Mt Hood Area – State Wildlife Action Plan

Geographic boundaries of the COAs were updated for the 2026 State Wildlife Action Plan and the associated COA profiles are intended to provide additional information. Content of each COA profile is being refined and will be updated to reflect current conditions when feasible. Please help us by submitting information on Local Conservation Actions, Plans, or Potential Partners to: OCS.revision@odfw.oregon.gov.

The Mt Hood Area COA (143 mi²) is located within Mount Hood National Forest and includes the headwater streams of Hood, Clackamas, Sandy and White Rivers. The area is a late successional mixed conifer forest with wetlands, open meadows, alpine lakes, flowing rivers and riparian habitats. This COA is adjacent to the Hood River COA.

Recommended Conservation Actions

De-commission unused roads.
Improve and maintain forest health; use prescribed fire and silviculture to attain desired future condition.
Create quality rearing habitats for salmonids, improve in-stream habitat complexity.
Increase vegetated buffers on non-fishing bearing streams to protect water quality and micro-habitat for sensitive amphibians. Minimize road construction near these streams to reduce impacts on amphibians.
Manage caves and old mines for bat conservation.
Manage grazing and recreational uses to protect fish and wildlife habitat and protect water quality.
Protect and expand Ponderosa pine habitat.
Protect and improve headwater stream habitats.
Protect and restore riparian and wetland habitat, expand riparian reserve boundaries, protect and enhance amphibian breeding sites, replace culvert that impede amphibian passage.
Protect, enhance, and create grasslands and forest openings for wildlife habitat diversity.
Reduce inputs of herbicides, fertilizers and other chemicals.
Explore improved wildlife passage across major highways.
Work with partners to develop a forward-looking plan to address disturbance from human recreation on sensitive species.

Local Conservation Actions and Plans

Potential Partners

Special Features

General

This COA is adjacent to multiple designated wilderness areas: Mount Hood Wilderness, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, Roaring River Wilderness, and Badger Creek Wilderness.
This area includes several rivers designated as Wild and Scenic, including the Middle Fork Hood River, East Fork Hood River, Fifteen Mile Creek, White River, and Salmon River.
Includes Bonney Butte, an important funnel for migratory raptors which has been a Hawk Watch international monitoring station since 1994.
Includes glacial fed streams and alpine meadow habitats.
This area supports only known remaining breeding population of Oregon Spotted Frog on the Mount Hood National Forest. It supports multiple additional rare amphibian species as well, including the Cascade Torrent Salamander.

There are three major ski resorts within this COA with contracts through the Forest Service to operate on national forest land (Mt Hood Meadows, Mt Hood Skibowl, and Timberline Lodge). These ski resorts greatly increase and concentrate recreation around Mt Hood, with both downhill and cross country skiing in the winter and hiking / mountain biking opportunities in the summer. The ski resorts also provide highly desirable early successional habitat for deer and elk populations on their summer range.
Given the critical nature of this habitat both for wildlife and for human-use, it is particularly vulnerable to threats from wildfire.

Protected Areas

Badger Creek Wilderness Area
Fifteen Mile Creek Wild and Scenic River
Hood River, East Fork Wild and Scenic River
Mount Hood National Forest
Mount Hood Wilderness Area
Roaring River Wilderness Area
Salmon River Wild and Scenic River
Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness Area
White River Wild and Scenic River

Previous COA Associations

Previously Associated with (2006 COA IDs)
- WC-03 (Mt. Hood area)
Size Change from 2016 boundaries: -137 mi²(49% decrease)

Specialized Local Habitats

Alpine Habitats: Meadows
Caves and Old Mines
Forest Openings
Headwater Streams

Ecoregions

East Cascades

The East Cascade ecoregion extends from the Cascade Mountains' summit east to the warmer, drier high desert and down the length of the state. This ecoregion varies dramatically from its cool, moist border with the West Cascades ecoregion to its dry eastern border, where it meets sagebrush desert landscapes.

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.

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 …

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.