Property

A Living History

For centuries, the central Oregon coast was blanketed with towering Sitka spruce forests.  By the mid 19th century, these rich, diverse ecosystems were cleared by colonists, then decimated by the demand for strong, lightweight wood for WWI aircraft, then intensively harvested and replanted in commercial timber during modern times.  Most of the natural places that had thrived for millennia rapidly disappeared.

Yakona is working to restore native forest habitat on Yaquina Bay. In July of 2013, our founders began buying land parcels in the area, working to piece together one of the few remaining areas of its kind on the Oregon coast. To date we’ve acquired over 450 acres of a large peninsula on Yaquina Bay which is home to Roosevelt elk, black bear, cougar, Bald Eagles and more. In seeking to return the land to native habitat, the founders have planted nearly 10,000 native trees and shrubs, including 7,000 Sitka spruce.