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Oakland Bay and Hammersley Inlet are located in Mason County, Washington. Together they form a long backwards hook that extends westward from Puget Sound. The city of Shelton is located at the elbow of the hook.
Oakland Bay is one of the most important commercial shellfish areas in the country, producing over three million pounds of manila clams a year. It is also an important harvest area for the Squaxin Tribe.
Oakland Bay and Hammersley Inlet are typical of the narrow, shallow embayments that characterize South Puget Sound. While highly productive areas for shellfish and salmonids, low flushing rates also make these areas very sensitive to human impacts. For over one hundred years Oakland Bay’s protected waters have made it an ideal port for the City of Shelton, which has based its economy upon the lumber and pulp mills that dominate the waterfront. The City of Shelton operates a domestic wastewater treatment plant that discharges treated sewage near the “elbow” that joins Hammersley Inlet and Oakland Bay.
Land use is primarily commercial forest, with a much smaller percentage dedicated to residential development and agriculture. Shorelines of both the marine area and the lakes in the watershed are heavily developed. Agricultural lands are dominated by small hobby farms.
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