Although primarily forested and showing little “urban footprint”, the Yaquina watershed 
has been impacted by a variety of disturbances during the last century, in particular fires and 
logging. The largest fire occurred in 1853 when the “Yaquina Bum” consumed 1942 km 2 of 
coastal forest from near Corvallis to Yaquina Estuary. Logging of the coast range began in the 
mid-1800’s and extensive logging of Sitka spruce occurred along the coast during World War I, 
much of it centered near Toledo 
( www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/narratives/subtopic.cfm7subtopic ID=76 ). Logging has 
continued within the Yaquina watershed to the present, and forest lands are the dominant land 
use within the watershed, accounting for 566 km (90%) of the land zoning area in the Yaquina 
Basin (area = 639 km 2 ; Garono and Brophy, 2001). While the intensity of logging varies with 
economic trends and the age and marketability of the standing timber, it is not uncommon to see 
patches of clear cut forest within the Yaquina watershed. 
In addition to the direct effects of logging on erosion and water quality, rafting of logs 
can potentially affect freshwater and estuarine habitats by physical disturbance, altering flow 
regimes, and accumulation of wood and bark debris which in turn can smother the benthos and 
result in low dissolved oxygen and/or elevated FLS (Sedell et al., 1991). During the early 1900s 
until the 1980s, the estuaries and streams of the PNW were used for the transport and storage of 
logs (Sedell and Duval, 1985). Logs have been rafted in the Yaquina since at least 1920, with a 
substantial increase after the construction of the Georgia Pacific West mill in 1957 in Toledo 
(Figure 2.6). Peak abundance of rafted logs occurred in 1962, and log rafts declined through the 
early 1980s with the increase in environmental regulation and changes in markets (Figure 2.6); 
Sedell and Duval, 1985). In addition to the bark debris, accumulation of sawdust has also been 
observed in the estuary (Kulm and Byme, 1966). 
In addition to log rafting, three other sources of biological oxygen demand (BOD) in the 
Yaquina Estuary are sewage from municipal discharges, industrial discharges, and non-point 
inputs, in particular from septic systems. As was common for the period, untreated sewage and 
industrial waste from Toledo and the Newport bay front were discharged directly into the 
Yaquina Estuary in the 19 th century and the first half of the 20 th century. Sufficient untreated 
sewage and other wastes were discharged that they represented a potential health hazard for the 
oysters grown in the bay in the first quarter of the 20 century (Fasten, 1931). 
' i- 
15 
