Executive Director Katie Voelke will be sharing the history of the land conservancy since it was established in 1986. This will be a celebration of 40 years of conservation on the Oregon Coast.
Voelke was raised in a home under oak trees where she spent many hours collecting bugs, making mud pies with her sister, and camping and hiking with her parents in the summers. She is certain that this lifelong exposure to the natural world led her on a path to study biology in school. She settled on Oregon’s North Coast with her husband in 2003 and spent time doing field work with the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife before she finally found her calling: working in land conservation with NCLC. In 2005, she started as NCLC’s first stewardship director, working with founding Executive Director Neal Maine. She became executive director in 2008.
Nature Matters, a lively conversation about the intersection of nature and culture, takes place on the fourth Thursday of each month from October through May. Nature Matters is hosted by Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in partnership with the North Coast Watershed Association, the Lewis & Clark National Park Association, and the Fort George Brewery + Public House.
Doors to the Lovell Showroom open at 6pm with food and beverages available via the Taproom window. All ages welcome and never a cover!
The Thursday Talk program is a recurring community lecture series every Thursday, October through May. Thank you to our 2025/2026 Partners –
1st Thursdays – Ales & Ideas w/ Clatsop Community College
2nd Thursdays – Wit & Wisdom w/ Philosofarian
3rd Thursdays – Thursday Night Talks w/ Clatsop County Historical Society
4th Thursdays – Nature Matters w/ Lewis & Clark National Parks, National Parks Service, and North Coast Watershed Association
WHERE: Fort George Brewery, 1483 Duane St. Astoria, Oregon 97103 Map
