Elliott State Forest – State Wildlife Action Plan

Photo of the Elliot State Forest. Photo Credit: Mike Gray

The Elliott State Forest COA (71 mi²) is located inland from the town of Lakeside, bounded by the Umpqua River to the north. This COA includes nearly the entire West Fork Millicoma River drainage, plus streams flowing into the Tenmile Lakes, Umpqua River, and Mill Creek. This COA is adjacent to the Tenmile Lake and Umpqua River Estuary COAs.

Recommended Conservation Actions

Maintain and enhance in-channel watershed function, connection to riparian habitat, flow and hydrology.
Maintain and restore riparian habitat and ecological function; ensure sufficient habitat complexity for wildlife.
Maintain and restore existing habitat and ecological function, ensuring sufficient habitat complexity for wildlife, especially early seral habitat.
Protect water quality and stream function for sensitive fish populations (coho salmon).
Reduce nutrients and sediment inputs into lakes downstream, to decelerate eutrophication of lake arms and harmful algae blooms.

Local Conservation Actions and Plans

Potential Partners

Special Features

General

This COA includes a significant stretch of the West Fork Millicoma River.
Within the Elliott State Forest, the complexities of multi-species management goals within the development of the Habitat Conservation Plan have slowed forest management activities. As such, timber stands are becoming predominantly mid- to late-seral, with little early seral forest remaining. Wildlife species dependent on mosaic habitat that includes early seral are currently lacking habitat within this COA.
This is an important area for climate change resiliency.

Protected Areas

Elliot State Forest

Previously Associated With

Previously Associated with (2006 COAs)
- CR-32 (Elliott State Forest)
Size Change from 2016 boundaries: +14 mi² (24.6% increase)

Specialized Local Habitats

Forest openings
Off channel habitat

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

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.

Ducks on a wetland in Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area, Oregon

Wetlands

Wetlands are habitats that are inundated or saturated by surface water or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support vegetation typically adapted for life in sodden soil conditions. While dominated by periods of inundation, the natural ecological cycle may also include dry intervals. Permanently wet habitats include backwater sloughs, oxbow lakes, peatlands, …