Deer Island – 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 Deer Island COA (11 mi²) covers the entirety of Deer Island, which is located from river mile 78-81 along the Lower Columbia River. The island contains important riparian and shoreline habitat for many strategy species. Land ownership is a mix of small private parcels and preserved land owned by the Columbia Land Trust. Deer Island provides important habitat for a number of critical species, including Columbia white-tailed deer, migratory birds, coho salmon, and many others.

Recommended Conservation Actions

Explore opportunities to modify livestock grazing and other agricultural practices to restore fish and wildlife habitats.
Identify and address point sources of water pollution and improve water quality.
Protect and improve aquatic and upland habitats for turtles and amphibians.
Protect and restore wetland (perennial and seasonal) and riparian habitats.
Provide habitat for over-wintering, migratory and breeding waterfowl.
Remove fish and wildlife movement barriers.
Restore and improve connectivity between tidally-influenced side channel habitats and wetlands to improve conditions for salmonids.
Restore and maintain habitat and ecological function for sensitive species, including Columbian white-tailed deer.

Local Conservation Actions and Plans

Potential Partners

Special Features

General

This area has some of the only populations of the federally threatened Columbian white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus leucurus) in Oregon. This subspecies occurs in small numbers along the Columbia River, utilizing fragmented pockets of lowland and floodplain habitat. Due to the small and isolated nature of the population, this species is extremely vulnerable to population declines from disease, climate change, and continued habitat loss.
The islands along the Lower Columbia River provide critical habitat for a variety of bird species, including migrating and overwintering shorebirds and waterfowl.

Protected Areas

Wetlands Reserve Program

Previous COA Associations

Previously Associated with (2006 COA IDs)
- WV-01 (Columbia River Bottomlands)
Size Change from 2016 boundaries: -5.1 mi²(32% decrease)

Specialized Local Habitats

Bottomland hardwood forests
Off-channel habitat
Tidally influenced wetlands
Wet prairie and marshes

Ecoregions

Coast Range

Oregon's Coast Range, known for its dramatic scenery, is extremely diverse, with habitats ranging from open sandy dunes to lush forests and from tidepools to headwater streams. It follows the coastline and extends east through coastal forest to the border of the Willamette Valley and Klamath Mountains ecoregions

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.

Key Habitats

Grasslands

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

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.