Wildlife Habitat Restoration

Wildlife Habitat Restoration

The plants and animals who live in our dry ponderosa pine forests are also adapted to fire and benefit from forest restoration. Wildlife habitat restoration in the Deschutes National Forest includes work such as improving the health of aspen woodlands and streamside vegetation, creating snags (standing dead trees) for cavity-nesting birds such as woodpeckers, bats, and small mammals, or opening up the forest canopy to increase moisture and light on the forest floor for native grasses and wildflowers to flourish.

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wildlife habitat restoration how big is the deschutes national forest


Down logs also provide good denning and food sources, if you happen to be a species who relies on ants and grubs. Wildlife habitat restoration can also mean improving forage for our plant-loving deer and elk through mowing and burning.

Since 2010, we’ve been working as partners alongside the Deschutes National Forest on a $10.1 million effort to restore 250,000+ acres of forest in Deschutes County, focusing on the unhealthiest places that are putting our forests and communities at risk.

The West Bend Project is one of 10 primary forest restoration project areas on national forestland. There are only 20 such demonstration sites nationwide, selected to receive Congressional funding through the federal Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Act. The goals of the West Bend Project: restore forest ecosystems, reduce the potential of high-severity wildfire, and provide economic and social benefits to local communities.

Recent News

  • Pandora Moth Returns to a Central Oregon Forest Near You
    Pandora Moth Returns to a Central Oregon Forest Near You

    Pandora Moth Returns to a Central Oregon Forest Near You Contributed by Robbie Flowers, PhD. Forest Entomologist for the USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Protection. Central Oregon Forest Insect and Disease Service Center. As spring transitions into early summer in…

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  • Prescribed Burning in Progress
    Prescribed Burning in Progress

    Prescribed Burning locations across Central Oregon With consistently warmer temperatures, fire managers on the Deschutes National Forest will be taking advantage of favorable weather conditions and begin igniting prescribed burns across our area over the next few weeks. This will…

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  • What is up with the Mulch Piles around Phil’s Trailhead?
    What is up with the Mulch Piles around Phil’s Trailhead?

    What is up with the Mulch Piles around Phil's Trailhead? Restoring a forest ecosystem involves repairing STRUCTURE and FUNCTION. In the West Bend project, forest restoration involves reducing fuels and creating space for trees to grow large and resilient through…

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