Southern Oregon Coast Range - Flora and Fauna

Flora and Fauna

The Oregon Coast Range is home to over 50 mammals, 100 species of birds, and nearly 30 reptiles or amphibians that spent a significant portion of their life cycle in the mountains. Birds living in the Southern Coast Range include a variety of smaller and larger bird species. These include northern goshawks, peregrine falcons, pileated woodpeckers, olive-sided flycatcher, and western bluebirds. The Northern Spotted Owl, listed as a threatened species by the United States also inhabit the mountain forests. Aquatic life includes river lamprey, Pacific lamprey, coastal cutthroat trout, Millicoma longnose dace, Umpqua chub, red-legged frogs, southern seep salamander, western pond turtles, coho salmon, Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and others. Other wildlife includes fringed myotis bats, long-legged myotis bats, Townsend’s big-eared bat, fishers, and sharptail snakes, northern flying squirrels, red tree voles, Roosevelt Elk, among others. Other small animals include shrews, moles, deer mice, and ermine.

Plants include large stands of Douglas-fir trees, western hemlock forests, cedar trees, with portions of these forests including old-growth stands. Other flora include Sitka spruce, salmonberry, salal, tanoak, and western azalea. Portions of the range are in the Elliott State Forest.