Willamette Valley Conservation Study Explorer

Welcome to the Willamette Valley Conservation Study Viewer
The Willamette Valley Conservation Study is a collaborative project involving local stakeholders that identified Priority Conservation Areas - areas of the valley that contain remnant populations of native wildlife in decline and the habitat elements they require, that if restored and conserved, could help these species to recover.

Click on a Priority Conservation Area to see more details...

For more information about the Willamette Valley Conservation Study, visit the study home page or view the final report.


Made possible with support from the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative and in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Use of this image and link does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Artwork credit: John Ivie, courtesy of Friends of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge

  • Overview
  • Indicators
  • Vegetation
  • Partners

Counties: 
TNC Conservation Opportunity Areas:
    ODFW Conservation Opportunity Areas:
      • Species & Habitats
      • Development
      The values below show the percentage of the selected priority conservation area (PCA) that is covered by each target habitat (i.e. grasslands). The maximum and minimum values on the charts are the highest and lowest target habitat coverage of any PCA across the Willamette Valley study area (i.e. 0-65%). The purple circles show the percent coverage of each target habitat in the specific PCA selected.
      The maximum and minimum values on the charts below show the highest and lowest percent developed of any PCA in the Willamette Valley study area; the purple circle is the percent developed of the selected PCA. Values for 2010 were based on areas developed as of 2010 whereas values for 2050 are based on projected additional development.
      Based on: Hulse D., S. Gregory, and J. Baker editors. 2002. Willamette River Basin Planning Atlas: Trajectories of Environmental and Ecological Change, 2nd edition. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, OR.
      Vegetation classes were derived from a composite of the best available vegetation and landcover datasets in the area.
      Below is a list of watershed councils, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and land trusts whose boundaries intersect the selected PCA.
      Watershed Councils:
        Soil & Water Conservation Districts:
          Land Trusts Working in General Area:
            ODFW Oregon Conservation Strategy:
            Most Willamette Valley Conservation Strategy priority conservation areas (PCAs) intersect one or more conservation opportunity areas (COAs) from the Oregon Conservation Strategy. Below is a link to the ODFW page for the COAs that intersect this PCA for a list of more potential partners and species that may be present in this PCA
              • NPLCC
              • Access Data
              • Final Report
              • Contact Us
              • Created by the Conservation Biology Institute
              Grassland
              Native grasslands (upland and wetland) were once a dominant habitat type in the Valley. Today less than one percent remains making it one of the most critically endangered ecosystems of the United States. Because so little remains, we used unmanaged pasture, grasslands within protected areas, and pasture/hay landcover types to represent grasslands, but only if they occurred in areas mapped as prairie on the 1951 historical vegetation map of the Willamette Valley.
              Grassland within 2km of Western Meadowlark
              Because one of our goals is to recover grassland birds as represented by western meadowlark and Oregon vesper sparrow and we want to work where we know these birds are located, we highlighted areas within 2 kilometers of a recent documented occurrences of either species.
              Grassland within 2km of Oregon Vesper Sparrow
              Because one of our goals is to recover grassland birds as represented by western meadowlark and Oregon vesper sparrow and we want to work where we know these birds are located, we highlighted areas within 2 kilometers of a recent documented occurrences of either species.
              Oak Savanna
              Oak savanna is a component of grasslands, characterized by widely spaced oak trees in a grassland setting. Similar to native grasslands, less than one percent of this habitat remains. In the absence of disturbances such as fire, conifers invade and many historic savannas have converted to forest.
              Oak savanna within 2km of Western Bluebird
              Because one of our goals is to recover savanna species as represented by western bluebirds, we highlighted areas within 2 kilometers of recent documented occurrences of western bluebirds.
              Oak Woodland
              Oak woodlands generally occur along the transition between grasslands of the valley floor and higher elevation conifer-dominated forests (Christy and Alverson 2011). Similar to savannas, in the absence of disturbances such as fire, conifers invade and convert oak woodlands to mixed forest types. Because most oak woodlands have been invaded by conifers, we had to include areas dominated by other types of trees but include retain a sizable minority of oak trees. Actions will be needed to restore these areas to oak woodlands.
              Oak Woodland within 2km of White-breasted Nuthatch
              Because one of our goals is to recover oak woodland species as represented by the slender-billed white-breasted nuthatch, we highlighted areas within 2 kilometers of recent documented occurrences of white-breasted nuthatch.
              Riparian Areas
              Riparian areas are known by many names: bottomland hardwood forests, gallery forests, wetland or riparian forests, riparian shrublands, and willow shrublands. They are most prominent along low-elevation floodplains and lower river terraces. Like other native habitats of the valley, there has been a significant loss of these habitats.
              Riparian forest within 2km of Yellow Warbler
              We split riparian areas into two component parts: forests and shrublands, and selected yellow warbler and yellow breasted-chat to represent them. We highlighted riparian areas within 2 kilometers of recent documented occurrences of either species.
              Riparian shrubland within 2km of Yellow Breasted Chat
              We split riparian areas into two component parts: forests and shrublands, and selected yellow warbler and yellow breasted-chat to represent them. We highlighted riparian areas within 2 kilometers of recent documented occurrences of either species.
              Riparian wetlands of conservation of concern
              There is a high degree of overlap between mapped riparian areas and other important habitat elements which have been mapped by others. These include: Wetlands of Conservation Concern as mapped by The Wetlands Conservancy for the Western Governors Association’s Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool or CHAT (WGWC 2013);
              Riparian anchor habitat
              There is a high degree of overlap between mapped riparian areas and other important habitat elements which have been mapped by others. These include: Anchor Habitats – areas with opportunities to reconnect the river to its historic floodplain with limited social impact that were mapped as part of the Willamette Planning Atlas (Hulse et al. 2002) and by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB 2014)
              Riparian cold points
              There is a high degree of overlap between mapped riparian areas and other important habitat elements which have been mapped by others. These include: critically important instream cold water refugia (cold points) as mapped by Hulse et al. (2007)
              Riparian zones of influence
              There is a high degree of overlap between mapped riparian areas and other important habitat elements which have been mapped by others. These include: Zone of Influence – locations of revetments that if removed would provide a high degree of fish habitat restoration with limited social impacts that were mapped as part of a US Army Corps of Engineers’ study (Hulse et al. 2013).