Beaver Creek State Natural Area Planning Newsletter

Received this newsletter from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.  If you are interested or concerned about the Natural Area, contact OPRD and get involved in the planning process, as they describe it.

Master Planning Beaver Creek State Natural Area 

and Ona Beach State Park 

February 2011 Newsletter 

Beginning a Master Planning Process 

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) is beginning a master planning process for Beaver Creek State Natural Area and Ona Beach State Park located south of Newport in Lincoln County.  Beaver Creek State Natural Area (SNA) was recently acquired and opened with initial improvements as Park of the Year for 2010.  Ona Beach State Park was recently expanded with the acquisition of a large parcel on the east side of Highway 101. A master plan is needed to fully address future recreational use and resource management in both parks. In the planning process OPRD will take a comprehensive look at current information on natural and cultural resource conditions and management needs related to both parks, outdoor recreation trends in the region, areas within the parks that are suitable for recreational development and use, possible affects of park uses on local public facilities services and neighboring land uses, and related ideas and concerns identified through public input. 

Assessments of the parks’ natural and cultural resources are scheduled for completion by late summer 2011. Some of this work was previously completed in preparing a site development plan for the limited development needed for the opening of Beaver Creek SNA. Once these assessments are completed for the rest of the park property, OPRD will take the next step in mapping opportunity areas, identifying areas that are suited for potential recreational development and resource management activities. The map of opportunity areas, supported by the resource assessments, will provide a basis for discussing options for future development and management of the parks in upcoming public meetings. 

Opportunities to Participate 

At key times during the planning process, OPRD holds public meetings followed by written comment opportunities to ask for input on planning issues, goals, use and development concepts, and management strategies. Concurrently, OPRD also holds meetings with a Stakeholder Committee made up of representatives of key interest groups and agencies. The first round of public and stakeholder meetings usually occurs when OPRD has information to share on the park resource conditions and opportunity areas, based on the resource assessments. Accordingly, this first full set of meetings is expected to occur in early fall 2011. (However, OPRD may hold one or more early meetings of Stakeholder Committee members, before completion of the resource assessments, as appropriate to share information emerging from the assessment process and to take full advantage of information and expertise offered by Committee members regarding the assessments in progress.) The next round of public and stakeholder meetings normally occurs when OPRD releases a draft master plan for public review and comments. Optimistically, the draft plan should be ready for public review in late winter 2012. Later in the process, formal meetings on the draft master plan provide additional opportunities for public comments. Comments can be made at a meeting of the State Parks Commission where OPRD asks the Commission for their concurrence on the draft plan. Following, OPRD will hold a public hearing when the draft plan is proposed for adoption as a state rule, and Lincoln County will hold a hearing when the draft plan is presented for land use approval. OPRD’s anticipated master planning schedule will be posted at the master plan web site currently under construction. (See web site address on the reverse side of this newsletter.)

When Will The Stakeholder Committee Be Formed, and Who Will Be On It? 

OPRD is now in the process of identifying key interest groups and agencies that should be represented on the Stakeholder Committee. Persons or groups who wish to participate on the Committee should make their request to OPRD through the contact listed on the reverse side of this newsletter. Final selections will be decided by agreement between the OPRD Coastal Region Manager and Planning Manager. The roster of selected Committee members and the groups they represent will be posted at the master plan web site currently under construction. In general, the criteria used to select Committee members are: 1) The represented group has a significant stake in the outcome, or the representative has professional expertise of particular value to the planning process; 2) The group representative will represent his/her group’s interests ahead of personal interests, and coordinate comments with and convey information to his/her group; 3) The representative is willing to work toward consensus and seek solutions that address multiple interests; 4) The representative is available to attend the meetings; 5) Duplication of membership is generally avoided in representation of an interest, agency or expertise (although members may identify a backup representative to participate in their absence).  

Is OPRD Trying To Add More Land To The Parks? 

OPRD is continuing to negotiate with interested land owners for possible expansion of the park properties. A map of OPRD’s current ownership will be posted at the master plan web site currently under construction. 

Will Any More Development Occur In The Parks Before The Master Plan Is Completed? 

Prior to the official opening of Beaver Creek SNA, limited improvements were needed ahead of the master planning process to provide for basic management of the visitation that was already occurring. Property acquisitions for Beaver Creek included a dwelling that was well suited as a base for visitor contact and orientation with the addition of some parking, signage, a host site, and minor modifications to the dwelling. Because the improvements were limited, they were allowed through a standard land use permit. Before the master plan is completed, additional changes in the parks will be limited to management activities such as control of weeds, control of unauthorized vehicular access on existing forest roads, and vegetation management for forest health and fire protection.  

What Is a State Park Master Plan? 

State park master plans are defined and adopted in state rule. A park master plan guides the development and use of park facilities and the protection and management of important natural, cultural and scenic resources within the park boundaries. The plan is a written and illustrated reference that describes the planning purpose and process, existing park facilities, expected future recreation demand, the suitability of the land for resource protection or recreational development, issues related to public use and management, park goals and objectives, development concepts for future uses and development in the parks, and guidelines for managing the park resources. The useful life of a park master plan is generally no longer than 20 years before it needs to be updated, and the projects described in a master plan may take as long as 10 to 20 years to be fully implemented. 

Where Can I Review The Draft Plan? 

Master plan web site (currently under construction).  As materials produced during the planning process become available, including the draft plan, any addendums to the draft, the final plan, newsletters, etc., they may be reviewed at the master plan website at http://egov.oregon.gov/OPRD/PLANS/planning_ona&beaver.shtml.

OPRD offices. When available, the plan can also be viewed at the OPRD headquarters office in Salem (see address below), and at the South Beach State Park office near Newport, at 5580 South Coast Highway. 

Questions or Comments? 

Please direct questions or comments to: 

Ron Campbell, Master Planning Coordinator  (503) 986-0743 

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department 

725 Summer Street, Suite C    ron.campbell@state.or.us  

Salem, Oregon 97301-1271 

Posted by michael

News From Beaver Creek State Natural Area

A recent article by Lori Tobias, in The Oregonian tells us two important events for the Beaver Creek area.  On October 1, 2010, there will be a grand opening ceremony for the State Natural Area.  The ribbon cutting is at 11 am, with activities running until 1 pm, including refreshments and music at the new Welcome Center.  Parking is at Ona Beach State Park, with shuttles to the Welcome Center.  The second significant milestone is the announcement by State Parks spokesman Chris Havel, of the pending acquisition of 583 acres of timberland, adjacent to Ona Beach State Park, that will be developed over several years into a new coastal campground.  The land was planted 15 years ago as a mixed coastal forest and overlooks the lower Beaver Creek marsh, including marsh owned by Wetlands Conservancy.  This new acquisition by State Parks is an important continuing investment in the conservation of the Beaver Creek watershed.

Neighbors in the Beaver Creek valley have been nervous about all of the attention, increased visitors, and possible disruption to the beloved valley they call home.  Rumors  have confused the purpose of the State Natural Area, suggesting that it will be developed into a campground.  Such development is not a part of the Natural Area plan.  Natural Areas are set aside in a world program that aims to keep wildness available in our common heritage.  These areas are specifically reserved from development and may include trails and signs to educate and guide visitors.  In Beaver Creek, the visitor by boat leaves only footprints of ripples on the water.      

With the new State Parks land acquisition, plans for a campground should begin to emerge and show how increasing visitor traffic to the Beaver Creek area can find a temporary home without impacting the valley and its residents.  This new campground will be near the ocean, marsh, and forests; yet set aside from them in a respectful distance that invites interactions with nature.  Access to the campground will be from Hwy 101 and near Seal Rock.  While we residents value the peace, quiet, and isolation of the Beaver Creek valley, I feel that it is important to entertain visitors from around the world, so that they can experience the magic of this place and take that experience home with them, to light fires of imagination and inspiration in their lives and hearths.  We can trust in the power of nature to sooth the traveler’s spirit and to refresh their senses.  They can emerge from a paddle on the creek or a hike in the fields and forests of Beaver Creek with a renewed sense of their place in wildness and their responsibility to these places.  Wildness gives us the undefinable sense of well-being that is essential for our common survival. 

Posted by michael

Herbal Medicine: What Is It?

The study of plant life and herbs teaches us to see humans as part of nature.  As we interact with plants and nature, our healing obtains.  Herbal medicine is a clinical modality based on using plant medicines as therapeutic tools.  Herbal medicine moves beyond the blind repetition of information in older herbals into a modern understanding of molecular vitality.  Herbs are not drugs and herbal medicine is not based on the pathology-disease reductionist model of modern pharmacological medicine.  Herbal medicine supports body function and tone and is based on the healing properties of the vital force.  We all know what the vital force is and when it is present, but we cannot see it or capture it in a bottle.  Vitality escapes reductionist methods.

Some excellent manuals for understanding herbs and their actions were written by Michael Moore.  Herbs are exogenous agents that cause the body to react through stimulation or suppression of body functions.  Herbal medicine tones the body, which then performs healing functions through vitality.  This approach is similar to the approach used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayurvedic systems.  The process in these healing systems is to diagnose excesses or deficiencies of body function and then tone body systems, including organs, stress response, and fluid transport.  The principle of vitalism is to strengthen the person, then treat the problem.

A different conceptual expression of vitalism in herbal medicine was given by J. Treasure, in which there are three groups: food; medicine; and poison.  Food and medicine are passive and interconnected.  They are ingested and acted upon by the body.  They are used with traditional knowledge and evidence of their efficacy is measured by their widespread use and influence on vital force and toning the body.  Poisons are active.  They are ingested and act on the body.  Pharmaceutical drugs are this type and their efficacy is measured by influence on symptoms of disease in clinical trials.  Poisons are the model substance in modern pharmaceutical medicine.

Herbs are not drugs and are not naturally occurring analogs for pharmaceuticals.  Their actions cannot be reduced to the effects of their isolated active constituents.  Stronger acting herbs may be drug-like in action, but are rare.  Herbs have dozens of different compounds that form a matrix which modifies the actions of any specific active constituents.  Herbalists view the whole (vitality) as greater than the sum of the parts.  This is vitalism, which corresponds to modern systems theory in ecosystem science.  

Drugs have specific actions on the body, with side effects of undesired actions.  Herbs have several broad actions on a number of body systems and their actions are complementary or synergistic, with few side effects.  The use of herbs does not involve drug actions or adverse effects.  Instead herbs have contraindications when imbalance between metabolic and systematic constitution and the herb is noticed.  Any use of herbal medicine should carefully consider contraindications as defined by competent herbalists.  Furthermore, mixing of herbal medicine and pharmaceutical drugs should only be done with the full knowledge of the drug-prescribing doctor, as herbs can have agonistic or potentiating interactions with drugs.

Clinical research on plant effects favors isolation of individual compounds.  These clinical trials are not appropriate for the investigation of herb action, as they assume drug action, which does not apply to herbal medicine.  Few methods exist for researching the effects of whole plants and their preparations.  Herbal medicine effects occur gently, over time, outside of the context of rapidly acting phytopharmaceuticals.  The present disinformation on supposed negative effects and lack of efficacy for herbs is a result of applying inappropriate research methods to their properties.  New research methods will need to be developed to resolve these questions.  Funding for these methods is limited because of the present inherent bias of laws, medical politics, and ideology against herbal medicine.  The medical-pharmaceutical industrial complex cannot make money off of herbs and the vital force within humans and will do whatever is necessary to suppress herbal medicine.   

Posted by michael

Herbal Medicine Above Beaver Creek

On our land above Beaver Creek we rely on herbal medicine for health.  Herbs are a vast reservoir of medicine that can be approached respectfully in several ways.  Options range from store-bought to wildcrafting.  You can go to a doctor of herbs, read about herbal knowledge in books to become self-taught, or learn from teachers of herbal traditions in various cultures around the world.  There are many herbal traditions and some come from the dawn of human time.  You can use herbs assuming that the concentrations of active substances are important for healing.  Or you can use herbal medicine while assuming homeopathic actions which state that increasingly diluted concentrations of active ingredients produce stronger healing.  

A third approach assumes that our direct intention and experience with herbs is the healing energy.  I often use this approach to enter into intimate relationships with herbs.  These relationships support a combination of growing and collecting herbs in gardens and wildcrafting to rely on the power of herb form, color, smell, and taste in combination with the placebo effect for medicine and healing.  This third approach is not widely acknowledged or taught and relies on close connections with wildness in the form of herbs.  The key to this herbal practice is to become familiar with many aspects of the herb and how these relate to your health.  Where and how does it grow?  How does the herb interact with its surrounding plants and animals and how does it condition environment and soil?  How do these properties relate to your health?  These questions can be answered by close observation, picking and processing herbs, smelling, tasting, preparing medicine, and watching how your body and mind respond to the presence of the herb.  Simply by thinking of specific herbs, my healing obtains.  With this approach, the medicine my body needs is growing in the environments where I am.  There is an intimate connection of mind, body, and environment that is whole and sustained. 

We have many herb medicines growing in our Beaver Creek gardens and I see, feel, and touch them every day as I walk around the land.  Examples include aloe, angelica, aster, bee balm, blackberry, blueberry, burdock, calendula, camomile, cascara, cedar, chives, cleavers, coltsfoot, comfrey, dandelion, dill, dock, Douglas fir, elecampane, feverfew, foxglove, gentian, hawthorn, honeysuckle, hops, horehound, horseradish, juniper, lavender, lily of the valley, lungwort, monkshood, mullein, nasturtium, nettles, oregano, Oregon grape, pearly everlasting, pennyroyal, peppermint, periwinkle, plantain, quince, red alder, red clover, red current, red raspberry, rhubarb, rosemary, sage, self-heal, spearmint, St. John's wort, strawberry, sweet woodruff, thyme, usnea, valerian, vetch, violets, white birch, wild rose, willow, witch hazel, yarrow, and yellow dock.

Medicine is in our intentions, the food we eat, air we breath, walks and activity that we make, space we enjoy, and in all of the experiences that bring us the play of wildness.  In medicine, you can feel your body responding to positive energy and know that this supports health.  Any other sickness is coming from turning away from natural mind and wildness.  The body follows the mind.  Wherever you are, relax and breath in the spacious, delicious taste of herbs around you.  Even in the downtown city, herbs grow from the cracks of pavement’s persistence and hide in stores on shelves.  As a society we have made so many efforts to kill herbs as weeds and to cover over our herbal traditions with chemical western medicine that tastes of poison and has so many side effects beyond our control.

Even western medicine acknowledges the power of herbs by making collecting expeditions to far off jungles and reefs beneath the sea.  Why go so far when the herbs you need can be in your yard?  Just lay off the pesticides and the need for pristine lawns.  Dandelions are powerful medicine for many of our modern diseases.  Perhaps we seek powerful modern big Pharma chemical “cures” because we have become so isolated from our natural homes.  We make isolated chemicals for isolated sickness coming from modern isolated life.  Really we are not so far from home.  We live every day on the breath of elemental energy (earth, water, air, fire, space) and don’t recognize it.  Relax and take some time to enjoy where and who you are.  Rather than the symptoms, see the heart of the mind.  Let herbs be your guide to wildness.

Posted by michael

Chipmunks and Rabbits

Chipmunks and rabbits are busy now.  The picture shows how chipmunk harvested many flowers from an herb, self-heal and broke them up to get the protein-rich embryos from developing seeds.  For many years I have enjoyed seeing self-heal march around the garden in its search for good places to grow.  Self-heal is one of my favorite herbs.  When I began homesteading the land, self-heal was not present.  Soon it began growing up the drive and before long it was on top of the hill and in small open field patches.  Now it is spreading over many areas, lending its bright blue "pagoda flowers" to the landscape and to my basket of herbal medicine.

Back to chipmunks.  Given lazy gardener ways, I have had an interest in having plants naturalize on the land with minimum effort on my part.  There is a gentle balance between the effects of planting what I like, weeding out more invasive species that have wind-blown seeds, and watching chipmunk and deer eating the seeds and plants that I do want to naturalize.  Since I am not the boss here, the animals have a controlling interest.  Especially this time of year, in later summer, chipmunk is busy harvesting and caching seeds, flowers, and fruits.  They run around to various patches of plants and magically pack away food to hiding places.  They take away all of the quince, rose hips, and seeds from other flowers that they can find.  I can often find piles of flowers and fruit torn open as remnants of past picnics.  A result of this activity is that naturalization is slow to none for my favorite plants.    

The bunnies are prolific this year, as I have often counted two dozen just looking out the window.  They are in all sizes ranging from full grown to the smallest babies out for their first feeding on fresh grass and a roll in the dirt.  They sometimes impede naturalization of clovers and other herbs.  But mostly they do a good job of keeping the open grass areas trimmed, so I don't have to mow for several months.

Do I regret the effects of so many animals?  Surely not, as I am part of their life as they are of mine and enjoy making the spaces that produce an abundance of food and medicine for them and for me.  It would be a selfish world to live here without making room for the spontaneous and delightful feast of harvest that is wildness.    

Posted by michael

Garden Color

Ambling around the garden, the color pops and the summer soothes.  Found a bumble bee asleep in the morning dew-soaked Buddleia.  Maybe was too tired to go home, or maybe just gave up and died right there.  Flowers speak to the simplicity of color and scent.  Nothing else to consider when experience blooms in the early morning light.

Posted by michael

Flowers Of Early May

The flower clock continues to turn.  New faces have emerged as welcome friends. Here May is an encouraging month when the soil begins to warm and garden thoughts naturally unfold.

I have been moving weeds from flower beds to compost piles.  Mowed the field grass for the first time and birds have found the cuttings suitable for their nests.  They land on the piles and then take off with mouths full of straw, slipping away to nests tucked in trees, bushes, and boxes.  Left some cloth scraps from prayer flags on a fence and a blue jay came and took them away for nest building.

Posted by michael

Flower Clocks In The Marsh

Time is the indefinite continuation of existence, marked by a convention.  There is no special, unique, and singular convention that marks time and existence is free to find new ones as needed.  We humans measure time with precise atomic clocks and radio signals that transfer to shiny watches that crows sometimes covet for their nests.  This measured time is orderly and divided into equal parts that mark the passing of our lives through space.  We can be early, late, in, on, or out of time.  We have somehow relegated our existence to fixed, arbitrary intervals of language.  Nature takes another road, one with soft clocks that turn with constantly adjusting intervals, embracing the play of earth, air, fire, water, and space.  

In the marsh, time is often measured and marked with the arrival and departure of insect hatches, birds migrating, and flowers.  These events can happen in many intermeshed cycles dependent on astronomical movements; now, tidal, daily, lunar, seasonal, annual, sunspot cycles, and El Niño.  In Spring, as the temperature warms and daylight lengthens in duration and intensity, plants grow and reach maturity.  This maturity is marked by the appearance of flowers and later seeds.  Each type of flower signals like the hand on a clock.  The progression of the seasons is traced by the rainbow of colors, shapes, forms, smells, and desires of flowers, insects, and birds.  These elements and lives are woven together in a web of dependence, a dance of eat and be eaten.

   

There are so many details of flowering that science can unfold and we will leave that for now.  Suffice it to say that a complicated and detailed picture emerges and these complications (factors) provide plenty of freedom to adjust to changing environmental conditions and habitats as they arise.  It is enough to recognize that days follow each other into seasons which can be marked by the passing of flower clock time.  Every year is similar with minor variations, mostly to do with temperature and rainfall.  Each walk along the marsh reveals new flowers and their celebration of completion.  We can read the time in wildness if we choose to.  In this place, duck, red-winged blackbird, kingfisher, swallow, robin, blue jay, flicker, woodpecker, hummingbird, goldfinch, hermit thrush, towhee, sparrow, chickadee, and ruby-crowned kinglet are busy with nests and feeding on the abundant plants, insects, and worms that have emerged from winter’s sleep.  Frogs have woken and sing through the night.  They all seem to know flower clock time and get along without atomic clock radio time.   

Posted by michael  

Flower Report For Mid-April

Posted by michael