Oneatta Point
Easement
Size:
Acquired:
Location:
How it was Protected:
The Yaquina Estuary is full of life — from the many birds that visit on their yearly migrations to fish like salmon, herring, and many others. These easements at Oneatta Point help to support the local ecosystem through conserving their forested nature and ensuring late successional forests for future generations, and also add to a growing mosaic of conserved properties surrounding the estuary.
Meet Oneatta Point
About the Area
Nestled within the coastal forests of the Yaquina River watershed, this property is rich with layers of life and time. Its landscape is shaped by stands of coastal conifer forest in various stages of growth—mainly Shore pine, Sitka spruce, Western hemlock, Douglas fir, cedar, and red alder. Some trees here are believed to be more than a century old, their roots tying together generations of forest renewal. Several small, unnamed streams weave through the forest before flowing north into Parker Slough, where the land connects with other protected areas. Today, the forest is being managed toward late-successional conditions, supporting complex, mature habitat that provides food, shelter, and resilience for wildlife.
Why It’s Important
This land is part of the Yaquina River system, which flows 58 miles from its headwaters in the Coast Range to the Pacific Ocean at Newport. Downstream, the Yaquina estuary—a tidal blend of fresh and saltwater—forms one of the region’s most productive ecosystems. Shaped by powerful tides, Yaquina Bay supports thousands of waterfowl and shorebirds each year and is nationally recognized as an Important Bird Area. By maintaining healthy forest cover and clean, cool feeder streams, this property helps sustain the ecological integrity of the estuary and the communities of species that depend on it.
Who Lives Here
From the quiet movements of cougars and black bears to the steady presence of Sitka spruce and the glint of rough-skinned newts in shaded pools, this forest hums with life. Seasonal rains bring forth a carpet of mushrooms and summer gives way to thickets of thimble and elderberry. Historically, this land is part of the ancestral homelands of the Yaqo’n people, who have cared for and lived in the Yaquina Bay region since time immemorial.
