The verdant pastures around Nestucca Bay harbor six subspecies of geese including the world's small population of Semidi Islands Aleutian Cackling geese, a subspecies of the Aleutian Cackling Goose, and the only coastal wintering population of dusky Canada geese. The Aleutian Cackling goose was once endangered due to the introduction of arctic foxes by fur trappers to their nesting islands in Alaska. The geese had not evolved with the non-native foxes and thus knew no method of defense against these predators. Unsurprisingly, their populations were greatly decimated by this change in the ecosystem. As a result of fox removal and other management efforts, numbers have increased from a low of 800 birds in 1962 to 118,000 in 2006. The species was removed from the endangered species list in 2001.

Late October to early April marks an exciting time of year at Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This is the period when the geese can be seen feeding on the surrounding short grass pastures.

Wildlife and Habitats

In addition to managed pastures, other refuge habitats include wooded uplands, riparian wetlands, salt marsh, and open meadows. These habitats provide safe haven for waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, mammals, anadromous fish and amphibians.

The Neskowin Marsh unit of this refuge is the southernmost coastal sphagnum bog habitat on the Pacific Coast. It is a rare and outstanding ecosystem with exceptional biological value. In addition to bird and mammal species, the sphagnum bog is home to many unusual and beautiful plant species such as the carnivorous Sundew.

Visitor Opportunities

The refuge is currently closed to all public use, except during special events including an Open House in October and during the Pacific City Birding and Blues Festival in February.

The construction of an overlook at Cannery Hill will begin in 2008, opening public use to the refuge. The Cannery Hill Overlook Project will include the construction of two small parking lots and a paved, wheelchair -accessible trail that leads to an elevated viewing deck, the installation of a single vault restroom at one of the parking lots, and the resurfacing of the access road from Highway 101 up to the Overlook trail. The paved trail and viewing deck atop Cannery Hill will afford visitors a sweeping view of the Pacific Ocean, Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge (Haystack Rock at Pacific City), Nestucca Bay Refuge, the Coast Range, and the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway, also known as U.S. Highway 101.

Directions

Nestucca Bay Refuge is located south of Pacific City just off Highway 101.