The 2015 Oregon Natural Areas Plan lists the rare species, ecosystems, and geological features present in Oregon and where they are represented by protected lands.
The Oregon Legislature established the Oregon Natural Areas Program in 1979 as a way to protect high quality native ecosystems and rare plant and animal species. The program is managed by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and is guided by the Oregon Natural Area Plan, a document that describes the natural areas program in Oregon. The plan lists the ecosystems and species that drive the program, guides the selection of priority areas for the establishment of new natural areas, and assists researchers, educators, and the public in learning about or managing designated natural areas. INR's Oregon Biodiversity Information Center (ORBIC) helped develop the Oregon Natural Areas Plan and assists the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department by maintaining natural areas records, providing scientific advice and coodinating with regional and national natural areas programs. ORBIC has a long history working with the Natural Areas Program and has helped guide it since 1979, when ORBIC was called the Oregon Natural Heritage Program.
The goals of the Oregon Natural Areas Program are to:
The Oregon Natural Areas program collaborates with regional and national natural areas programs, including an interagency Natural Areas Committee, that is overseen by the U.S. Forest Service. This committee meets twice a year, and has representatives from the federal land management agencies, state agencies, The Nature Conservancy, and others interested in Natural Areas. The Natural Areas Association helps coordinate efforts throughout the U.S. and the world, and promotes information exchange regarding the management and establishment of natural areas.
Federal, state, and private organizations have interests in preserving Oregon's natural areas for the benefits these areas provide. To researchers and educators, natural areas provide a relatively undisturbed setting in which to study native ecosystems and species. To resource managers, natural areas can provide a setting for understanding important statewide land management issues. To the public, natural areas provide access to native forests, grasslands, tide pools, bogs, and sagebrush communities. Natural areas also provide habitat for Oregon’s rarest plants and animals like the Fender's Blue Butterfly, the emblem of INR's Natural Areas Program.
Designating natural areas requires sound information regarding characteristics of potential sites, and maintaining areas requires knowledge of proper management techniques. The Natural Areas Program supports the work of agencies and organizations throughout the state by providing such information. INR is part of the Natural Areas Committee, an interagency effort to establish natural areas led by the US Forest Service.
Dedicated natural areas in Oregon are called Natural Heritage Conservation Areas. For an area to be dedicated, it must first be registered, and must also have a management plan describing how the key biological resources will be managed. Natural Heritage Conservation Areas are similar to federal Research Natural Areas in that they are designed to serve educators, researchers, resource managers and the general public with access to Oregon's natural heritage resources far into the future. INR's Oregon Biodoversity Information Center assists state agencies in identifying candidate sites for dedication.
Eight sites were dedicated as of the 2015 Natural Areas Plan:
Cape Blanco
Cape Meares
Cascade Head
Netarts Spit
Onion Peak
Saddle Mountain
Steens Summit
Winchuck Slope
Additional information on these sites is available from ORBIC.
The Oregon Register lists Oregon's most important sites with significant natural heritage resources. Sites on the list are primarily on state lands, but also includes voluntarily listed sites on private or municipal lands, and a few federally owned sites that were registered before they were acquired by the government. The Council recommends candidates for registration to the State Land Board for approval. There are 100 natural areas currently registered. For the names and owners of the sites listed on the register, see below. Additional information on these sites, including a basic registry form, is available from ORBIC.
Status as of June 30, 2015
Sites currently on the Register:
(owner in parenthesis followed by the year the site was added to the register)
Ownership abbreviations:
Research Natural Areas (RNA) are federal lands managed for research and education purposes. The majority of designated natural areas in Oregon are part of the federal Research Natural Areas program.
The RNA program was created to:
In the Pacific Northwest, the DoD Army Corps of Engineers, USDA Forest Service, USDI National Park Service, USDI Bureau of Land Management, USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, and the US Department of Energy all participate in the program. The U.S. Forest Service has provided a regional RNA coordinator to help manage the Pacific Northwest Interagency Natural Areas Network and RNA committee. This committee meets biannually to promote the program and coordination on the establishment and management of these areas.
In addition to RNAs, the Bureau of Land Management has established many sites that have significant natural area values as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern. These sites are recognized along with RNAs, State Natural Heritage Conservation Areas, and Marine Reserves as critical components of the natural area network. RNAs and ACECs are included in the 2010 map and listing of natural areas of Oregon (from 2010 Natural Areas Plan).