King Mountain Area – State Wildlife Action Plan

Photo is needed for this COA. — Submit photos to: OCS.Revision@ODFW.Oregon.gov

This area contains federal lands intermixed with private ownership in a checkerboard matrix. Habitat is diverse inlcuding mature conifer forests, open early seral habitat created by logging, and oak woodlands. The area may serve as a possible movement corridor connecting the introduced southern Cascade Pacific Fisher population to the native Northern California/Southern Oregon population.

Recommended Conservation Actions

Acquire instream water rights to augment streamflows downstream of areas with high coho rearing densities, including Grave Creek, Louse Creek, and West Fork Evans Creek, to produce more fish.
Conduct fuels treaments to improve fire resiliency.
Conduct remote camera surveys to examine the occupancy of Pacific Fisher and collect genetic samples. This area may serve as a bridge between the introduced Southern Cascade population, and the native Northern California Southern Oregon population.
Mimic historic disturbance regime with fire and mechanical treatments to restore Ceanothus Shrublands.
Reduce sediment in subbasins with excessive decomposed granite deposition.
Remove small diameter Douglas Fir encroaching on Oak Woodlands and Oak Savanah habitat.
Restore ambient streamflow, riparian vegetation, fish passage, and in-stream structure.

Local Conservation Actions and Plans

Conservation Plan for Fall Chinook in the Rogue Species Management Unit
Klamath Mountain Province Steelhead project summary
ODFW Coho Expert Panel Summary
Oregon Native Fish Status Report
Rogue Basin Cohesive Forest Restoration Strategy: A Collaborative Vision for Resilient Landscapes and Fire Adapted Communities v.1

Potential Partners

Bureau of Land Management
Oregon Department of Forestry
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
Southern Oregon Land Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy

Previously Associated With

2006 COA ID KM-06 (King Mountain area)

Protected Areas

Cow Creek
Golden Townsite State Heritage Site
King Mountain Rock Garden
Umpqua National Forest

Ecoregions

Klamath Mountains

The Klamath Mountains ecoregion covers much of southwestern Oregon, including the Klamath Mountains, Siskiyou Mountains, the interior valleys and foothills between these and the Cascade Range, and the Rogue and Umpqua river valleys. Several popular and scenic rivers run through the ecoregion, including the Umpqua, Rogue, Illinois, and Applegate rivers. Historically, this ecoregion is known …

Key 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 that were formed through geological processes, such as glacial scouring, tectonic movements, volcanic activity and river meander cutoffs. In Oregon, natural lakes are defined as standing water bodies larger than 20 acres, including some seasonal lakes. Depth is not a reference for characterization of …

Example of Oak Woodlands, which is a Strategy Habitat within the State Wildlife Action Plan

Oak Habitats

There are several oak habitat types in Oregon, where oaks comprise most of the canopy. These can include oak woodlands, oak forest, oak chaparral, and riparian oak. Oak savanna is covered in the Grasslands Key Habitat. Oaks may also co-dominate a canopy in oak/fir, oak pine, and oak hardwood habitats.

Ponderosa Pine Woodlands

Ponderosa pine woodlands are common in Oregon’s eastside ecoregions. While dominated by ponderosa pine, these woodlands 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. Known for their open forest structure, these woodlands generally have fewer …

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.