New Ore. beach rules would bar feeding wildlife

The rules would prohibit feeding wildlife to protect animals from food that's bad for them or makes them dependent, and from hazards such as getting hit while begging for food in parking lots, the Daily Astorian reported.

Barbara Linnett, a volunteer for the Wildlife Center of the North Coast, said the rules would help educate people about the dangers that feeding poses to wild animals such as birds.

"How would people know?" she asked. "Most don't know. They think they're doing the right thing."

Cannon Beach City Council member Melissa Cadwallader said a similar local ordinance was proposed last year but ran into heavy opposition. It was designed to keep wildlife waste from washing into storm drains and onto the beach, she said.

The paper said the department has held public hearings about the rules covering 362 miles of shoreline in Oregon and is accepting comment until Monday. The department says it's the first overhaul of the rules since the 1990s. The commission overseeing the agency is expected to consider them rules in April.

Other proposals would:

• Allow a park manager or a peace officer to exclude a rule breaker from an area and given those penalized a route for appeals.
• Prohibit glass products on the beach.
• Prohibit drivers from harming the beach environment or creating a hazard to humans or wildlife.
• Require all-terrain vehicle drivers to have operator's permits and to have a red or orange flag at least 9 feet tall on the vehicles.
• Allow the removal of a small quantity of agates, driftwood and similar non-living items for souvenirs.
• Prohibit the picking or damaging live vegetation, and prohibit hunting, collecting, trapping, harassing or damaging of any wildlife, their habitats, tidal pools or eggs.
• Restrict access to western snowy plover nesting areas between March 15 and Sept. 15.

Violators could face a fine of up to $720.

Information from: The Daily Astorian