Category: Events

Blacklock Point–A Special Hike Opportunity

March 30, 2022–3:30 PM

Offered by the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition

If you are curious about why Blacklock Point was proposed to be designated as a Marine Conservation Area, and you have interest in learning more about the state’s rocky habitat designation process, you can join Oregon Shores board member Larry Basch and myself on a hike to Curry County’s Blacklock Point on Wednesday, March 30, beginning at 3:30 p.m. We will assemble at Cape Blanco Airport trailhead.

In late 2020, Blacklock Point was one of six intertidal areas proposed for designation as a Marine Conservation Area under Oregon’s new Rocky Habitat Management Strategy. It is still being considered, and a workshop will take place in late April where proponents, including Oregon Shores, will discuss the proposal with state agencies as part of the decision-making process; those agencies will then pass recommendations on to the Ocean Policy Advisory Council.

To highlight this area and explain why it is worthy of such protective designation, Dr. Basch will lead an interpretive hike, discussing among other things Blacklock’s ecological connection to Cape Blanco, which has been proposed as a Marine Research Reserve as part of the Rocky Habitat strategy. Larry, who was the primary contributor to the Blacklock site designation proposal, is a marine ecologist, scuba diver, naturalist, and community conservation activist in Coos County. He engages in applied research, adaptive management and monitoring, and teaching.

The hike is about 1.75 miles each way. Be sure to dress for the weather and wear shoes that can get wet and muddy. Assemble at the Cape Blanco airport parking area before 3:30; the hike will leave promptly, to make sure to allow enough time to complete the round-trip in daylight. To reach the trailhead, from Highway 101 turn on Airport Road opposite Pacific High School, just north of the hamlet of Sixes, between Bandon and Port Orford.

For more information, please contact Jessica Jones, CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator.

Sign Up For Coos County Odyssey 2022

Will You Resolve to Get More Exercise in 2022?

Coos Odyssey is a perfect way to keep track of your exercise achievements in the new year. You can follow your progress on a virtual map as you log miles based on your activities. For example:

Log a mile for every mile hiked
Log a mile for 30 minutes of Yoga
Log a mile for 30 minutes of gardening (as long as you keep working)
Two laps around Mingus Park earns 1.2 miles
Sunset Bay to Cape Arago and back earns 8.5 miles
A 60 minute paddle on Eel Lake earns 2 miles
…and so on

Sign Up for Coos County Odyssey 2022

There is a ‘Team’ for South Coast Striders. Choose that team when you sign up (or, if you want, create your own team made up of colleagues, friends, or families).

Coos County Odyssey 2022

“Race” around Coos County, Oregon in this virtual odyssey that will take the participants through some of the most unique locations in the county.

Participants can exercise in a number of different ways (walk, hike, run, bike, paddle, yoga, pickleball, golf, ski…) to earn miles on the virtual platform.

You report the miles you walk, or take the equivalent credit for other exercise activities, and your progress will take you along the map below. You will receive virtual badges at each location.

Some Key Information About the Challenge

It’s a ‘Virtual’ event. You don’t actually travel the route. You walk or hike wherever you want and credit those miles to advance on the route.
It’s more than walking. Almost any physical activity can earn you credit. In many cases, 30 minutes of sustained activity earns you a mile.
During the sign-up process you have the option to join or form a team. Teams encourage each other to complete the challenge.
It isn’t a race. Everyone who completes the challenge will be a winner.
This event is open to anyone, anywhere. Because it’s virtual you might earn miles by paddling in the Everglades, or walking the streets of a European city.

You can form teams and compete with and motivate your friends and family to start the year off right, achieving your fitness goals, while helping families get access to nutritious food and professional advice on nutrition.

The Coos County Friends of Public Health are hosting this event and all proceeds will go to the local Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) Special Supplemental Nutrition program benefiting expecting mothers and children.

Cape Arago Audubon Society Event

All are welcome at this February 12 Event

Cape Arago Audubon Society presents Chandra LeGue discussing her new book “Oregon’s Ancient Forests: A Hiking Guide” on February 12, 2020 at the Coos Bay Library at 7 PM. All are welcome, refreshments will be served, and a copy of the book will be raffled off for only $1 per chance. No need to be present to win.

Chandra LeGue, Western Oregon Field Coordinator for Oregon Wild, has published this guide to help you get to know and love Oregon’s incredible places. In the book you will find 91 awe-inspiring hikes that reveal the very soul of Oregon. Chandra will talk about some of the fundamentals of these forests – what makes an ancient forest, what types exist in Oregon, where they are, who manages them, why so few still survive, and what threats they continue to face. She’ll also highlight a variety of the hiking experiences found in the book, covering natural history, human history, flora and fauna, so you come away with a better understanding of these complex ecosystems and their extraordinary value.

BIO:

Born and raised in southeastern Michigan, Chandra LeGue is proud to engage in work protecting and restoring the forests and wildlands of Oregon, her adopted home state. She earned her BS in biology from Carthage College in Wisconsin before moving to Oregon in 1999 to earn her master’s degree in environmental studies at the University of Oregon. Eugene has been her home ever since. Chandra has worked for Oregon Wild since 2003, promoting policies that protect and restore Oregon’s forests. She has led dozens of hikes in the Eugene area for Oregon Wild supporters, and she is the author of the new book “Oregon’s Ancient Forests: A Hiking Guide.” Chandra currently also serves on the board of directors of the Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council.