Paul Engelmeyer

After moving to Eugene, Oregon from the mid-west in the 70’s Paul Engelmeyer worked with the Hoedads Co-operative and others contracting with the US Forest Service throughout Region 6, (Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana).  A diversity of work included, cone collection, tree planting, stream surveys, and four years with the Oregon State University Wildlife Research Unit as tree climber, photographer in the upper canopy of coastal old growth forests on the Marbled Murrelet research team.

In the late ‘80’s early ‘90s, Engelmeyer and local activists were working to protect the forests in the Coast Range - mapping forest habitat and pushing for protection of our coastal forest for salmon and other species dependent on old growth habitat. As a result of a 1990 land acquisition of 116 acres by National Audubon Society he became the manager of the Ten Mile Creek Sanctuary.  The parcel is located between Cummins and Rock Creek Wildernesses surrounded by the Siuslaw National Forest lands. 

The Ten Mile Creek Conservation Program includes education, land stewardship, acquisition and advocacy.  In the early ‘90s Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the local community and the Siuslaw National Forest developed a partnership that grew into a basin-wide protection and restoration program which eventually led to a national award in 2005.

In 1995, Engelmeyer helped form the MidCoast Watersheds Council.  The MCWC works with the local basin planning teams, federal and state partners, the timber and agricultural interests to protect and restore over 1 million acres in five different watersheds in the Coast Range Bioregion.  As a result of his efforts to protect salmon populations he was appointed to the Pacific Fisheries Management Council’s Salmon Advisory Subpanel and Habitat Committee and worked with the Council on regional salmon management and habitat issues for over six years. 

He is the Coastal Important Bird Area Coordinator for the Audubon Society of Portland and is the statewide conservation representative on the Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC).  One of the key issues facing this advisory body is to develop a system of marine reserves in Oregon’s state waters that protect marine biodiversity.  He and local activists submitted a proposal to the OPAC for the Heceta Perpetua Marine Reserve which, at present is under ‘evaluation and analysis’ for future designation by the state. He also does environmental consulting for a number of organizations such as the Native Fish Society and The Wetlands Conservancy.

Paul Engelmeyer
Audubon Society of Portland/Ten Mile Creek Sanctuary
PO Box 496, Yachats, OR 97498
541-547-4227 

pengelmeyer@peak.org