By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews Those bow hunting trips Roger Worthington took with his dad to the Tenmile Creek area south of Yachats decades ago planted seeds that are reshaping the landscape for perhaps centuries to come. Worthington, now a highly successful lawyer and founder of a number of Bend-area businesses, is the newest partner in […]
Environment
Using discarded bones, OSU researchers use DNA to suggest commercial whaling led to loss of genetic diversity
By MICHELLE KLAMPE/OSU News Service NEWPORT – Commercial whaling in the 20th century decimated populations of large whales but also appears to have had a lasting impact on the genetic diversity of today’s surviving whales, according to new research from Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. Researchers compared DNA from a […]
EPA issues $1 million fine to Seattle seafood company and 5 ships for improper waste discharges off Oregon coast
By TRACY LOEW/Salem Statesman Journal The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has fined Seattle-based American Seafoods Company and the owners of its fish-processing vessels nearly $1 million for significant violations of the Clean Water Act committed while harvesting and processing fish in the Pacific Ocean off the Oregon and Washington coasts. EPA cited the companies for hundreds […]
Yachats bird group expanding its successful swallow nesting program to Lincoln County parks, purple martins
By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews YACHATS — Since their start two years ago, a group of Yachats bird-lovers have aided hundreds of migrating species with specially constructed nesting boxes. Now, their success has prompted the Lincoln County Parks system to ask for help too. SWIFTY – the acronym for Swallows in Flight to Yachats – recently […]
New analysis using NASA satellite data shows impact of forestry operations on coastal watersheds
By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle Oregon’s coastal communities that rely on drinking water from forested rivers and creeks have lost substantial tree cover during the last 20 years, a recent NASA analysis found. That can be not-so-good news for residents and the environment. Forests not only improve the quality of surface waters, but also the […]
Nonprofit tries to rally community, county and state officials to help buy and restore 950-acre Yachats ridge property
By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews YACHATS – Putting a price on a view is no simple thing but one Yachats non-profit is willing to give it a go. And they are not going anywhere as they wait for the price to be right. View the Future has been looking at the ridge view southeast of Yachats […]
Struggling mussel population along the Oregon coast had a sudden die-off this summer, and no one is sure why
By APRIL EHRLICH/Oregon Public Broadcasting DEPOE BAY — Like many sea creatures, mussels along Oregon’s coastline are struggling. Their population took a sudden nose dive this summer, and researchers aren’t sure what’s behind the die-off. This mystery is what brought Oregon State University professor and marine ecologist Bruce Menge and his research team to […]
Timber company owner says it will not spray herbicides by helicopter in South Beaver Creek, but use ground crews instead
By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews There will be no aerial spraying of herbicides on 473-acres of clear-cut timberlands in the South Beaver Creek watershed northeast of Seal Rock. The 86-year-old landowner, Sorn Nymark, walked into Lincoln County commissioners’ offices Monday to hand deliver a letter stating that his company — Ane Forests of Oregon – has […]
National science group funds new research effort to better understand offshore Cascadia Subduction Zone
BY MICHELLE KLAMPE/OSU News Service Oregon State University researchers are joining a new multi-institution earthquake research center dedicated to the study of the Pacific Northwest’s Cascadia Subduction Zone, which is capable of producing earthquakes comparable to the largest recorded globally. The National Science Foundation has awarded $15 million over five years to the Cascadia Region […]
‘Very strong’ El Niño moving up the Oregon coast, bringing warmer winter and increasing ocean temperatures
By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle A tropical weather system called El Niño is beginning its march up the coast of Oregon, likely bringing with it a warmer winter and warmer water for some marine life. Oregonians on the coast could see flooding when rain mixes with higher tides. In the mountains, areas hoping for snow […]