North Pacific Coast Lead Entity

The North Pacific Coast Lead Entity is comprised of Watershed Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 20. The area encompasses 935,250 acres that drain into the Pacific Ocean and more than 80 miles of coastline from Cape Flattery south to the Steamboat Creek drainage of the Hoh River basin.  The largest drainage is the centrally located Quillayute River watershed with its four major sub-basins: the Dickey, Calawah, Bogachiel, and Sol Duc rivers.  The north end is dominated by the extensive stream basin of Lake Ozette and the independent drainages of the Tsoo-yess and Wa’atch rivers.

The area can experience more than 240 inches of rainfall a year. Forests dominate the region, with the lower elevations of the river systems mostly in privately or government-owned commercial forestry. Three tribes own reservation lands with an extensive overlay of indigenous usual and accustomed hunting and fishing areas covering each watershed. The relatively small remainder of land is in diverse rural residential, recreational, and agricultural use. There are several small urban centers with the city of Forks as the largest.