Upper Willamette River Floodplain – Oregon Conservation Strategy

This area includes the Willamette River floodplain from South of Springfield in the Dexter/Lowell area north to Albany.

COA ID: 061

Recommended Conservation Actions

Breach, lower, and remove dikes and levees to improve connectivity.
Ensure sufficient habitat complexity for wildlife
Improve water quality by identifying sources of and reducing sedimentation and by implementing stormwater management plans for urban areas and roads.
Maintain and enhance off-channel habitat, wetlands, ponds, and associated uplands to support northwestern pond and western painted turtle habitat
Maintain or enhance in-channel watershed function, connection to riparian habitat, flow and hydrology
Maintain or enhance oak savanna and grassland habitats and their connection to adjacent habitats
Maintain or restore riparian habitat and ecological function; ensure sufficient habitat complexity for wildlife
Maintain or restore riparian habitats and ecological function including river and floodplain interactions
Promote early detection and supresssion of invasive species
Protect remaining high-quality off-channel from degradation and improve habitat complexity.
Restore or create off-channel habitat and/or access to off-channel habitat.
Restore or enhance wetlands
Restore wetland, wet prairie, and riparian forest habitats.

Local Conservation Actions and Plans

Special Features

General

A large and diverse area of floodplain, river confluences, gravel bars, islands, bottomland hardwood forest, wetlands, wet prairies, sloughs, Oregon white oak, and conifer forest
Floodplain wetlands provide valuable habitat for large numbers of wintering waterfowl
High restoration opportunity potential
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department owns and manages significant portions of the floodplain as part of its Willamette Greenway network of properties.
Reproducing populations of red-legged frog northwestern pond turtle and western painted turtle
The section from the McKenzie River north to the Calapooia River has the greatest potential to return natural river functions along the mainstem Willamette. This extensive reach supports the greatest aquatic biodiversity, with actively moving channels and extensive floodplain and forests. This reach has the largest acreage of hydric soils that could be potentially restored to high quality wetland and riparian habitats. It also holds significant value for numerous rare and endangered species including nesting bald eagles, northwestern pond turtles, and red-legged frogs, and provides important seasonal habitat for salmon and steelhead. Ninety percent of the remaining rearing habitat for native spring chinook salmon is found between the McKenzie River confluence and Harrisburg.
There are ongoing large-scale habitat restoration and protection efforts for river floodplain, wetland, riparian, and associated upland habitats by Greenbelt Land Trust, McKenzie River trust and partners, including private landowners (Little Willamette 199ac; Horseshoe Lake 236ac; Harkens Lake 389ac; Green Island 1055ac).
Very important area for migratory birds and fish (especially salmonids)

Previously Associated With

2006 COA ID WC-07 (Middle Fork Willamette River)
2006 COA ID WV-03 (Willamette River Floodplain)

Protected Areas

Alton Baker
Anderson Park
Beacon Landing Willamette River Greenway
Blue Ruin Island Willamette River Greenway
Blue Ruin Landing Willamette River Greenway
Bowers Rock State Park
Brown's Landing Willamette River Greenway
Buckskin Mary Landing Willamette River Greenway
Christensen's Boat Ramp Willamette River Greenway
Clearwater Landing
Delta Ponds
Dexter Reservoir
Dexter State Recreation Site
Dorris Ranch
East Alton Baker
East Bank
Eastgate Woodlands/Alton Baker Park
Elijah Bristow State Park
Fall Creek Park
Fall Creek Reservoir
Franklin
Georgia-Pacific Property
Glass Bar Access Willamette River Greenway
Gravel Bar Landing Willamette River Greenway
Green Island Landing Willamette River Greenway
Half Moon Bend Landing Willamette River Greenway
Half Moon Bend Upstream Willamette River Greenway
Halsey Willamette River Greenway
Harkens Lake North Landing Willamette River Greenway
Harkens Lake South Landing Willamette River Greenway
Hileman Park
Hoacum Island Landing Willamette River Greenway
Hyak County Park
Irish Bend County Park
Island Park
Jasper Bridge Access Willamette River Greenway
Jasper State Recreation Site
Kiger Island Landing Willamette River Greenway
Log Jam Access Willamette River Greenway
Log Jam Landing Willamette River Greenway
Lookout Point Lake
Lowell Covered Bridge
Lowell State Recreation Site
Marshall Island Access Willamette River Greenway
Marshall Island Landing
Maurie Jacobs
McCartney Park
Millrace Park
Mount Pisgah Park
Owen Rose Garden
Pengra Access Willamette River Greenway
Peoria Park
Pisgah Landing Willamette River Greenway
Prefontaine Memorial
Rasor
River House
River Jetty Landing Willamette River Greenway
River Road
Riverside Landing Willamette River Greenway
Roger's Bend Landing Willamette River Greenway
Sam Daws Landing Willamette River Greenway
Scandia Landing Willamette River Greenway
Seavy Landing Willamette River Greenway
Skinner Butte Park

Ecoregions

West Cascades

The West Cascades ecoregion extends from east of the Cascade Mountains summit to the foothills of the Willamette, Umpqua, and Rogue Valleys, and spans the entire length of the state of Oregon. It is largely dominated by conifer forests, moving into alpine parklands and dwarf shrubs at higher elevations.

Willamette Valley

The Willamette Valley ecoregion is bounded on the west by the Coast Range and on the east by the Cascade Range. This long mostly level alluvial plain has some scattered areas of low basalt, and contrasts with productive farmland and large urban areas. It has the fastest-growing human population in the state resulting in challenges due to land-use changes.

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.

Oak Woodlands

Oak woodlands are characterized by an open canopy dominated by Oregon white oak.

Flowing Water and Riparian Habitats

Flowing Water and Riparian Habitats include all naturally occurring flowing freshwater streams and rivers throughout Oregon as well as the adjacent riparian habitat.

Ducks on a wetland in Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area, Oregon

Wetlands

Wetlands are covered with water during all or part of the year. Permanently wet habitats include backwater sloughs, oxbow lakes, and marshes, while seasonally wet habitats include seasonal ponds, vernal pools, and wet prairies.

Specialized Local Habitats

Aquatic Vegetation Beds
Balds and Bluffs
Forest Openings
Off-Channel Habitat
Spring-fed streams
Springs, Seeps, and Headwaters

Strategy Species

Acorn Woodpecker (Observed)

Melanerpes formicivorus

Bradshaw’s Desert Parsley (Observed)

Lomatium bradshawii

Bull Trout (Documented)

Salvelinus confluentus

California Myotis (Observed)

Myotis californicus

Cascade Torrent Salamander (Modeled Habitat)

Rhyacotriton cascadae

Chipping Sparrow (Observed)

Spizella passerina

Clouded Salamander (Modeled Habitat)

Aneides ferreus

Coastal Cutthroat Trout (Documented)

Oncorhynchus clarki clarki

Coastal Tailed Frog (Modeled Habitat)

Ascaphus truei

Common Nighthawk (Observed)

Chordeiles minor

Foothill Yellow-legged Frog (Observed)

Rana boylii

Fringed Myotis (Observed)

Myotis thysanodes

Grasshopper Sparrow (Observed)

Ammodramus savannarum perpallidus

Great Gray Owl (Modeled Habitat)

Strix nebulosa

Harlequin Duck (Modeled Habitat)

Histrionicus histrionicus

Hoary Bat (Observed)

Lasiurus cinereus

Lewis’s Woodpecker (Observed)

Melanerpes lewis

Long-legged Myotis (Modeled Habitat)

Myotis volans

Northern Red-legged Frog (Observed)

Rana aurora

Northern Spotted Owl (Observed)

Strix occidentalis caurina

Olive-sided Flycatcher (Observed)

Contopus cooperi

Oregon Chub (Documented)

Oregonichthys crameri

Oregon Slender Salamander (Modeled Habitat)

Batrachoseps wrighti

Oregon Vesper Sparrow (Observed)

Pooecetes gramineus affinis

Purple Martin (Observed)

Progne subis arboricola

Red Tree Vole (Modeled Habitat)

Arborimus longicaudus

Short-eared Owl (Observed)

Asio flammeus flammeus

Silver-haired Bat (Observed)

Lasionycteris noctivagans

Southern Torrent Salamander (Modeled Habitat)

Rhyacotriton variegatus

Townsend’s Big-eared Bat (Observed)

Corynorhinus townsendii

Western Bluebird (Observed)

Sialia mexicana

Western Gray Squirrel (Observed)

Sciurus griseus

Western Meadowlark (Observed)

Sturnella neglecta

Western Painted Turtle (Observed)

Chrysemys picta bellii

Northwestern Pond Turtle (Observed)

Actinemys marmorata

Wayside Aster (Observed)

Eucephalus vialis

Western Rattlesnake (Modeled Habitat)

Crotalus oreganus

Western Ridged Mussel (Observed)

Gonidea angulata

Western Toad (Modeled Habitat)

Anaxyrus boreas

White-breasted Nuthatch (Observed)

Sitta carolinensis aculeata

Willow Flycatcher (Observed)

Empidonax traillii

Yellow-breasted Chat (Observed)

Icteria virens auricollis

Strategy Spotlight: Willamette River Confluences

Confluences, the point where two or more river systems come together, are ecologically vital areas, especially along the Willamette River. Over the past two centuries, the Willamette River has been transformed from complex and dynamic system, to a much more simplified and largely channelized river. Throughout the Willamette Basin, there has been widespread loss of floodplain and off-channel habitat due to human encroachment onto the floodplain, physical barriers (such as rip-rap and revetments), loss of side channels, and changes in flow regimes that eliminate floodplain-inundating flows. These changes have significantly harmed Oregon’s native species, resulting in state and federal listings of several plant and wildlife species associated with the river and its floodplain.

Protection and restoration of channel complexity, riparian habitat and floodplain forest have been identified as critical conservation needs in the Willamette Ecoregion by multiple plans and programs, including the Upper Willamette River Conservation and Recovery Plan for Chinook Salmon and Steelhead, Oregon Conservation Strategy, Willamette Subbasin Plan, and Willamette River Floodplain Restoration Study Draft Integrated Feasibility Report/Environmental Assessment.

A partnership between three grant-making organizations – Meyer Memorial Trust, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB), and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) – has been instrumental in addressing the complex issues facing the Willamette River floodplain. These funders work together to support one another’s objectives, while simultaneously pursuing their own mainstem agendas.

Photo Credit: © RaptorViews Philip Bayles. Spring 2014, before construction. Three deep, steep-sided, warm water former gravel extraction pits (ponds) disconnected from the Middle Fork Willamette River.

Photo Credit: © RaptorViews Philip Bayles. September 2014, after grading, contouring and sloping banks, connection to the Middle Fork Willamette River and installation of habitat structures was finished.

Significant support from this partnership has enabled non-profits, watershed councils, and soil and water conservation districts to increase the extent and pace of protection and restoration efforts along the Willamette River. Other significant partners working in this area include private landowners, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon State Parks, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In 2010, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), with significant help from BPA and OWEB acquired the 1,271-acre Willamette Confluence Preserve. Historically, the property was used for a floodplain gravel mining operation, with extraction actively occurring from the 1950s through the 1980s. As a result, the floodplain became disconnected from the river by levees designed to protect the gravel pits. Although portions of the property were significantly altered, an intact floodplain forest remained, which is a limiting feature throughout most of the low-gradient portions of the Willamette Basin.

In 2014, TNC, with funding from the NOAA Restoration Center, OWEB (includes funding from the Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund), Meyer Memorial Trust, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, and others completed an extensive restoration project to increase the amount and quality of floodplain and off-channel habitat and improve water quality. The project reconnects the Willamette River to its floodplain, creates new river channels and increases and improves shoreline habitats. A major goal of this work is to restore natural floodplain and in-channel habitat forming processes to provide critical juvenile rearing and adult holding habitat for native fish, including Chinook salmon.