Plastic Campaign Web Mail Manager Needed! This technologically savy individual is needed to help merge all of our petition signers into a cooler email account so we can message to them and coalition groups. Please contact Charlie at cplybon@surfrider.org
Sunshine & blue skies were welcomed on Saturday for the Siltcoos Outlet Estuary & Beach Cleanup. It has bean an eventful year with 10 cleanups throughout the Siuslaw. Thank you to the Siuslaw High School Earth Club, Jesse, the Tucker family, Jamie, Jeff, Liz, Jon, and the Buckwalds for your dedication and commitment to protecting the ocean and our local special places.
Screenings
6:30 PM Fri, Oct 07 Bijou Art Cinema
4:00 PM Sun, Oct 09 Bijou Art Cinema
Filmmaker Suzan Beraza in person for both screenings!
Americans use 60,000 plastic bags every five minutes, disposable bags that they throw away without much thought. But where is “away”? Where do the bags and other plastics end up, and at what cost to the environment, marine life, and human health?
Bag It follows “everyman” Jeb Berrier as he navigates our plastic world. Jeb’s journey in this documentary film starts with simple questions: Are plastic bags really necessary? What are plastic bags made from? What happens to plastic bags after they are discarded? What starts as a film about plastic bags evolves into a wholesale investigation into plastic and its effect on our waterways, oceans, and our own bodies. Our crazy-for-plastic world has finally caught up to us. And we can do something about it. Today. Right now.
Co-presented by:
BRING Recycling
Oregon League of Conservation Voters
Surfrider Foundation
Film sponsored by:
Ticket Prices
Tickets to screenings at Bijou Art Cinema general $8.00 students/senior $7.00
Check in Locations:
Florence’s Port of Siuslaw Boat Ramp in Old Town
·North Fork at Bender’s Landing
·In Cushman at the Siuslaw Marina
·In Mapleton at Maple Lane & RV Marina
·Up HWY 36 at Rain Rock
·In Deadwood meet at the store
Volunteer Contact Melisa Buckwald
Under warm sunny skies, a total of 41 volunteers came out by boat and via land for just a few hours to help cleanup our beloved Siuslaw River. In total the crew hauled in a whopping 1600 pounds! Some of the more frequent items encountered included large chunks of styrofoam, plastic bottles, tires, and plastic bags. After all of the hard work, volunteers met up at the Wakonda Brewery Tasting Room for some cool libations and a BBQ, with some great music by the local band Sun House. Thank you so much to everyone who came out and helped to keep all of this trash from ending up in the ocean and on our beaches! Extra special thanks to Siuslaw Chapter Volunteer Coordinator Melisa Buckwald for her great leadership in organizing this event! The Siuslaw Chapter has officially adopted the Siuslaw Estuary from the Siuslaw Bridge up to Cushman through SOLV’s Adopt-A-River program, the next cleanup event will be on August 27th so mark your calendars now and tell your friends! Check out a few more pics that made the front page of the Siuslaw News here
Surfrider’s Siuslaw Chapter invites you to their Spring Siuslaw River & Estuary Cleanup. On Saturday April 30th 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. we will meet in Florence at the Port of Siuslaw Dock located at 1st and Harbor Street. A volunteer will be there to answer questions and provide supplies for your cleanup efforts.
If you have a boat bring it! We may have a few extras at the cleanup site for loan. Be prepared to crawl in and out of your boat in order to reach the trash that normally sticks closely to the high tide line, on the bank, or in the mud. This means getting a little wet and a bit muddy.
No boat? No worries! Going by foot along the bank and through the high tide line is a very productive way to clean up the river. On foot you can access areas unreachable by boat. We need people to play this part too. You can access the river or estuary by walking from the port dock along the bank, going to the parking area by the North Fork bridge on HWY 126, or if you’ve noticed a problem area elsewhere that collects trash feel free to go there.
Don’t let getting dirty discourage you because it’s fun, and it’s worth it! Just remember to be prepared with a life jacket, rubber boots, wetsuit, spare clothes, and we hear neoprene booties work really well.
If you decide to access the river elsewhere, away from the Port dock, please let us know so we can make arrangements to haul away the loads of trash you collect. And remember to stop by the table to sign a waiver form, unless of course we make prior arrangements.
There will be a “trash barge”, aka volunteer in a motor boat, motoring around to assist with things like large heavy Styrofoam pieces, tires and so on.
As a part of the Adopt A River program with SOLV the Siuslaw Chapter organizes a river cleanup twice a year, this is the first. Everyone is welcome to help and please pass this on to family and friends. Join us after the efforts at Wakonda Tasting Room 1725 Kingwood for a volunteer appreciation BBQ. We are looking forward to the event and hope you can help in our effort to protect and conserve our oceans, waves, and beaches! Questions Contact Melisa Buckwald
The Siuslaw Estuary Partnership is a collaborative effort funded through an Environmental Protection Agency grant for a partnership between City, State, Federal, and NGO partners to protect water quality in the Florence Dunal Aquafier and Siuslaw Estuary as well as protect and restore fish and wildlife habitat in the Siuslaw estuary and other nearshore influential water bodies and wetlands.
The Siuslaw Chapter of Surfrider Foundation has a seat on the stakeholder advisory panel as the influences of the local estuary have significant effects on the quality and on our enjoyment of the nearshore ocean. Many divers, surfers and other paddlers recreate within the river and estuary during winter months when the sea state is high and ensuring protection of these recreational resources is a primary interest for the chapter’s engagement. Additionally, the chapter seeks to further it’s land-sea connectivity messaging, so that better management decisions can be made in a more multi-faceted ecosystem-based approach. More info on project at www.siuslawwaters.org
photos courtesy of Siuslaw Estuary Partnership
Thanks so much to all of the volunteers that participated in this year’s Ocean Issues Forum in Florence, Oregon. The theme of this year’s event was climate change and adaptation and great updates were given from many of the leading professionals from ocean sciences, management, industry and non-profit/NGOs. Take home message, climate change is happening, but by actively engaging in constructive dialogue as a community and taking actions as individuals, collectively we can best adapt and be better prepared for the changes that we will face.
Updates on the marine reserve process were given by Anna Pakenaham (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife) and Al Pazar (Commercial Fisherman and community team leader), both giving enthusiastic support of the community team recommendations and process for the Cape Perpetua marine reserve and marking this as an important step for Oregon. Presentations on climate change by Darrin Sharp of Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, Coastal Changes by Bob Bailey of Department of Land Conservation and Development, Ocean Acidification by Burke Hales of OSU-COAS and sea level rise by Jonathon Allen, DOGAMI. Thanks to all of the volunteers that attended the event on behalf of the Siuslaw Chapter of Surfrider Foundation!
The Siuslaw Watershed Council will be presenting their 4th Annual Ocean Issues Community Forum on March 30th from 6-9pm at the Florence Events Center. The forum will feature an update on Oregon’s marine reserve process, presentations on Climate Change, Ocean Acidification, and Sea Level Rise. Following the presentations will be a panel discussion with all presenters. For more information on the event, or to join the Siuslaw Watershed Council, go to: www.siuslaw.org
Coffee and Bagels Provided, mingle with some friends and help us keep it clean! It’s no secret that Cape Perpetua is a special place to our Siuslaw Chapter members and many others in the state of Oregon. With its sweeping coastline of rocky intertidal and sandy beaches, an amazing terrestrial watershed and old growth forest with various stands of impressive evergreens, it’s no wonder the nearshore ocean was recommended by a local community team for a marine reserve and nearby protected areas. Siuslaw Chapter volunteers are dedicated to removing highway debris along this stretch of the coast BEFORE it becomes marine debris! Please join us this weekend and meet some great people and visit a beautiful stretch of the coast.
