Big trees, thriving wildlife, and healthier forests at Whaleback Mountain on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

The majestic old Douglas-firs near Whaleback Mountain – some nearly 28 feet in circumference at the base - are standing tall once again with a new lease on life. Alongside stately incense cedars, these old-growth trees were "freed" from dense thickets of smaller trees in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, giving them more sunlight, water, and room to grow strong.

Earlier this summer, ODFW's Rogue District Wildlife Habitat biologists teamed up with the U.S. Forest Service to thin small conifers across 228 acres in the Whaleback area near the Rogue-Umpqua Divide. The goal? Create better habitat for wildlife such as like the great gray owl, a species in Oregon's State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP).

Opening this area lets the larger trees get more sunlight, water, and space to grow. These bigger trees store carbon and offer prime resting and nesting sites for birds, bats, mammals, and even some salamanders. Removing smaller trees also helps prevent severe wildfire and makes way for more grasses, flowering plants, and shrubs grow on the land that feed deer and elk.

Wet and dry meadows also benefited from the work. Clearing encroaching conifers helps protect these special places, home to species like the Cascades frog, which breeds in shallow, slow-moving sunlit waters. Open meadows also attract pollinators such as the federally endangered Franklin's bumblebee and the western bumblebee, while Oregon's bats—like the silver-haired bat and fringed myotis—use the open space above creeks and ponds to hunt for insects and roost in the forest during the day. All these animals are SWAP species.

With more light reaching the ground, mountain huckleberries can flourish again- an important food source for bears and birds, and a traditional first food for the Klamath Tribe and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians since time immemorial.

And the wildlife is already responding. Just a week after the was completed, ODFW trail cameras captured cow elk, black bear, black-tailed deer bucks in velvet, and does with newborn fawns exploring the area. Ongoing monitoring will continue through game cameras and photo points.

Valued at $174,430, funded mainly from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's Pittman-Robertson grant, this project is part of the U.S. Forest Service's Stella Landscape Restoration Project, which aims to restore thousands of acres of forest and promote implementation of Oregon's 20-year Landscape Resiliency Strategy. It's also a great example of collaboration between ODFW, the U.S. Forest Service, and partners like the Mule Deer Foundation and Oregon Wildlife Foundation who provided matching private funds. Additional support came from a Good Neighbor Authority Special Project Agreement with the Rogue River Siskiyou National Forest.