Heceta Head – State Wildlife Action Plan

The Heceta Head COA (70 mi²) extends from Cummins Creek Wilderness down to Mercer Lake. It includes Heceta Head, which is a coastal headland with nearby Steller sea lion haul outs. This COA is adjacent to the Yachats River Area, North Fork Siuslaw River, and Sutton Lake Area COAs.

Recommended Conservation Actions

Preserve balds and buttes from encroachment of non-native vegetation.
Protect and promote late successional uneven aged forest habitat.
Protect silverspot butterfly habitat near Big Creek.
Reduce road density and access along streams, floodplains, wetlands, and ridges that are not artery mainline roadways.
Conduct surveys for rare forest mammals (e.g., martens, fishers).

Local Conservation Actions and Plans

Special Features

General

Eagle nesting sites
Marbled Murrelet nesting sites
Spotted Owl nesting sites
Stellar sea lion haulouts

Protected Areas

Carl G. Washburne Memorial State Park
Cummins Creek Wilderness
Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint
Muriel O. Ponsler Memorial State Scenic Viewpoint
Oregon Islands Wilderness
Rock Creek Wilderness
Siuslaw National Forest

Previously Associated With

Previously Associated with (2006 COAs)
- CR-23 (Siuslaw River area)

- CR-24 (Heceta Head)
- CR-25 (Sutton Lake area)

Size Change from 2016 boundaries: -0.4 mi² (1% decrease)

Specialized Local Habitats

Balds and buttes
Forest openings
Off-shore rocks
Rock habitats
Rocky shores and tidepools
Spring fed streams
Springs seeps and headwaters

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

Nearshore

The Nearshore ecoregion includes a variety of habitats ranging from submerged high-relief rocky reefs to broad expanses of intertidal mudflats in estuaries and hosts a vast array of fish, invertebrates, marine mammals, birds, plants, and micro-organisms. This ecoregion encompasses the area from the outer boundary of Oregon's Territorial Sea to the supra-tidal zone, and up into the estuaries.

Key Habitats

Coastal Dunes

Occurring along the Oregon coastline, coastal dunes provide habitat for species that prefer open, sandy habitats with a high degree of disturbance from winds and tides.

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, …

Nearshore Key Habitats

Nearshore Habitats encompass the coastal and marine habitats in the area from the 3 nautical mile outer limit of Oregon’s territorial sea, where water depths average 66 m (216 ft) and range from 17 m to 194 m (56 to 308 ft), to the supratidal areas of the shoreline affected by wave spray and overwash …