Salmon River Estuary-Cascade Head – Oregon Conservation Strategy

This conservation opportunity area provides a unique combination of habitat types, from the rocky shoreline inland and includes the Cascade Head Scenic Research Area. At least 3 threatened and endangered species exist here including the Oregon Silverspot butterfly.

COA ID: 019

Recommended Conservation Actions

Conduct thorough Pacific marten surveys on CHSRA
Improve bridge over Salmon River on Highway 101 for better tidal flow
Limit commercial use of public facilities: boat ramps; parking; trails, etc.
Preserve balds and buttes from encroachment of non-native vegetation
Protect molting elephant seals from human disturbance

Local Conservation Actions and Plans

Potential Partners

Oregon Department of Forestry
Oregon Department of State Lands
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
Salmon/Drift Watershed Council
The Nature Conservancy
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Forest Service

Special Features

General

Elephant seals molt in the mouth of Salmon River and Cascade Head
Peregrine Falcon and Bald Eagle nest within the COA
Restoration of salt marsh in the Salmon River estuary
Silverspot butterfly habitat located on the grassy headlands of Cascade Head

Previously Associated With

2006 COA ID CR-14 (Salmon River Estuary - Cascade Head)

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

Strategy 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 occur where freshwater rivers meet the oceanic salty waters, are influenced by tidal flooding, and experience frequent periodic changes in salinity, water levels, sunlight, and oxygen.

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.

Oak Woodlands

Oak woodlands are characterized by an open canopy dominated by Oregon white oak.

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 covered with water during all or part of the year. Permanently wet habitats include backwater sloughs, oxbow lakes, and marshes, while seasonally wet habitats include seasonal ponds, vernal pools, and wet prairies.

Specialized Local Habitats

Aquatic vegetation beds
Balds and buttes
Bays
Off-channel habitat
Off-shore rocks
Rock habitat
Rocky shore and tidepools
Sand spit

Strategy Species

Black Oystercatcher (Observed)

Haematopus bachmani

California Myotis (Observed)

Myotis californicus

Cascade Head Catchfly (Observed)

Silene douglasii var. oraria

Caspian Tern (Observed)

Hydroprogne caspia

Chinook Salmon (Documented)

Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

Chum Salmon (Documented)

Oncorhynchus keta

Clouded Salamander (Modeled Habitat)

Aneides ferreus

Coastal Cutthroat Trout (Documented)

Oncorhynchus clarki clarki

Coastal Tailed Frog (Observed)

Ascaphus truei

Coho Salmon (Documented)

Oncorhynchus kisutch

Columbia Torrent Salamander (Modeled Habitat)

Rhyacotriton kezeri

Eulachon (Documented)

Thaleichthys pacificus

Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel (Modeled Habitat)

Oceanodroma furcata

Fringed Myotis (Observed)

Myotis thysanodes

Harlequin Duck (Observed)

Histrionicus histrionicus

Hoary Bat (Observed)

Lasiurus cinereus

Leach’s Storm-Petrel (Modeled Habitat)

Oceanodroma leucorhoa leucorhoa

Long-legged Myotis (Observed)

Myotis volans

Marbled Murrelet (Observed)

Brachyramphus marmoratus

Northern Elephant Seal (Observed)

Mirounga angustirostris

Northern Red-legged Frog (Observed)

Rana aurora

Northern Spotted Owl (Observed)

Strix occidentalis caurina

Olive-sided Flycatcher (Observed)

Contopus cooperi

Oregon Silverspot Butterfly (Observed)

Speyeria zerene hippolyta

Pacific Lamprey (Documented)

Entosphenus tridentatus

Peregrine Falcon (Observed)

Falco peregrinus anatum

Purple Martin (Observed)

Progne subis arboricola

Red Tree Vole (Observed)

Arborimus longicaudus

Silver-haired Bat (Observed)

Lasionycteris noctivagans

Southern Torrent Salamander (Observed)

Rhyacotriton variegatus

Tufted Puffin (Observed)

Fratercula cirrhata

Western Snowy Plover (Observed)

Charadrius nivosus nivosus

Western Toad (Modeled Habitat)

Anaxyrus boreas

Steelhead / Rainbow / Redband Trout (Documented)

Oncorhynchus mykiss ssp

Strategy Spotlight: Salmon River Estuary

Salmon River Estuary. Photo Credit: Kami Ellingson, USFS

Located in the Salmon River Estuary-Cascade Head Conservation Opportunity Area, multiple partners have been working together for more than four decades on restoring the 1,300 acre Salmon River Estuary. Estuaries are important nurseries for young salmon, and the Salmon River Estuary is one of the few remaining relatively undeveloped and/or restored estuaries on the Oregon Coast. Work was designed to benefit endangered coastal coho salmon, as well as Chinook salmon, steelhead, coastal cutthroat trout, and provide habitat for waterfowl, migratory birds, elk and other wildlife species. Although this area has a long history of human use, most of the major physical alterations started in the mid-50s. To create farmable land the estuary was ditched and diked and tidegates were installed. By the early 1960s, 75% of the lower Salmon River marsh habitat was isolated by dikes and tidegates and had been converted to pastures. In 1961, U.S. Highway 101 was rerouted into a shorter and straighter route that crossed the estuary constricting the flow of the tides the Salmon River and several tributary channels. These alterations caused subsidence of the marsh and cut off migrating fish from tidal channels. In 1974 Congress created the Cascade Head Scenic-Research Area (CHSRA) and the associated management plan set the stage for restoration in the area. From 1978 to 1996 a series of land acquisitions and intertidal marsh restoration projects were completed, restoring 339 acres of tidal marsh and over 3 miles of sinuous tidal marsh channels. Although land acquisition continued in the CHSRA, after 1996 funding and necessary support to continue with the increasingly more complex restoration needs stalled.

Efforts were reinvigorated in the summer of 2006 when a team of graduate students working with the local community developed a comprehensive restoration plan for the estuary. Multiple partners continue to work together on the Salmon River Estuary Project on the Siuslaw National Forest including the Salmon Drift Creek Watershed Council; Siuslaw National Forest; Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board; Oregon Department of Transportation; Oregon Department of State Lands; Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Greenpoint Consulting; “Hire the Fish Crew” Program; Sitka Center for Art and Ecology; Westwind Stewardship Group; and the Oregon State University’s Institute for Natural Resources. The restoration projects from 2007-2014 were more involved and complex, included dismantling a housing development and an amusement park built directly on tidal marsh land.

Restoration efforts from 2006-2014 resulted in restored tidal influence to 108 acres; restoring more than two and a half miles of stream channel and floodplain; removing more than two miles of dikes, failing septic systems, underground infrastructure and three tidegates, multiple complex ditches, and a boat basin carved into the marsh floor and restoration of native marsh and upland plants. In 2013 this project received the USFS’s National Rise to the Future Collaboration and Stewardship Award.

Photo Credit: Kami Ellingson, USFS. Formerly the location of Tamara Quays Trailer Park in the Salmon River Estuary, this area now includes natural vegetation and a restored tidal influence. Picture taken on May 21, 2014.

Comprehensive background information and recent project details can be found in Ellingson and Ellis-Sugai’s 2014 publication entitled: Restoring the Salmon River Estuary: Journey and Lessons Learned along the Way 2006-2014.