Quartzville Creek Area – State Wildlife Action Plan

The Quartzville Creek Area COA (82 mi²) extends from the BLM land near Crabtree Mountain eastward into the Cascades, toward Lucky Butte and South Pyramid Peak. The area includes a major tributary of the Middle Santiam River (Quartzville Creek) and is largely comprised of federally managed late-successional mixed conifer forest southwest of Mount Jefferson.

Recommended Conservation Actions

Improve and maintain forest health; use prescribed fire to enhance wildlife habitat.
Increase in-stream complexity for resident fish and amphibians.
Increase vegetated buffers on non-fishing bearing streams to protect water quality and micro-habitat for sensitive amphibians. Minimize road construction near these streams to reduce impacts on amphibians.
Protect and restore riparian and wetland habitat, protect and enhance amphibian breeding sites, replace culvert that impede amphibian passage, restore impacted riparian vegetation to reduce sedimentation and stabilize banks.
Maintain and protect instream flows.
Promote standing and down coarse wood in younger forest stands.
Protect wildlife habitat and water quality from recreational impacts including mining, OHV
De-commission unused roads to decrease sedimentation and improve wildlife movement potential.

Promote early detection and removal of invasive plants.

Retain and protect forest openings and meadows for wildlife habitat diversity.

Local Conservation Actions and Plans

Potential Partners

Special Features

General

A portion of Quartzville Creek that runs through this COA is designated as a Wild and Scenic River.
This COA is located adjacent to the Middle Santiam Wilderness Area.
The Quartzville Creek Basin provides significant percentage of breeding habitat for the harlequin duck. Harlequin ducks typically breed along mid-sized mountain streams with boulder substrate.
In 2022 there was a reintroduction of Chinook salmon above Green Peter Dam on Quartzville Creek.
Crabtree Lake and the surrounding valley are designated as an Outstanding Natural Area by the BLM. This area has a combination of remnant old-growth forest, wetlands, and unique geological features that support a diversity of fish and wildlife species. There have been many restoration efforts focused in this region, including Good Neighbor Authority agreements between the BLM and ODFW.
The Breitenbush and North Santiam River Watershed was selected as a Beaver Emphasis Area for ODFW’s South 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.

Protected Areas

Carolyn’s Crown-Shafer Creek Research Natural Area
Crabtree Lake Outstanding Natural Area
Middle Santiam Wilderness Area
Willamette National Forest

Previous COA Associations

Previously Associated with (2006 COA IDs)
- WC-05 (Quartzville Creek area)
Size Change from 2016 boundaries: +23.0 mi²(39% increase)

Specialized Local Habitats

Cliffs, / rock outcrops, Talus
Forest openings
Old growth forest
Unique rock formations (pinnacles)

Ecoregions

West Cascades

The West Cascades ecoregion extends from east of the Cascade Mountains summit to the foothills of the Willamette, Umpqua, and Rogue Valleys, and spans the entire length of the state of Oregon. It is largely dominated by conifer forests, moving into alpine parklands and dwarf shrubs at higher elevations.

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.