Named one of ‘America’s Favorite Beach Towns’ by ForbesTraveler.com and voted ‘Best Beach’ by the viewers of Seattle’s KING-5 TV, the Peninsula offers visitors blocks of colorful shops, great seafood, comfortable lodging, small museums, horseback riding, and an expansive beach. Southwest Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula: home to a new national park, two historic lighthouses, renowned restaurants, cranberry bogs, and oyster farms.
Portable toilets will be available for north Long Beach Peninsula razor clam diggers April 7-9. Willapa National Wildlife Refuge is placing two portable toilets on the beach in an effort to protect threatened western snowy plovers from disturbance during the upcoming dig. The portable toilets can be found at 4.0 and 6.0 miles north of the Oysterville Road Beach Approach. Clam diggers are reminded to remain outside of the signed closure area, and encouraged to use these toilets placed on the beach.
Western snowy plovers inhabit beaches and sparsely vegetated coastal dunes on the Leadbetter Point Unit of Willapa National Wildlife Refuge. They are part of the Pacific coast population found breeding from Washington State to Baja Mexico. Western snowy plovers are classified as a threatened species because their numbers have declined due to habitat loss, human disturbance, and increasing threats from predators.
The western snowy plover is a small shorebird about 6 inches long, with a thin dark bill, and a light-colored body with dark patches on either side of the neck, behind the eye, and on the forehead. Plovers blend in with their surroundings so well that they are extremely hard to see, making it easy for unsuspecting visitors to disturb the birds or even crush the eggs and chicks, never realizing the damage they’ve caused. For these reasons plover nesting areas are closed to public access during the nesting season from March 15 to September 15 each year.
Enhancing productivity is key to population growth and necessary for reaching the recovery goal of one chick fledged per adult male. In an effort to increase reproductive success, active habitat restoration is an on-going part of management on the refuge. To improve habitat quality and quantity, invasive beach grass is being cleared at Leadbetter Point. Removing the non-native beach grass provides more open sand for nesting plovers and reduces cover for predators that depredate plover nests, chicks, and adults. To date over 125 acres of beach habitat have been restored on the refuge.
For additional information about Willapa National Wildlife Refuge and the western snowy plover visit: www.fws.gov/willapa.
It doesn’t matter if it’s spring break, Easter break, midwinter break or you just need a break, the Washington coast offers plenty of recreational escapes in the coming month.
You can take a hike to a remote beach and enjoy a well-deserved dose of solitude, you can dig for razor clams, or you can do a little volunteering and take part in the Washington Coast Cleanup.
Here is a look at just some of the options that await visitors this month.
Below is the schedule of proposed razor-clam digs, along with evening low tides, announced by WDFW:
CONFIRMED!
As usual, the final word on beach openings will be announced about a week before each dig is scheduled to start, when marine toxin tests show the clams are safe to eat.
It takes more than gale force winds, snow, hail and rain to stop a diverse group of artists from preparing an exciting and beautiful art exhibition. Members of Peninsula Arts Association have not let the storms of winter dampen their creative juices. At 10 am, on March 30, 2012, the doors will open for the 21st Annual Spring Art Show. Held at the World Kite Museum in Long Beach, Washington, the show runs through April 1st and is open 10 am to 5 pm daily.
“We have seen an increase in new members and done very well with renewed memberships,” said PAA Vice President Michael Cox. “The Spring Show contains work from artists in almost all categories with many, varied points of view. The Inspired Creations section is shaping up to contain work from several of our newer members.”
The show’s Featured Artist is photographer Peggy Bleckov. Bleckov won the top ribbon, Judges Choice ~ Best in Show, for the 2011 Fall Art Show. A self-taught photographer, Bleckov’s choice of subject, sense of balance and design reflect the strong sense of style she brings to her home and gardens. Her love of animals is represented in her work as well.
“I shoot anything that catches my eye, I love to experiment,” said Bleckov. “Simple compositions are most beautiful to me and goats are great fun to shoot. Their curiosity and unique eyes gets me every time.”
Her winning photograph from 2011, The Bond, was of a goat and a small 4H farmer. Away during the time of the Fall Show, Bleckov’s husband Jim proudly read the email containing the news of her award to the artist and friends.
“Even though it was breakfast time, champagne did get poured,” laughed Bleckov of the announcement.
As with many photographers, Bleckov cites the golden glow of late afternoon as her favorite time to shoot. Although claiming a love-hate relationship with the technical end of photography, the surprise element of discovering the unexpected “perfect” shot while in pursuit of another subject entirely is what keeps her passion for the art form stoked.
“The thing that attracts me most to photography is just being in that moment when you are really looking closely through the lens setting up the shot. It’s a kind of “Zen” moment for me,” explained Bleckov.
Along with the work of Peggy Bleckov, the Spring Art Show will exhibit the work of forty-four artists in twenty-two categories. Judging the show are artists Wally Mann, Mary Ann Gantenbein and Roger Dorband.
Inspired Creations features art inspired work, prints, art cards, jewelry, photography, textiles and more from several of the exhibiting artists. A raffle of donated art benefits PAA’s High School Graduate Scholarship Fund and the Art Enrichment Program. PAA is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization.
Admission is free and parking is plentiful. Hours are 10 to 5 pm daily. For more information about Peninsula Arts Association visit www.beachartist.org or call 360-665-6041. For information about the World Kite Museum visit www.worldkitemuseum.com.
Pacific and Clatsop Counties are known throughout the region for their tourist attractions, but have you visited these sites? If it has been awhile since you’ve taken the time to “be a local tourist,” the Hometown Tourism Day on Saturday, April 21 might be just the ticket for you.
Several local sites are working together to offer free or reduced admissions or special programs on this day to encourage their neighbors to come and see what they have to offer. Here is a list of the special activities available this second annual Hometown Tourism Day.
For more information, call the individual attractions or Sally Freeman at 503-861-4424.
From Coast Weekend:
Taking a chance, or rather, pursuing his lifelong dream of having his own indoor tennis court, owner Richard Grambow along with his wife, Jan, have done a fine job of reinventing the former Lighthouse motel into a mini-resort…
From The Seattle Post Intelligencer :
Oysters from Willapa Bay are best in early spring, having grown plumb in the food-rich waters of this famed coastal estuary. Restaurant chefs on the Long Beach Peninsula prepare oysters any number of ways but pan fried is the favorite with visitors traveling to the peninsula to enjoy the ultra-fresh seafood.
On March 12, Longview resident Jerry Dean, was walking on Long Beach Peninsula near Beard’s Hollow when he found a rare old clear glass float and net, a baseball-sized yellow plastic float and three large, dark plastic floats.
Intrigued by his find, Dean decided to return with a friend, Russ Bryant, 55, later that week.
“I was kind of overwhelmed with finding that kind of stuff,” Dean said.
The following Friday, he and Bryant had even better luck. They collected four large light bulbs — some marked with Japanese writing — as well as assorted bottles and jars. Four small oblong blue plastic floats struck Dean as a particularly unusual find.
Finding such a large cache of relatively rare items got him wondering if tsunami refuse was arriving early, especially after he read on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website that lightweight items that sit high in the water — such as light bulbs and buoys — will arrive ahead of heavier items.
“I love the beach, and I go a lot. … (but) In all my forays to the beach, I found a light bulb once in high school,” said Dean, 57. “You just don’t see this kind of debris coming up. … I was texting everybody, taking pictures.”
Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum is hosting The 17th Annual Peninsula Quilt Guild Exhibition on Friday and Saturday, the 16th and 17th March from 10:00am – 4:00pm, and Sunday, March 18th, from 12:00 noon to 4:00pm.
The Peninsula Quilt Guild includes some of the area’s most talented fabric artists. The exhibition includes quilts of all types and sizes and fills 3 galleries.
Tickets for the “Ocean of Stars” Prize Quilt raffle, will be available throughout the show at a cost of $1.00 per ticket, with the drawing on Sunday afternoon (need not be present to win). Proceeds from ticket sales go to local charities.
More info: www.columbiapacificheritagemuseum.org or 360 642 3446
“Expectations are building for the summer ocean salmon fisheries.
Three ocean fishing catch-quota options will be announced Wednesday
at the Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Sacramento, Calif.
For the third year in a row, the popular early-summer fishery for coastal hatchery chinook is on the table.”
Talk Back!
We want to hear from you
Thinking of relocating?
Relocation Info
Real Estate
Looking for church or other spiritual services
Planning a wedding, reunion or other
celebration
?
