Lower Deschutes River – Oregon Conservation Strategy

Follows the Lower Deschutes River Corridor and includes surrounding habitat.

COA ID: 148

Recommended Conservation Actions

Maintain or enhance in-channel watershed function, connection to riparian habitat, flow and hydrology
Promote early detection and suppression of weeds
Restore and enhance remnant Oak Woodland habitats
Restore and maintain complex, continuous sagebrush and grassland habitats
Restore and maintain riparian habitats
Utilize grazing prescriptions to increase vegetative vigour

Local Conservation Actions and Plans

Lower Deschutes Weed Control Project, an ongoing project with SWCD, NRCS, ODFW, BLM, OPRD, Sherman City Weed Department, and conservation organizations to control invasive weeds in the lower 40 miles of the Deschutes

Potential Partners

Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Land Management
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
US Forest Service

Special Features

General

Excellent steelhead and trout fisheries
Lower Deschutes Wild and Scenic River corridor
Provides important winter range for big game, bighorn sheep, and many sensitive wildlife species.

Previously Associated With

2006 COA ID BM-01 (Deschutes River area)
2006 COA ID CP-02 (White River area)
2006 COA ID CP-03 (Lower Deschutes River)

Protected Areas

Columbia River Gorge
Deschutes River State Recreation Area
Lower Deschutes River
Lower Deschutes Wildlife Area
Warm Springs Reservation
White River
White River Falls State Park

Ecoregions

Blue Mountains

Located in NE Oregon, the Blue Mountains ecoregion is the largest ecoregion in the state. It provides a diverse complex of mountain ranges, valleys, and plateaus that extend beyond Oregon into the states of Idaho and Washington.

Columbia Plateau

The Columbia Plateau ecoregion was shaped by cataclysmic floods and large deposits of wind-borne silt and sand earlier in its geological history. It is dominated by a rolling landscape of arid lowlands dissected by several important rivers, and extends from the eastern slopes of the Cascades Mountains, south and east from the Columbia River to the Blue Mountains.

Strategy Habitats

Grasslands

Grasslands include a variety of upland grass-dominated habitats, such as upland prairies, coastal bluffs, and montane grasslands.

Late Successional Mixed Conifer Forests

Late successional mixed conifer forests provide a multi-layered tree canopy, including large-diameter trees, shade-tolerant tree species in the understory, and a high volume of dead wood, such as snags and logs.

Natural Lakes

Natural lakes are relatively large bodies of freshwater surrounded by land. For the purposes of the Conservation Strategy, natural lakes are defined as standing water bodies larger than 20 acres, including some seasonal lakes.

Ponderosa Pine Woodlands

Ponderosa pine woodlands are dominated by ponderosa pine, but may also have lodgepole pine, western juniper, aspen, western larch, grand fir, Douglas-fir, mountain mahogany, incense cedar, sugar pine, or white fir, depending on ecoregion and site conditions. Their understories are variable combinations of shrubs, herbaceous plants, and grasses.