Lower Rogue River and Estuary – State Wildlife Action Plan

a wide river flows through a forested landscape on an overcast day. — The Lower Rogue River flows through southwestern Oregon. Photo Credit: Curtis Edwards, ODFW

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.

This are contains the mouth of the Rogue River and is important habitat for salmonids accessing the rest of the system. It has mature upland forests with a productive hardwood understory that supports a diverse assemblage of wildlife species.

Recommended Conservation Actions

Conduct remote camera surveys to examine occupancy and collect genetic samples from Humboldt Marten and Pacific Fisher.

Local Conservation Actions and Plans

Potential Partners

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Wild Rivers Land Trust
USDI Bureau of Land Management
U.S. Forest Service

Previously Associated With

2006 COA ID CR-38 (Cape Blanco area)
2006 COA ID CR-39 (Rogue River Estuary)
2006 COA ID KM-03 (Rogue area)

Protected Areas

Geisel Monument State Heritage Site
Gold Beach 4-H Area
Lower Rogue River
Oregon Islands Wilderness
Otter Point State Recreation Site
Rogue River
Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

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

Klamath Mountains

The Klamath Mountains ecoregion covers much of southwestern Oregon, including the Klamath Mountains, Siskiyou Mountains, the interior valleys and foothills between these and the Cascade Range, and the Rogue and Umpqua river valleys. Several popular and scenic rivers run through the ecoregion, including the Umpqua, Rogue, Illinois, and Applegate rivers. Historically, this ecoregion is known …

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.

Estuaries

Estuaries are broadly defined as partially enclosed coastal bodies of tidally influenced water with one or more inputs of freshwater, and with a free or intermittent connection to the open sea. Estuaries typically occur at locations where freshwater from rivers, streams, or creeks meets saltwater from the nearshore ocean, creating a tidal basin that experiences frequent …

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 …

Species of Greatest Conservation Need

American Goshawk, © Ben Meredyk/iNaturalist, some rights reserved (CC-BY)

American Goshawk (Modelled)

Astur atricapillus

Black Oystercatcher (Modelled)

Haematopus bachmani

California Brown Pelican (Modelled)

Pelecanus occidentalis californicus

California Mountain Kingsnake (Modelled)

Lampropeltis zonata

California Myotis (Modelled)

Myotis californicus

Cassin’s Auklet (Modelled)

Ptychoramphus aleuticus

Chipping Sparrow (Modelled)

Spizella passerina

Clouded Salamander (Modelled)

Aneides ferreus

Coastal Cutthroat Trout (Modelled)

Oncorhynchus clarki clarki

Coastal Tailed Frog (Modelled)

Ascaphus truei

Common Nighthawk (Modelled)

Chordeiles minor

Del Norte Salamander (Modelled)

Plethodon elongatus

Flammulated Owl (Modelled)

Psiloscops flammeolus

Foothill Yellow-legged Frog (Modelled)

Rana boylii

Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel (Modelled)

Hydrobates furcatus

Fringed Myotis (Modelled)

Myotis thysanodes

Golden Eagle (Modelled)

Aquila chrysaetos

Harlequin Duck (Modelled)

Histrionicus histrionicus

Hoary Bat (Modelled)

Lasiurus cinereus

Leach’s Storm-Petrel (Modelled)

Hydrobates leucorhous

Leatherback sea turtle (Modelled)

Dermochelys coriacea

Lewis’s Woodpecker (Modelled)

Melanerpes lewis

Little Brown Myotis (Modelled)

Myotis lucifugus

Long-legged Myotis (Modelled)

Myotis volans

Marbled Murrelet (Modelled)

Brachyramphus marmoratus

Northern Red-legged Frog (Modelled)

Rana aurora

Northern Spotted Owl (Modelled)

Strix occidentalis caurina

Northwestern Pond Turtle (Modelled)

Actinemys marmorata

Olive-sided Flycatcher (Modelled)

Contopus cooperi

Pacific Fisher (Modelled)

Pekania pennanti

Pacific Lamprey (Modelled)

Entosphenus tridentatus

Pacific Marten (Modelled)

Martes caurina

Pallid Bat (Modelled)

Antrozous pallidus

Red-necked Grebe (Holboell) (Modelled)

Podiceps grisegena holbollii

Red Tree Vole (Modelled)

Arborimus longicaudus

Rhinoceros Auklet (Modelled)

Cerorhinca monocerata

Ringtail (Modelled)

Bassariscus astutus

Rock Sandpiper (Modelled)

Calidris ptilocnemis tschuktschorum

Short-eared Owl (Modelled)

Asio flammeus flammeus

Silver-haired Bat (Modelled)

Lasionycteris noctivagans

Snowy Egret (Modelled)

Egretta thula brewsteri

Southern Torrent Salamander (Modelled)

Rhyacotriton variegatus

Townsend’s Big-eared Bat (Modelled)

Corynorhinus townsendii

Tufted Puffin (Modelled)

Fratercula cirrhata

Western Bluebird (Modelled)

Sialia mexicana occidentalis

Western Burrowing Owl (Modelled)

Athene cunicularia hypugaea

Western Grebe (Modelled)

Aechmophorus occidentalis

Western Long-eared Myotis (Modelled)

Myotis evotis

Western Meadowlark (Modelled)

Sturnella neglecta

Western Purple Martin (Modelled)

Progne subis arboricola

Western Rattlesnake (Modelled)

Crotalus oreganus oreganus

Western Snowy Plover (Modelled)

Anarhynchus nivosus nivosus

Western Toad (Modelled)

Anaxyrus boreas

White-breasted Nuthatch (Pacific) (Modelled)

Sitta carolinensis aculeata

Willet (Modelled)

Tringa semipalmata inornata

Willow Flycatcher (Modelled)

Empidonax traillii

Wrentit (Modelled)

Chamaea fasciata

Yuma Myotis (Modelled)

Myotis yumanensis

American Avocet (Observed)

Recurvirostra americana

American Goshawk (Observed)

Astur atricapillus

Black Oystercatcher (Observed)

Haematopus bachmani

Black Swift (Observed)

Cypseloides niger borealis

Bobolink (Observed)

Dolichonyx oryzivorus

Brewer’s Sparrow (Observed)

Spizella breweri breweri

California Brown Pelican (Observed)

Pelecanus occidentalis californicus

California Mountain Kingsnake (Observed)

Lampropeltis zonata

Caspian Tern (Observed)

Hydroprogne caspia

Cassin’s Auklet (Observed)