Forest Park – State Wildlife Action Plan

Mushrooms in Forest Park — Photo Credit: Jon Roberts, WikiMedia Commons

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 Forest Park COA (80.5 mi²) is located in the Tualatin Mountains and extends from the edge of downtown Portland northward to Dixie Mountain and Snooseville Corner in the Coast Range. This area contains one of the largest urban parks in the county (Forest Park), as well as some highly residential neighborhoods in Portland’s west hills. It also extends into conifer forestlands with a matrix of public and private ownership. This COA is adjacent to the Sauvie Island – Scappoose and Lower Willamette River Floodplain COAs.

Recommended Conservation Actions

Remove fish and wildlife movement barriers by improving passage through roads, culverts and fences.
Foster forest succession to old growth, especially within Forest Park.
Improve stream buffer vegetation and increase width of stream buffer.
Increase stream channel complexity and fish habitats.
Maintain and expand existing Oregon white oak habitat.
Manage for future habitat complexity.
Manage public access and recreation to protect fish and wildlife.
Protect and improve headwater streams and riparian habitat
Protect and improve water quality.
Remove invasive plants, in particular English ivy.

Local Conservation Actions and Plans

Potential Partners

Special Features

General

Forest Park in one of the largest forested urban park in the United States (5,200 acres). This park provides great recreational opportunities for the public, and also provides important habitats for local wildlife. It contains many seasonal and perennial streams which drain into the Willamette River, many of which are fish-bearing streams. The park is blanketed by lowland coniferous forest – there are many restoration efforts by partners to remove invasive plants and restore ecosystem function throughout this urban forest.
This COA contains headwater streams for both the Willamette River and Tualatin Rivers.
This COA provides an important wildlife movement corridor for wildlife, connecting the Coast Range and Willamette River.
Metro owns many small parcels in the upper reaches of McCarthy Creek, preserving important habitat for fish and wildlife species interspersed throughout a matrix of small private properties.
The presence and accessibility of this COA so close to a highly urban population center provides plentiful opportunity for public engagement and education.

Protected Areas

Bethany and Springville Meadows Park
Cedar Mill Oark
Council Crest City Park
Duniway City Park
Forest Heights City Park
Forest Park
Governor’s Park
Jordan Park
Kaiser Woods Park
Lost Park
Marquam Nature Park
Mitchell Park
Multnomah Channel County Park
NE Neighborhood Park
Oregon Zoo
Portland Heights City Park
Roger Tilbury Memorial Park
Terwilliger Boulevard Parkway

Previous COA Associations

Size Change from 2016 boundaries: -6.2 mi²(7% decrease)

Specialized Local Habitats

Old-growth Douglas fir

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.

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.