Bradley Bog, on the southeastern fringe of Sand Lake estuary in Tillamook County, hosts one of Oregon’s best remaining examples of a young pine forest with a densely mixed vegetated coastal wetland. Plants growing here include the northernmost population of insectivorous darlingtonia, or California pitcher plants. On Oct. 31, The Nature Conservancy’s Oregon office transferred ownership of Bradley Bog to North Coast Land Conservancy, making it part of what is now a 215-acre habitat reserve owned and managed by NCLC.
Many of the plants in Bradley Bog are species that are diminishing across their natural range. The 48-acre property is dominated by sphagnum moss and such conifers as shore pine and western redcedar mixed with coastal shrubs including wax myrtle and cascara. Bradley Bog is contiguous with the 167-acre Sand Lake Habitat Reserve, which NCLC acquired in May; the two properties are linked by Sand Creek, a salmon-bearing stream. Together with adjacent wetlands and uplands managed by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and Department of State Lands, Sand Lake is now considered the best-conserved estuary in the state.
The Bradley Bog acquisition is part of a 947-acre transfer of fee title properties and conservation easements, from The Nature Conservancy to North Coast Land Conservancy, completed on October 31. The Nature Conservancy in Oregon and NCLC have a long history of collaboration within the NCLC service area. These transfers ensure the protection of these ecologically rich areas while also allowing TNC to advance additional conservation priorities around the state.
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