ALSEA WATERSHED

MidCoast Watersheds - Alsea
Alsea

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Landscape

The highest point in Oregon's coast range, Marys Peak, lies at the top of the Alsea Watershed. From the old-growth noble fir forest atop this 4,000 ft. mountain, water winds down through a landscape that is over 90% forested.

The river also rises in several forks in northwestern Lane County, approximately 15 miles northwest of Eugene. It flows generally WNW in a winding course through the mountains of southern Benton and Lincoln counties, past Alsea and Tidewater, passing through the Siuslaw National Forest. It enters the Pacific at Alsea Bay, a wide estuary at Waldport.

The Alsea River drains 466 square miles and contains about 950 miles of stream. The basin covers an area of approximately 470 square miles (299,704 acres). The mainstream of the river is 43.5 miles long. The estuary at high tide is approximately 2,146 acres. The River is bounded by the Yaquina to the north and the Siuslaw to the south.

Major tributaries include the North and South Forks of the Alsea River, Fall Creek, the Five Rivers system, including Lobster Creek and Drift Creek.

History

Prior to white contact, the Waldport area was home to the Alsi (Alsea) Indians. The bay and river got its name from the Indian word Alsi, which means peace. During the winter, extended families lived in large plank houses located around the lower Alsea estuary. From these small villages, they traveled to campsites between Seal Rock and Tenmile during the year to fish, hunt and collect shellfish and plants in season.

Alsea Bay Bridge

Alsea Bay Bridge (Travel Guide To Oregon)

The first white settlers floated down the Alsea River, bringing all their food and building supplies by canoe and homemade boats to Waldport.

Salmon fishing was a major part of early Waldport history. Native villages in 1888 shared the bay with salmon canneries. The fishing nets were made by hand and repaired with the wood needle. In 1937, 137,304 pounds of Chinook salmon were netted. Commercial fishing was closed in 1957, leaving the salmon for sport fishing.

Today

Percentages of land cover in the Alsea Watershed includes:

  • Forest 93
  • Range 2
  • Agriculture 2
  • Urban 1
  • Other 2

Land ownership is as follows:

  • U.S. Forest Service 37
  • Private 36
  • Bureau of Land Management 27
  • State less than 1

The largest community in the Alsea Watershed is Waldport, which experienced a nearly 14% increase in population from 1990 to 1998.

Salmon species found in the Alsea Watershed include coho, chum, fall chinook, and spring chinook salmon, winter steelhead, and sea-run cutthroat trout.

During the 1990s the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) conducted surveys of returning native coho for coastal streams. ODFW random fish surveys for the Alsea during the years 1990 to 1999 counted, on average, 1,733 spawning coho each year. In 1998, the watershed saw its lowest coho return for the decade, counting only 213 wild fish. It is estimated that between 59,000 and 66,000 coho spawned historically in the Alsea Watershed.

To learn more about the Alsea 4th field watershed, visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Surf Your Watershed website.

Sources

Coast Range Association.

Port of Alsea.

Compiled by John Ame, Science Writer (2007)

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