans; therefore, it’s important for members of the community to be aware of the details of these plans and continue to monitor the health of Jetty Creek and its watershed. NCCWP believes strongly that this watershed should be managed in a way that gives sole priority to drinking water. We want there to be no logging or pesticide spraying in the watershed. Also, we have concerns about proposals to designate it a “recreational” area. Specifically, what would this mean in terms of public access? The bottom line is that people in the community need to pay attention and get involved to protect our drinking water.
Wetlands bordering and in the Nedonna Beach neighborhood are still vulnerable to development, including the land of the proposed Nedonna Wave development owned by Anna Song. NCCWP continues to work towards permanently protecting all these wetlands. These freshwater, forested, and shrub wetlands help mitigate flooding and wildfires and provide habitat to flora and fauna. We thank the Crag Law Center and the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition who worked with NCCWP to bring about the two LUBA (Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals) rulings against the proposed Nedonna Wave development. This was a victory! However, the two rulings make it difficult, but not impossible, for some development to take place. NCCWP has been in contact with a local land trust asking for their help to protect these wetlands. So, our work to permanently protect the wetlands of Nedonna Beach continues.
Because recently “No Trespassing” signs have been placed on the 23 acres of land immediately north of Section Line Road and west of the large parcel owned by the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, there is concern that there will be an attempt to develop it. According to what we can tell from Tillamook County tax records, it’s owned by Pacific Coast GCD LLC based in Hutchinson, Kansas. The contact person is listed as Gregory C. Dinges.
As you probably already know, the Nedonna Beach neighborhood includes wetlands that are located over the aquifer that provides backup water for the City of Rockaway Beach. Approximately seventy-five percent of the homes above this drinking-water aquifer use septic tanks. The municipal wells that tap this aquifer are usually used in late summer and early fall when the City’s primary source of drinking water, Jetty Creek, is low.
Later this summer, NCCWP is planning to have an event for the public to see and walk the wetlands of Nedonna Beach. These wetlands are intact remnants that are representative of the way the Coast used to be before widespread development. Within these areas are a saltwater marsh, spruce and willow wetlands, and dunes. There are many native plants, coyotes, river otters, deer, and birds (both permanent and migratory). Two fish-bearing streams, Jetty Creek and McMillan Creek, flow through the estuary that’s adjacent to the jetty and on into the Nehalem River.
We’re always looking for more people to work with us, so, please, if you are interested in getting involved to help protect the wetlands of Nedonna Beach, let us know.
We are monitoring spray notices for Wheeler and Cape Meares.
Oregonians are entitled to receive 24-hour notice before helicopter spraying within a mile of their residence or drinking water source.
Go to the FERNS page here: https://www.oregon.gov/odf/Working/Pages/ENotification.aspx
and scroll down to the section titled “Register with E-Notification for helicopter pesticide application communications.”
A federal plan to kill 450,000 Barred Owls in Oregon, Washington and California under the guise of saving the few remaining (maybe less than 2000) northern spotted owls is being challenged in court. NCCWP strongly opposes the plan and recognizes it as a way for the timber industry to blame the barred owl for spotted owl decline, rather than acknowledge that habitat destruction through clearcutting and pesticide spraying is the biggest threat to the northern spotted owl.
NCCWP recently attended the latest hearing at the Federal Courthouse in Portland to listen to both sides present their arguments to the judge. A decision is expected soon.
The Oregon Department of Forestry has allocated $1,000,000 from their timber harvest revenue (such irony) toward killing barred owls. If you don’t agree with this, consider sending an email to ODF or the Governor’s office.
We will keep you updated.
Links
On her Substack, Anna Kaufman discusses barred owls in context with the history and ecology that shape their settlement patterns:
https://annakaufmanart.substack.com/p/february-2025?r=4u6wew&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
Oregon is currently under a declared a state of emergency due to the imminent threat of wildfire.
Over half of Oregon counties are now under emergency drought declarations:
http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?OR Please check out July 8th 2025 to current and July 9th 2026.
In the Water Desk, Annie MacKeigan discusses the links between dryer conditions in the soil and higher threats of wildfire: “Want to predict wildfires? They key may be underground.”
Ernie Niemi of NCCWP adds:
Clearcutting and application of herbicides expose soil to sunlight, and warm and dry the soil. The increase in risk imposes economic costs on nearby residents and communities by degrading the quality of life, whether or not the wildfire occurs. The cost multiples if the fire occurs. The corporations that conduct these practices increase profits by stealing away a sense of security and imposing costs on others. The increased fire risk also imposes costs on taxpayers.
Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development posted on Linked In about the University of Oregon Coastal Futures project that studies ecology, economy and climate change in Rockaway Beach was featured here:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7475606343115132929/
Surveying California’s Roundup Sprayed Forests Above, video by Mother Jones
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaRJ9H-kvYo/?igsh=bmo5NDI0ajBza2lq
Pesticides in the News
The EPA Relied on an Influential Glyphosate Study Even After Learning Monsanto Was a “Ghost Writer.”
In June, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 to restrict thousands of lawsuits against Bayer, the parent company of Monsanto, determining that Bayer did not have a duty to warn consumers about potential cancer risks from its popular weed killer Roundup.
The ruling, explained:
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/26/we_are_bombarding_america_s_forests
Ways to Get Involved – Volunteers Needed
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Tabling at Farmers Markets! Seeking volunteers to help with setup and outreach in Astoria, Manzanita, Tillamook, and Seaside. This is an important way to spread the word about pesticide spraying and clean air and water. Meet other people who are interested in fighting for a pesticide-free future. Contact Nancy at rockawaycitizen.water@gmail.com or Rhonda at rhonda.nccwp@gmail.com if you can help out. Volunteers are needed for summer tabling events (locations in Tillamook, Rockaway Beach, Manzanita, Seaside, Astoria and Clatskanie)
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Help with monitoring ongoing logging and pesticide applications in the North Coast drinking watersheds
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Hanging posters for upcoming events
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Join our community meetings to help plan and strategize
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Help with grant writing
Contact Nancy at rockawaycitizen.water@gmail.com if you can help out.
NCCWP wants no more logging and pesticide use in community 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.
www.healthywatershed.org | www.facebook.com/NCCWATERSHEDPROTECTION
For more information or to unsubscribe, contact rockawaycitizen.water@gmail.com
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to NCCWP. You can donate by check or online via debit or credit card by visiting: https://healthywatershed.org/donate/.
