The Unique Landscape of Washington’s Pacific Coast
The Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition is one of fourteen Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups (RFEGs) in Washington State.
As independent nonprofits, the RFEGs are community-driven.
We know the rivers in our regions intimately, and we know our communities.
The unique landscape of PCSC
PCSC includes the western portion of the Olympic Peninsula north of the Chehalis River drainage and south of Cape Flattery. This region covers parts of three counties: Clallam, Jefferson, and Grays Harbor.
There are several significant rivers in this region: the Quillayute River Complex, which includes the Sol Duc, Calawah, Dickey and Bogachiel Rivers; the Hoh River, the Queets River and the Quinault River.
These rivers are glacially fed and have short, but steep drops to ocean. High levels of precipitation characterize the region and streams with cold water, high average flows, and relatively long duration peak flows during the raining seasons, including a second peak later in the year from snow melt.
Much of this area is within the Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest, the Washington State Experimental Forest, or one of several Native American reservations. The majority of the land base in the river drainage is in timber production. The remaining land base is primarily a mixture of National Park and Native American Reservation.
