Lake Earl

A navigable body of water, it lies partly within Tolowa Dunes State Park and partly within Lake Earl Wildlife Area in Del Norte County, California and the third-most important seabird area on the West Coast after the Farallons and the Channel Islands.

To permit the breaching, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers consulted with United States Fish and Wildlife Service to determine the effects of water movement on several species.

Species affected included the California brown pelican, Western snowy plover, bald eagle, Oregon silverspot butterfly, and tidewater goby.

[citation needed] There is a native legend or metaphor of the Great Snake that abides in the lagoon and escapes to the ocean periodically.

[10] The Achulet Massacre took place at a Tolowa village near Lake Earl in 1854[11] as did feuds between cattlemen and loggers, and eventually between government and private property advocates.

The breaching of the lake's sandbar is vital to the functioning of sewers and wells, and for the management of runoff from storms and seasonal rains.