Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge | |
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IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) | |
Location | Oregon |
Coordinates | 44°10′59″N124°07′19″W / 44.1831763°N 124.1220644°W [1] |
Area | 1,083 acres (438 ha) [2] |
Created | 1935 |
Governing body | United States Fish and Wildlife Service |
Website | Oregon Islands NWR |
Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge off the southwestern Oregon Coast. It is one of six National Wildlife Refuges comprising the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The Oregon Islands provides wilderness protection to 1,853 small islands, rocks, and reefs plus two headlands, totaling 371 acres (150 ha) spanning 1,083 acres (438 ha) [2] of Oregon's coastline from the Oregon–California border to Tillamook Head. There are sites in six of the seven coastal counties of Oregon. From north to south they are Clatsop, Tillamook, Lincoln, Lane, Coos, and Curry counties. (Douglas County is the only coastal Oregon county not included in the refuge.) The area is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. [3]
The Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1935 by the federal government. [4] Haystack Rock off Cannon Beach was added to the refuge in 1968, which became a wilderness area in 1978. [5] The first mainland addition to the refuge came in 1991 when Coquille Point near Bandon was added. [6] In 1999, the shipwreck of the New Carissa near Coos Bay spilled oil that killed some birds at the refuge. [7]
It is a sanctuary for nesting seabirds of thirteen species—some of the most important nesting seabird colonies in the U.S. Over 1.2 million individuals nest in colonies here, more than on the California and Washington coasts combined. [8] [7] [9] The most prevalent species are common murres, tufted puffins, rhinoceros and Cassin's auklets, pigeon guillemots, Leach's storm-petrels, several species of gulls, and Caspian terns. [3]
Four species of pinniped breed, molt, and rest on these lands, including harbor seals, Steller and California sea lions. [9] [10] The southern portion of the refuge provides the greatest number of breeding and pupping sites for Steller sea lions in the U.S. outside Alaska. [3]
Except for Tillamook Rock Light and its surrounding 1-acre (4,000 m2) rock, all the islands are closed to public access. Boats must remain at least 500 feet (150 m) away, [11] and aircraft are asked to maintain at least 2,000 ft (600 m) clearance. [10] [12] However, good viewing is possible from Coquille Point in Bandon and other locations suggested by the Oregon Coast Birding Trail. [9]
Bandon is a city in Coos County, Oregon, United States, on the south side of the mouth of the Coquille River. It was named by George Bennet, an Irish peer, who settled nearby in 1873 and named the town after Bandon in Ireland, his hometown. The population was 3,066 at the 2010 census and by the 2020 census 3,321.
The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately 362 miles (583 km) from the California state border in the south to the Columbia River in the north. The region is not a specific geological, environmental, or political entity, and includes the Columbia River Estuary.
The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge comprising 2,400 islands, headlands, rocks, islets, spires and reefs in Alaska, with a total area of 4.9 million acres (20,000 km2), of which 2.64 million acres (10,700 km2) is wilderness. The refuge stretches from Cape Lisburne on the Chukchi Sea to the tip of the Aleutian Islands in the west and Forrester Island in the southern Alaska Panhandle region in the east. The refuge has diverse landforms and terrains, including tundra, rainforest, cliffs, volcanoes, beaches, lakes, and streams.
Haystack Rock is a 235 ft-tall (72 m) sea stack in Cannon Beach, Oregon. It is the third-tallest such intertidal structure in the world. A popular tourist destination on the Oregon Coast, the monolithic rock is adjacent to the beach and accessible by foot at low tide. The Haystack Rock tide pools are home to many intertidal animals, including starfish, sea anemone, crabs, chitons, limpets, and sea slugs. The rock is also a nesting site for many sea birds, including terns and puffins.
U.S. Route 101 (US 101), is a major north–south U.S. Highway in Oregon that runs through the state along the western Oregon coastline near the Pacific Ocean. It runs from the California border, south of Brookings, to the Washington state line on the Columbia River, between Astoria, Oregon, and Megler, Washington.
The Passage Key National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System, located offshore from St. Petersburg. The 64-acre (0.26 km2) refuge was established in 1905 by President Theodore Roosevelt to preserve nesting colonies of native seabirds and wading birds. The Passage Key Wilderness Area is part of the refuge, and consists of 36.37 acres (0.1472 km2) of its total area. It was established in 1970, to protect native birds and serve as a breeding ground for them.
The Oregon Coast Range, often called simply the Coast Range and sometimes the Pacific Coast Range, is a mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, in the U.S. state of Oregon along the Pacific Ocean. This north-south running range extends over 200 miles (320 km) from the Columbia River in the north on the border of Oregon and Washington, south to the middle fork of the Coquille River. It is 30 to 60 miles wide and averages around 1,500 feet (460 m) in elevation above sea level. The coast range has three main sections, a Northern, Central, and Southern.
The Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex consists of six National Wildlife Refuges along the Oregon Coast. It provides wilderness protection to thousands of small islands, rocks, reefs, headlands, marshes, and bays totaling 371 acres spanning 320 miles (515 km) of Oregon's coastline. The areas are all managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge off the northern Oregon Coast. It is located on the central coast of Tillamook County, in the northwestern part of Oregon. It is one of six National Wildlife Refuges within the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex and was the first National Wildlife Refuge west of the Mississippi River. In 1970 the Refuge was designated as wilderness. It is one of the smallest wilderness areas in the United States.
Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the Oregon Coast. It is one of six National Wildlife Refuges in the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Located on Cape Meares, the refuge was established in 1938 to protect a remnant of coastal old-growth forest and the surrounding habitat used by breeding seabirds. The area provides a home for a threatened bird species, the marbled murrelets. Peregrine falcons, once at the brink of extinction, have nested here since 1987. The refuge, with the exception of the Oregon Coast Trail, was designated a Research Natural Area in 1987.
Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge on Oregon's coast. It is one of six National Wildlife Refuges comprising the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex and is renowned among bird watchers for being able to view rare shorebirds including ruff, Hudsonian godwit, and Mongolian plover. The refuge was last expanded in 1999, it now has 889 acres (3.60 km2) in two units: Bandon Marsh and Ni-les'tun.
Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge on Oregon's coast. It lies in southern Tillamook County, on the state's northern coast. It is one of six National Wildlife Refuges comprising the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex and supports one tenth of the world's dusky Canada goose population. The refuge contains at least seven types of habitat, including tidal marsh, tidal mudflats, grassland, woodland, pasture, forested lagg—a transition between raised peat bog and mineral soil—and freshwater bogs, including the southernmost coastal Sphagnum bog habitat on the Pacific Coast.
The history of steamboats on the Oregon Coast begins in the late 19th century. Before the development of modern road and rail networks, transportation on the coast of Oregon was largely water-borne. This article focuses on inland steamboats and similar craft operating in, from south to north on the coast: Rogue River, Coquille River, Coos Bay, Umpqua River, Siuslaw Bay, Yaquina Bay, Siletz River, and Tillamook Bay. The boats were all very small, nothing like the big sternwheelers and propeller boats that ran on the Columbia River or Puget Sound. There were many of them, however, and they came to be known as the "mosquito fleet."
Breton National Wildlife Refuge is located in southeastern Louisiana in the offshore Breton Islands and Chandeleur Islands. It is located in the Gulf of Mexico and is accessible only by boat. The refuge was established in 1904 through executive order of President Theodore Roosevelt and is the second-oldest refuge in the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Castle Rock National Wildlife Refuge is 0.5 miles (0.80 km) offshore from Crescent City in northern California. This coastal rock covers approximately 14 acres (57,000 m2), and rises steeply 335 feet (102 m) above sea level. The refuge provides an important sanctuary for the Aleutian cackling goose and nesting seabirds.
Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge contains more than 50 offshore islands and four coastal parcels, totaling more than 8,100 acres. The complex spans more than 250 miles of Maine coastline and includes five national wildlife refuges — Petit Manan, Cross Island, Franklin Island, Seal Island, and Pond Island. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages the refuge complex as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge is located on Humboldt Bay, on the California North Coast near the cities of Eureka and Arcata. The refuge exists primarily to protect and enhance wetland habitats for migratory water birds using the bay area, including tens of thousands of shorebirds, ducks, geese, swans, and the black brant. Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, along with other public and private lands around Humboldt Bay, is one of the key stopovers for the millions of migratory birds that rely on the Pacific Flyway. More than 200 bird species, including 80 kinds of water birds and four endangered species, regularly feed, rest, or nest on the refuge or other areas around the bay.
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The Wisconsin Islands Wilderness is a 29-acre (12 ha) wilderness area located in Door County in northeastern Wisconsin. It is one of the smallest wilderness areas in the United States. Managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the wilderness area is composed of three islands in Lake Michigan.
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