Hayden Island-Government Island – State Wildlife Action Plan

Government Island (center) Photo Credit: Port of Portland

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 Hayden Island-Government Island COA (5 mi²) includes portions of multiple Columbia River islands to the north of Portland just outside city limits. The COA includes islands located between river miles 111 and 119: the western section of Hayden Island, Government Island, Tri Club Island, Lemon Island and McGuire Island. These large riverine islands are located very close to the confluence of two major rivers – the Columbia and Willamette.

Recommended Conservation Actions

Improve grassland habitats for grassland associated species.
Improve habitats for amphibians and turtles.
Protect and enhance existing wetlands and riparian habitats.
Protect existing shoreline and shallow water habitats.
Protect habitat values from recreational uses.
Provide off-channel refugia for migrating and rearing fish.
Protect and advance oak woodlands habitat.
Manage public use and recreation to minimize disturbance to sensitive species.

Local Conservation Actions and Plans

Potential Partners

Special Features

General

This area is designated by Metro as a Regionally Significant Habitat Conservation Area.
This COA contain important stop-over and overwintering habitat for waterfowl and shorebirds. The islands also provide important habitat heterogeneity and movement corridor for threatened salmonids.
The islands represented in this COA provide a variety of large mosaics of multiple priority habitats, including mature cottonwood galleries, grasslands, shoreline, shallow water habitats, and more.
The Jewett Lake Mitigation Site (427 acres) represents an effort to restore wetland, riparian, and upland grassland habitats on Government Island. This project, run by the Port of Portland, serves as a mitigation site for other habitat impacts in the area.
West Hayden Island continues to have sand and dredge spoils deposited by the Army Corps of Engineers, to maintain shipping channels. This human-made sand dune habitat can also provide valuable habitat for native species.
The Columbia River Estuary Task Force restored a ~300-acre floodplain on Government Island, improving channel connections to interior wetland and removing remnant infrastructure from the channel. This is critical off-channel habitat for salmonids during migration.
These islands are located just outside city limits of the largest urban center in Oregon (City of Portland). Because of this, they experience very high recreational usage by boaters on the Columbia River.

Protected Areas

Government Island State Recreation Area

Previous COA Associations

Size Change from 2016 boundaries: No change

Specialized Local Habitats

Aquatic vegetation beds
Grassland habitat
Large riverine islands at / near the confluence with Willamette River
Mature cottonwood gallery forest
Off-channel habitat
Sand spits, sand bars and sparsely vegetated islands
Shoreline and shallow water habitat

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.