Central Cascades Crest, West – State Wildlife Action Plan

Central Cascades Crest, West area — Photo Credit: USFS

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 Central Cascades Crest, West COA (345 mi²) extends down the westside of the Cascade crest from Sentinel Creek down to Skookum Creek and Battle Peak. The area is partially bounded by the North Santiam River to the north, the McKenzie River to the west, the Middle Fork Willamette to the south, and the Mt Jefferson and Three Sisters Wilderness Areas to the east. This area encompasses significant high-quality fish and wildlife habitat adjacent to wilderness areas.

Recommended Conservation Actions

Initiate and continue wet meadow conservation and restoration efforts.
Maintain and enhance in-channel watershed function, connection to riparian habitat, flow and hydrology.
Maintain and restore riparian habitat and ecological function; ensure sufficient complexity for wildlife.
Improve and maintain forest health; use prescribed fire and thinning to enhance wildlife habitat. Restore overgrown meadow habitats using these methods.

Maintain and restore existing habitat and ecological function, ensuring sufficient habitat complexity for wildlife.

Maintain and protect existing whitebark pine habitat.
De-commission unused roads to decrease sedimentation and improve wildlife movement potential.
Protect and restore riparian and wetland habitat, headwater streams, protect and enhance amphibian breeding sites, replace culvert that impede amphibian passage.

Local Conservation Actions and Plans

Potential Partners

Special Features

General

This COA is adjacent to 4 designated wilderness areas (Mt Jefferson, Mt Washington, Three Sisters, and Waldo Lake Wilderness Areas), providing important connective habitat between these conservation areas.
The Breitenbush and North Santiam River Watershed was selected as a Beaver Emphasis Area for ODFW’s South Willamette Watershed in 2023. ODFW and partner groups have been conducted beaver surveys within the watershed since then to better understand beaver prevalence in the area.
This area contains whitebark pine habitat within the Cascades. Whitebark pine was listed as a federally threatened species by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2022.
This area has been the focus of meadow restoration efforts in recent years.
A portion of the McKenzie River that runs through this COA is designated as a Wild and Scenic River.

Protected Areas

Clear Lake Park
Deschutes National Forest
Three Sisters Wilderness Area
Waldo Lake Wilderness Area
Marion Lake Scenic Area
Mount Jefferson Wilderness
Mount Washington Wilderness
Olallie Ridge Research Natural Area
Willamette National Forest

Previous COA Associations

Previously Associated with (2006 COA IDs)
- WC-08 (Central Cascades Crest)
Size Change from 2016 boundaries: -9.0 mi²(3% decrease)

Specialized Local Habitats

Alpine habitats
Balds and bluffs
Forest openings
Rock habitats
Spring fed streams

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.

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.

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.