Bandon State Natural Area, April 10

The Oregon State Parks and Recreation Commission approved an exchange proposal affecting a portion of the Bandon State Natural Area in Coos County at its April 9, 2014 meeting in Bend. Under the exchange, 280 inland acres of the 878 acre property would be traded to Bandon Biota for a future golf course. The state park system would gain 111 acres of adjacent oceanfront property, 97 acres of wetland property on the Coquille Spit north of Bandon, $300,000 in cash to control gorse (an invasive plant) on state park property, $450,000 to satisfy match for a federal grant to acquire 11 acres at Whale Cove on the coast on Lincoln County, and $2.5 million to purchase an as-yet unidentified major new state park property.