SAND LAKE ESTUARY

Sand Lake estuary
Sand Lake

Sand Lake (Oregon Coastal Atlas)

The Sand Lake estuary is located on the Oregon coast at Sand Lake. The estuary is approximately 897 acres in area and has a watershed of approximately 17 square miles.

The Sand Lake estuary is designated as a Natural estuary under the Oregon Estuary Classification system. The geomorphology of the area is that of a Bar Built estuary.

The Sand Lake estuary is located in Tillamook County. Principle industries of the county are agriculture, lumber, fishing, and recreation. The county seat of Tillamook is home to Tillamook Bay Community College, and bordered by the Tillamook State Forest. The 1997 population of Tillamook County of 23,800 represented an increase of 10.3% since 1990. By 2006, it had grown to 25,530, an increase of 18.4% over 1990, and 5.2% since 2000.

Sand Lake is one of only two major estuaries in Oregon (the other is the Salmon River) that are designated as Natural. The absence of a large stream providing freshwater inflow means that this estuary is dominated by the marine environment. Most of the land is coastal marsh. The area hosts bald eagles and many wading and sea birds

The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries maintains a tsunami inundation map for the Sand Lake area.

Sources

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Habitat Map of the Sand Lake Estuary. Portland, OR: The Department. 1978.

Kreag, Rebecca A. Natural Resources of Sand Lake Estuary. Portland, Or. : Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. 1979.

Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries. Tsunami Hazard Map of Sand Lake Quadrangle, Tillamook County, Oregon. Portland, OR: The Department. 1995. Open File Report O-95-22.

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

Starr, Richard M. Natural Resources of Nestucca Estuary. Portland, OR: Research and Development Section, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. 1979.

Excerpts with permission from The Oregon Coastal Atlas, Compiled by Susan Gilmont, Staff, OSU Libraries (2007)

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