The Northwest Coast

Book excerpt: Coastal regions offer the observer a unique perspective on the forces of nature in conflict. The geologic forces that created and continue to shape the continent's edge in conjunction with factors of climate and oceanography produce wildlife zones of fascinating complexity. Nowhere is this truer than in the Northwest from Cape Mendocino to Cape Flattery, a young coast which also has the last vestiges of seashore wilderness in the continental USA. The author's aim has been not to provide a conventional field guide-there are many such available-but rather to provide insights into the relationships among the sea and the land and the living creatures they support. Starting in the coastal waters with their populations of marine animals and seabirds, the author examines the successive habitats found landward, from seashore, estuaries, dune, and freshwater wetlands to the great temperate conifer forests so characteristic of the region. The reader will learn how the coastal environment molded the bodies and behavior of its inhabitants over the millennia, and how these creatures, in turn, changed their environments; the forces controlling their abundance, distribution, growth, and reproduction are explained in non-technical language, drawing upon several branches of scientific inquiry. Along with a fuller understanding and appreciation of the structure of the Northwest's natural world, we hope the reader will gain a sense of its fragility, heeding the author's caution about human impacts on the coast and striving to protect this unique environment. A portion of the profits from the sale of this book go to support Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition and its efforts to protect our coastal region for future generations. Please visit our website, OregonShores.org, for more information. THE OREGON SHORES CONSERVATION COALITION For more than 40 years, the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition has served as the guardian of Oregon's extraordinary coastal legacy. Founded initially by those who had campaigned for the state's pioneering Beach Bill, which reserves the entire shoreline for the public, Oregon Shores has over the decades expanded its focus from the beaches to the entire coastal region, from the crest of the Coast Range to the edge of the continental shelf. The ecology of this region is described in Stewart Schultz' The Northwest Coast, so it is fitting that Oregon Shores should re-publish this out-of-print classic. Public education about the resources and natural communities of the Oregon coast has always been an important aspect of the organization's work. Through the CoastWatch program, Oregon Shores organizes volunteers who keep watch over the shore-Oregon is the only state whose entire shoreline has been adopted by its citizens. CoastWatchers monitor the coast for a wide range of natural changes and human impacts. The program continually seeks to train its volunteers, while also providing educational experiences for the public at large. The value of The Northwest Coast as a resource for CoastWatch "mile adopters" was the original impetus for Oregon Shores' first venture as a book publisher. From sprawling development to the spread of riprap to the pollution of rivers and estuaries, Oregon's coast is under continual threat. The looming impact of climate change will exacerbate all these threats, unless we learn to adapt intelligently. Oregon Shores is dedicated to stewardship over this magnificent but endangered place. The Northwest Coast reveals what we have to lose if we fail to counter the threats to the coastal environment. In publishing the book, Oregon Shores hopes that the reader will delight in its wealth of information about the ecology of Oregon's coastal region and will be moved to action in defense of this natural legacy. Corrected/updated 2011