Observations along the Conservational Coastline

 

After our wonderful stay in Olympia WA, we made our way down to Astoria OR (once again crossing the magnificent Astoria-Megler bridge) and began the journey down the Oregon coast.  Our first stop was Ft. Stevens State Park where we got to explore a former military encampment charged with protecting our shores until the late 1940's. Impressive and informative. From there, we began our trek down the Oregon coast on highway 101.

 As born and bred Midwesterners we have taken for granted that all major highways are blighted with unsightly billboards and neon signs - not the case here!  We learned there were a couple of very conservation-ally minded reasons why we were enjoying unencumbered views as we traveled south along this beautiful coastline. First came the decision by The Oregon Scenic Area Board which has barred billboards from 505 miles of Oregon highways since July, 1962.  That decision resulted in over 7,000 billboards being removed along the entire Oregon highway system. The other reason we so enjoyed the coastal views was the 1967 Oregon Beach Bill which "established public ownership of land along the Oregon Coast from the water up to sixteen vertical feet above the low tide mark." It covers the entire Oregon coastline (even private land) - which is 362 miles long! 

Maybe these laws came about because of a communal guilt from decades of intense logging that had cleared whole forests... or maybe it was the activist groups that fought for preservation and conservation as a result of the beauty that shined through the  trees to the coast... in any case... the stewards of this land had created the space for a natural legacy that caused us to gasp with delight on more than one occasion as we slowly cruised down the coast to Tillamook.
 
 Yes, the irony is that while we were captivated by the natural beauty of the landscape - we were also lured to the town famous for it's cheese!  The Tillamook Creamery is a popular place, drawing over 1.3 million visitors a year to the dairy  co-op (comprised of over 50 local dairy farms).  And while there was quite a line up in the cafeteria - the fried cheese curds were worth it!  We toured the plant and also picked up a block of 10 year old vintage cheddar cheese (only available at the Creamery) which was extraordinary in it's depth of flavor! 

Our travel time was brief this go-round and the next day we arrived on the northern California coast - home to the mighty redwood trees!  Jer had this destination on his bucket list since first reading of these ancient trees in grade school (some of them over 2,000 years old).  We made a point of visiting the Founder's Grove south of Eureka and were awestruck by the massive and concentrated giants.

Once again, we learned that these groves of old mammoths were still standing because of a conservation minded group of philanthropists in the early 1900's called the "Save the Redwoods League," which raised the funds to purchase over 200,000 acres of redwood forests thus protecting them from otherwise certain logging. 

Our visits along the Pacific coastline, starting in Washington and down through Oregon and California have demonstrated once again the natural beauty of our country and the foresight of our forefathers (and mothers) in preserving and stewarding these irreplaceable landmarks. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts.