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Wetlands

Alsea Bay

The Alsea Bay estuary is located on the Oregon coast at Waldport. The estuary is approximately 2516 acres in area and has a watershed of approximately 474 square miles.

The Alsea Bay estuary is designated as a Conservation estuary under the Oregon Estuary Classification system. The geomorphology of the area is that of a Drowned River Mouth estuary.

Alsea Bay

Alsea Bay (Oregon Coastal Atlas)

The Alsea Bay estuary is located in Lincoln County. Principal industries of the county are lumber, fishing, agriculture and tourism. The county seat of Newport is home to Oregon State Universitys Hatfield Marine Science Center, the Oregon Coast Aquarium and a busy commercial fishing fleet. By 2006, Lincoln County had grown to 44,500 representing an increase of 12.7% over 1990, but less than 1% since 2000.

The Department of Oregon Geology and Mineral Industries maintains a tsunami inundation map for Alsea Bay. As the area is low lying, the city of Waldport has a detailed emergency plan.

Sources

Department of Oregon Geology and Mineral Industries. Tsunami Hazard Map of the Waldport Quadrangle, Lincoln County, Oregon. Portland, OR: The Department. Open File Report O-95-31. 1995.

Oregon Ocean-Coastal Management Program. Learn About Alsea Bay Estuary in Oregon's Coastal Atlas. Salem, OR: Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development. 2000.

Stembridge, James. Recent Shoreline Changes of the Alsea Sandspit, Lincoln County, Oregon. OreBin 37 (5) (1975): 77-82.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Siuslaw National Forest and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Lower Alsea River Watershed Analysis. 1999.

Excerpts with permission from The Oregon Coastal Atlas, Compiled by Janet Webster, Head Librarian, Guin Library (2007)