Overview

The Oregon State Wildlife Action Plan is a blueprint for conservation in Oregon.

The Oregon State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) is an overarching state plan for conserving fish and wildlife. It provides a shared set of priorities for addressing Oregon’s conservation needs. The SWAP brings together the best available scientific information, and presents a menu of recommended voluntary actions and tools for all Oregonians to define their own conservation role.

The goals of the SWAP are to maintain healthy fish and wildlife populations, prevent declines of at-risk species, and reverse declines in these resources where possible.

SWAP COMPONENTS

  • Key Conservation Issues are landscape/seascape-scale threats that impact species and habitats throughout the entire state.
  • Ecoregions are delineated areas of the state with similar climate and vegetation. General characteristics, limiting factors, and recommended conservation actions are described for each of the nine ecoregions in Oregon.
  • Conservation Opportunity Areas are places where broad fish and wildlife conservation goals would best be met. They help focus conservation efforts and financial investments in specific areas to increase the likelihood of long-term success over larger scales.
  • Key Habitats are native habitats of conservation concern that are essential to many Species of Greatest Conservation Need within the state. A conservation overview and lists of limiting factors, recommended conservation actions, and available resources are provided for each of the 12 Key Habitats.
  • Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) are species that are at-risk due to factors describing their rarity, population trends, and threats. SGCN include wildlife, fish, invertebrates, plants, and algae. Information about special needs, limiting factors, data gaps, conservation actions, and available resources is provided for each of the SGCN.
  • Monitoring includes strategies and guidance for monitoring and data management, as well as resources for community science, to benefit SGCN and Key Habitats statewide.
  • Conservation Toolbox provides information and resources for all Oregonians on how to engage in conservation action as individuals. The Toolbox also identifies goals for agencies and other organizations to use outreach and education to support and encourage individual Oregonians to take conservation action.

Scope of the 2026 Update

New science, tools, resources, and data were used to update all sections of the SWAP during the 10-year comprehensive revision. Particular focus was paid to priority sections of the SWAP that were identified by external partners, the public, and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) programs. These focal areas consisted of: Species of Greatest Conservation Need, Key Habitats, Key Conservation Issues, the Conservation Toolbox, and Conservation Opportunity Areas. Key updates include:

  • The Species of Greatest Conservation Need list was updated using current science and research, including a full assessment of the status of all sensitive, at-risk, or declining species or other species of concern.
  • Key Habitat mapping was greatly improved using new technologies, and information for each habitat was updated. The five habitat types in the Nearshore ecoregion are now presented collectively as Nearshore Habitats.
  • Key Conservation Issues (KCIs) were revised with updated information. A new KCI, Pollution, was added to reflect its growing impact on ecosystems.
  • Conservation Opportunity Areas were updated and refined using current data on SGCN, Key Habitats, and Key Conservation Issues.

Integration Of The Oregon Nearshore Strategy

Oregon’s 2026 SWAP includes both inland and nearshore habitats and species within a single State Wildlife Action Plan. In the 2006 and 2016 iterations, the ODFW developed a discrete section of the SWAP to address nearshore resource issues – the Oregon Nearshore Strategy (ONS). For this second 10-year revision, ODFW adopted an integrated and comprehensive approach to bring together all land and seascape components. The collaborative process has strengthened the SWAP and provided the opportunity for participants with diverse backgrounds to build relationships while sharing their respective visions, values, and concerns for all of Oregon’s ecoregions. Cooperation between ODFW and its partners and the public is essential to the vision guiding the SWAP for the nearshore:

Oregon’s nearshore marine resources are thriving in a healthy, functioning ecosystem due to cooperative efforts and support by current and future generations of Oregonians.

ODFW’s Marine Resources Program has undertaken the effort to revise nearshore components, working collaboratively and in complement with ODFW’s SWAP team, to identify a collective set of voluntary conservation actions and policy priorities that can guide strategic investment of time and funding in a manner consistent with public interest. The SWAP is intended to facilitate action on priority nearshore issues and areas that are not specifically addressed by existing processes. The SWAP highlights issues that transcend the authority of a single management entity or existing regulatory authority. It suggests how to augment the conservation and sustainability of nearshore resources, so that when opportunity arises, collaborations can quickly mobilize to implement these broad strategies.

It is understandable that those who have been using the ONS may need some guidance and a clear crosswalk to locate where familiar content resides within the integrated SWAP. Much of the original ONS material has been incorporated into or linked in most Key Conservation Issues, the Nearshore ecoregion, the Estuaries Key Habitat, and in the Nearshore Key Habitat pages. These documents serve as the primary hub for related information. The following sections include additional information on Nearshore-related topics:

Direct Threats Classification System

In the Ecoregions and Key Conservation Issues sections of Oregon’s 2026 SWAP, there are references to the Conservation Measures Partnership Direct Threats Classification System v2.0 (CMP Direct Threats). At a national scale, states have been encouraged to use a shared lexicon in the revision of their SWAPs, particularly when referencing threats and other key terminology. The intent of this standardization is to enhance collaboration across state lines and facilitate the use of SWAPs in obtaining funds for conservation of Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) through collaborative grant funding structures such as the Competitive State Wildlife Grants administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Additionally, shared language will support partners working on conservation that crosses state boundaries in aligning goals and priorities between states.

To meet this intent and facilitate communication, existing terminology within Oregon’s SWAP was cross walked to the CMP Direct Threats Classification System v2.0. Some Key Conservation Issues (like Invasive Species) map directly to CMP Direct Threats, while others (like Barriers to Animal Movement) are complex and incorporate consideration of multiple threat types. The CMP Direct Threats were originally released in conjunction with the IUCN as v1.0 in 2007 and were updated as v2.0 in 2016.

Recommended Citation

Oregon’s State Wildlife Action Plan. 2026. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Salem, Oregon.