Zeph Schafer and Corinna Jackson-Schafer don’t live on the Oregon North Coast, but they have a special connection to the area. Growing up in Portland, where the couple still resides, they have many memories of visiting places like Ecola State Park and Oswald West State Park to camp, surf and hike.
“In general, we like the Oregon outdoors,” Zeph says.
They first became acquainted with North Coast Land Conservancy after hearing Oregon Public Broadcasting’s segment about NCLC’s transfer of 18.6 acres of land near the Necanicum Estuary back to the Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribe. They checked out NCLC’s website and were further intrigued by the proposed Rainforest Reserve campaign.
“Private land acquisition by organizations like NCLC was a conservation method in particular that we wanted to support,” Zeph says. As donors, they have confidence their investment is going toward acquiring carefully selected land and managing it in a sustainable way. “It feels like your donation has a very direct impact.”
Protecting the environment has long been a priority to Zeph. Both he and Corinna were raised within family cultures that embraced conservation.
“On a personal level, the existence of wild land of all types—forests, grasslands—feels important to me, whether I get to visit or not,” Zeph says, adding he believes human survival depends on functional ecosystems and a stable climate.
He looks forward to volunteering his time with NCLC once the COVID-19 pandemic no longer limits traveling and social gathering. Some of his interests involve computer programming, web development and data analytics, which he does professionally, as well as birding and wild plant identification.
“There’s something fun about finding new species, whether it’s a plant or a bird; it’s a feeling of discovery,” he says.
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