Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area preserves a forty-mile stretch of the Oregon coast within Siuslaw National Forest, home to North America’s largest coastal sand dunes and one of the world’s largest temperate coastal dune systems. Formed over thousands of years by river-borne sand, tides, waves, and seasonal winds, the landscape includes open dunes, wetlands, forests, and lakes. Federal protection came in 1972 after years of political effort. The area has long balanced recreation with conservation, including reduced vehicle access, restoration of habitat for the western snowy plover, and work to reverse invasive plantings that altered native dune movement and vegetation.