We accomplished so much in 2019 and we could not have done it without your support. We are looking forward to 2020 and all that we plan to accomplish this new year, including the Library Lecture series, installation of the Puffin Cam, FOHR/SOLVE sponsored beach clean-up days, the Great Puffin Watch, Earth and Ocean Art Festival, and much, much more. We hope you will join us for many of these events in 2020!
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January Creature Feature
Skin-breathing Sea Cucumbers
(Leptosynapta clarki)
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It's always exciting to walk on the beach and find something new! And when you stumble upon one (or thousands) of these you might ask yourself if someone was dropping grapefruit kernels just to confuse you.
It turns out these are skin-breathing sea cucumbers (Leptosynapta clarki), also known as burrowing sea cucumbers. They are sometimes spotted along the high tide line after storm events. You may have never seen these critters before, as they are typically well hidden beneath the sand offshore or in bays and wetlands. Once uncovered, they will try to burrow back down into the sand to safety. They can be found along the west coast from British Columbia south to Mexico.
Skin-breathing sea cucumbers are so named because they lack respiratory structures and absorb oxygen through their skin, unlike other sea cucumbers. Cucumbers are echinoderms, making them closely related to sea stars, sea urchins, and sand dollars. They feed on organic materials found in the sediment.
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Managing our Rocky Shores
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Did you know that approximately 41% of Oregon’s coastline consists of rocky shores? These special areas, like Haystack Rock, provide our coast with remarkable biodiversity and scenic beauty. In 1994, the State of Oregon’s Rocky Shores Management Plan designated Haystack Rock as a Marine Garden, to be used for education and conservation uses. This designation provided protections including restrictions against collecting and harassing intertidal life.
Currently, the State is updating the Rocky Habitat Management Strategy (RHMS) as part of its update of the Territorial Sea Plan, which acts as a coordinated vision for Oregon coastal resources and guides the actions of State and federal agencies that are responsible for managing coastal and ocean resources in the public trust. The RHMS seeks to balance ecological, social, and economic uses of rocky shores by setting out general principles and management prescriptions and making site-specific designations of special rocky habitat areas.
The update process provides a rare opportunity for members of the public, agencies, and other entities to propose new rocky shore areas for protections by submitting “site-based management proposals” for review and potential incorporation into the strategy. Proposals are currently scheduled to be accepted for 3-4 months starting in April 2020. Click
here
for more information.
The North Coast Rocky Habitat Coalition is a group that will be looking at our rocky coastline and making proposals under this process. If you are interested in participating, please contact
Margaret Minnick
or follow the group’s Facebook page,
North Coast Rocky Habitats
.
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2019-2020 Library Lecture Series
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This year's Library Lecture Series has started off with several awesome speakers including Dr. Scott Pearson telling us about Tufted Puffins and Charlie Plybon presenting Oregon's Rocky Shores!
The Friends of Haystack Rock invites experts from around Oregon to present lectures each year. We also partner with other local organizations to present these talks.
It's an awesome opportunity to get out of the stormy winter weather and learn something new! Please join us for one, or the rest, of the series!
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Oregon Bag Ban
The Sustainable Shopping Initiative (H.B. 2509) was recently passed by Oregon lawmakers, taking effect January 1
st
, 2020. This requires that retail stores and restaurants no longer provide single-use checkout bags.
This Tufted Puffin Canvas bag is a perfect addition to your reusable bag collection and your purchase goes to the education and conservation of this iconic species.
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Friends of Haystack Rock
PO Box 1222
Cannon Beach, OR 97110
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Friends of Haystack Rock is a non-profit organization that promotes the preservation and protection of the intertidal life and birds that inhabit the Marine Garden and Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge at Haystack Rock.
We do this in cooperation with Haystack Rock Awareness Program and other partnerships.
Friends of Haystack Rock is guided by a volunteer board of directors and advisors consisting of committed community members.
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Board Members
Angela Benton, Tiffany Boothe, Hannah Buschert, Keith Chandler, Craig Davidson,
Tia
Degerstedt,
Lisa Kerr, and John Underwood
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You can help Friends of Haystack Rock earn donations just by shopping with your Fred Meyer Rewards Card!
How? It's Easy! Sign up for the Community Rewards Program by linking your Fred Meyer Rewards card to Friends of Haystack Rock.You can search for us by name or by our
NEW
nonprofit number
#NA959
At the end of each quarter, Fred Meyer will make a donation to participating nonprofits based on the accumulated spending of the Rewards customers linked to each nonprofit.
You still earn your reward points, fuel points and rebates just as you do today but every time you shop and use your rewards card you are helping Friends of Haystack Rock earn a donation!
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