Mile 202 Report
North Spit Alsea River
October 13, 2021
With the November 2nd election approaching, yard signs are up on Oceania Drive, which parallel's Mile 202's Bayshore Beach, supporting and opposing Lincoln County ballot initiative 21-203, which would restrict and phase out short term rental vacation houses (STRs) in certain unincorporated residential areas of the county, including Mile 202 and all of the Bayshore community.
Report Details
With the November 2nd election approaching, yard signs are up on Oceania Drive, which parallel's Mile 202's Bayshore Beach, supporting and opposing Lincoln County ballot initiative 21-203, which would restrict and phase out short term rental vacation houses (STRs) in certain unincorporated residential areas of the county, including Mile 202 and all of the Bayshore community. Of the approximately 60 residences on Oceania fronting Mile 202's beach, Lincoln County Assessor records show that only seven or so are locally owned, more than twenty owned by out-of-staters, and the remainder owned by Oregon residents outside of Lincoln County. Meredith Lodging, an STR management company, has donated $200,000 towards efforts to defeat 21-203, and perhaps not surprisingly, there are more signs on Oceania houses opposing than supporting the measure. On the beach side of a few of the Oceania houses, I came upon the remains of some construction debris that had been dumped onto the dunes and which I reported to one of our local Beach Rangers. Otherwise, a beautiful day on Mile 202.
Conditions
Temperature: 53 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: S. Tide Level: 3.7 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 8. Number of dogs: 2. Walking or running: 8. Other Activities: Light rain in the morning, hardly anyone on the beach..
Notable Wildlife
Two juvenile Pacific Golden-Plovers, a rare/uncommon migrant which can travel 8,000 miles from breeding grounds in the Arctic Tundra to winter in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The Pacific Golden-Plovers were hanging around 18 to 20 of the Western Snowy Plovers which winter on the southern portion of Mile 202. More Snowy Plovers and other plover species had been seen the day before by another observer but perhaps were moving around because of the unsettled weather.
Beached Birds
Total dead birds: 1. Partial remains of I believe a Common Murre, probably the most common bird species which washes ashore this time of year.
Driftline Content
Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Wood pieces. Some moon jellies and crystal jellies, and one unknown little mystery object, a kind of spongy, silly putty like thing, see attached photo.
Man-made Modifications
Houses on the beach side of Oceania Drive along the southern portion of Mile 202 are commonly invaded by blowing sand, and Bobcat front end loaders are permitted to dump encroaching clean sand back over the dunes. Today I came across areas of dumped sand that contained road gravel/rock and roofing material, see attached photos. This is not permitted.
Actions & Comments
I called our local Oregon Parks Beach Ranger to report the dumping of sand with road gravel/rock and roofing materials. I also emailed him photos and a GPS map location. Another Ranger promptly responded to me that what I had reported was construction debris cleared from around homes in the past, especially photodegraded roofing shingle, and that Rangers have been removing such debris for years and would continue to do so as patrol and staffing time allowed. So it's possible that the wind and shifting sand has recently uncovered old debris which hadn't been visible before.
Fishing the mouth of Alsea Bay
Juvenile Pacific Golden Plover and Western Snowy Plover
Juvenile Pacific Golden Plover and Western Snowy Plover
Juvenile Pacific Golden Plover
Pro-Short Term Rentals (No on 21-203) yard signs
Anti-Short Term Rentals (Yes on 21-203) yard signs
Dumping of gravel/rock and roofing material on dunes
Closeup of roofing material dumped onto dunes
Driftline mystery object
Bayshore Beach Howitzer
Report Images
Jon French
CoastWatcher
All Mile 202 Reports
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As I began yesterday's mile walk and monthly COASST beached bird survey, a light rain began to fall, the first in months.
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As I have done before, I combined today's walk with my monthly COASST survey for dead seabirds.
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The beach was fairly cool today after 99 degrees two days ago.
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