Gales Creek – State Wildlife Action Plan

Photo is needed for this COA. — Submit photos to: OCS.Revision@ODFW.Oregon.gov

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 Gales Creek COA (58 mi²) extends from the edge of Forest Grove west into the Tillamook State Forest, toward Larch Mountain and the crest of the Cascade Range. The area is a late successional mixed deciduous and conifer forest with wetlands, flowing water and riparian habitats in the Gales Creek watershed. This COA is adjacent to the Nehalem and Salmonberry River Headwaters, Tillamook Bay and Tributaries, and Tualatin River COAs.

Recommended Conservation Actions

Work with industrial forest managers to ensure that timber harvest does not impede restoration of other portions of the forest (e.g., reducing landslide potential at recent clearcuts).

Remove fish and wildlife passage barriers.
Maintain and enhance in-channel watershed functions, connection to riparian habitat, water flow and hydrology for steelhead and other fish species.
Maintain and restore existing habitat and ecological function, ensuring sufficient habitat complexity for wildlife – especially beavers.

Conduct outreach and education with private landowners focused around beaver coexistence, particularly in the lower elevation agricultural lands.

Work with partners to minimize habitat loss, especially of intact oak habitat.

Local Conservation Actions and Plans

Potential Partners

Special Features

General

In 2022 the Balm Grove dam was removed from Gales Creek. This dam blocked passage for many native fish species (salmonids, mountain whitefish, and the Pacific lamprey for example). This dam removal was a partnership between many local conservation organizations.
The Gales Creek Watershed was selected as a Beaver Emphasis Area for ODFW’s North 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, and to work with local landowners on beaver coexistence issues.

Previous COA Associations

Size Change from 2016 boundaries: +12 mi²(26% increase)

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.