Walla Walla Headwaters – State Wildlife Action Plan

Walla Walla River headwaters area — Photo Credit: Keith Kohl, 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 COA is mainly located within the Blue Mountains ecoregion of Umatilla, Union, and Wallowa Counties, but enters into a small section of the Columbia Plateau ecoregion along its northwest corner. Characterized by extensive mixed conifer forest, this rugged landscape also contains important native perennial grasslands, abundant springs, and abuts the North Fork Umatilla Wilderness and the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness. Grassland and shrubland habitat acting as natural fire breaks have been reduced since 2015 through continued lack of forest thinning and low intensity wildfires. Extreme flooding in 2020 drastically altered the existing stream channels and redistributed instream large wood.

Recommended Conservation Actions

Maintain or enhance in-channel watershed function, connection to riparian habitat, flow and hydrology
Maintain or restore Aspen, Ponderosa Pine, and grassland habitats
Maintain or restore riparian habitat and ecological function; provide habitat complexity for fish and wildlife
Promote early detection and removal of invasive plants

Local Conservation Actions and Plans

Potential Partners

Oregon Department of State Lands
US Forest Service
Bureau of Land Management
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Trout Unlimited
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR)
Walla Walla Watershed Council
Washington Department of Ecology

Special Features

General

Abundant Springs
Provides connectivity between the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness and the North Fork Umatilla Wilderness
Provides spawning habitat for Chinook Salmon and Steelhead

Previously Associated With

2006 COA ID BM-17 (Umatilla - Walla Walla area)
2006 COA ID CP-09 (Walla Walla River)

Protected Areas

Forest
Jubilee Lake National Recreation Trail
Mill Creek Watershed Roadless Area
North Fork Umatilla Wilderness
South Fork Walla Walla River
Umatilla
Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness

Specialized Local Habitats

Spring-fed Streams
Springs
Western Larch

Ecoregions

Blue Mountains

Located in NE Oregon, the Blue Mountains ecoregion is the largest ecoregion in the state. It provides a diverse complex of mountain ranges, valleys, and plateaus that extend beyond Oregon into the states of Idaho and Washington.

Columbia Plateau

The Columbia Plateau ecoregion was shaped by cataclysmic floods and large deposits of wind-borne silt and sand earlier in its geological history. It is dominated by a rolling landscape of arid lowlands dissected by several important rivers, and extends from the eastern slopes of the Cascades Mountains, south and east from the Columbia River to the Blue Mountains.

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 …

Ponderosa Pine Woodlands

Ponderosa pine woodlands are common in Oregon’s eastside ecoregions. While dominated by ponderosa pine, these woodlands may also have lodgepole pine, western juniper, aspen, western larch, grand fir, Douglas-fir, mountain mahogany, incense cedar, sugar pine, or white fir, depending on ecoregion and site conditions. Known for their open forest structure, these woodlands generally have fewer …

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.