Dunes Landmark Dedication

Story by Julie Clark, Park Ranger

Northern California conservation leaders celebrated decades of partnership and restoration work, when a swath of coastal dune habitat was officially recognized as California’s newest National Natural Landmark in a ceremony held Thursday, May 18, at a scenic site on the North Coast.

Jennifer Wheeler, assistant field manager for the Arcata Field Office points out plant diversity on a hike through the Ma-le'l Dunes Cooperative Management Area.

Leaders from the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the California Conservation Corps and the Wiyot Tribe lauded the importance of the Lanphere and Ma-le’l Dunes Complex for its natural and cultural significance before unveiling a plaque naming the site as “an illustration of the nation’s natural heritage.”

Partners in managing the Ma-le'l Dunes Cooperative Management Area unveil a plaque identifying the site as a National Natural Landmark. From left are Cashell Villa, Fish and Wildlife Service; Heather Eggleston, NPS National Natural Landscape Program; Laurette Lee Jenkins, National Natural Landscape Program; Collin Ewing, BLM Arcata Field Office manager.

The National Park Service’s National Natural Landscape Program proposed the designation with support from the BLM and Fish and Wildlife Service, which jointly manage the 1,000-acre dunes complex near the community of Arcata. The official Secretarial designation, signed in 2021, noted that the Lanphere and Ma-le’l Dunes is, “…one of the most diverse and high-quality examples of rare coastal dune habitat in the Pacific Northwest…that affords the public an inspiring view of a natural coastal ecosystem that was once common and is now nearly lost.”

Jennifer Wheeler, assistant field manager for the Arcata Field Office points out plant diversity on a hike through the Ma-le'l Dunes Cooperative Management Area.

It is California’s 37th National Natural Landmark, and one of 602 such sites across the nation. It joins other more well-known places such as Diamond Head, the Okefoneokke Swamp and the La Brea Tar Pits. All National Natural Landmarks are recognized for their condition, illustrative character, rarity, diversity and value to science and education.

The BLM collaborates with the Wiyot Tribe, Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria, Blue Lake Tribe, Cal Poly Humboldt, Friends of the Dunes, the California Conservation Corps, and other local community groups managing and conserving the dunes complex.

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