Definition: Prioritizes areas important to species of economic or recreational importance, with a focus on terrestrial game species and important wildlife viewing areas.
Aggregation Method: Best available data and expert opinion were used to map priority and general habitats for as many important game species, managed by ODFW, as were available, as well as additional important economic wildlife areas such as wildlife viewing opportunities*. The species distribution, habitat, and wildlife viewing areas datasets were overlaid to calculate the Species of Economic and Recreational Importance score. Some species habitats were given a higher weight, due to their higher economic impact related to hunting activities. See the list below for wildlife species used within this analysis, and the associated weight applied to each species. A total for each hexagon was then generated and the results (with a range of 7 through 37) were classified into the six priority ranks using the quantile classification method.
Species used within the analysis (associated weight)
- Mule Deer and Black-Tailed Deer (x2)
- Elk (x2)
- Mountain Goat
- Bighorn Sheep
- Cougar
- Black Bear
- Furbearers compiled dataset incorporated information focused on Beaver, Bobcat, Muskrat, and Coyote
- Waterfowl compiled dataset incorporated information focused on Greater White-fronted Goose, Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Ross's Goose, Brant, Cackling Goose, Canada Goose, Trumpeter Swan, Tundra Swan, Wood Duck, Gadwall, Eurasian Wigeon, American Wigeon, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Harlequin , Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, and Ruddy Duck (x2)
- Sooty Grouse
- Dusky Grouse
- California Quail
- Chukar
- Hungarian Partridge
- Mountain Quail
- Ruffed Grouse
- Ring-necked Pheasant
- Wildlife Viewing Areas*
* Wildlife viewing has been documented as a distinct contributor to local fish and wildlife economies within Oregon, and as such was included as an additional data input within the Species of Economic and Recreational Importance (SERI) analysis. The ODFW Wildlife Viewing Map maintains a list of locations throughout the state that are recommended to the public for wildlife viewing. The boundaries of each area were intersected with the hexagon base data, so that each hexagon could record whether it contained an important wildlife viewing area. These areas were assigned a weight of x5.
Priority Rank Definitions
Priority 1: These areas have been documented as containing the most number of species distributions and wildlife viewing opportunities within the Species of Economic and Recreational Importance analysis. This is the highest level of results, including a range of 37 through 24.
Priority 2: These areas have been documented as containing multiple species distributions and wildlife viewing opportunities within the Species of Economic and Recreational Importance analysis. This is the second highest level of results, including a range of 23 through 22.
Priority 3: These areas have been documented as containing a moderate number of species distributions and wildlife viewing opportunities within the Species of Economic and Recreational Importance analysis. This is the third highest level of results, including a range of 21 through 20.
Priority 4: These areas have been documented as containing low to moderate number of species distributions and wildlife viewing opportunities within the Species of Economic and Recreational Importance analysis. This is the third lowest level of results, including a range of 19 – 17.
Priority 5: These areas have been documented as containing lower numbers of species distributions and wildlife viewing opportunities within the Species of Economic and Recreational Importance analysis. This is the second lowest level of results, including a range of 16 through 15.
Priority 6: As of the latest data update, these areas have been documented as containing the least amount of species distributions and wildlife viewing opportunities within the Species of Economic and Recreational Importance analysis. This is the lowest level of results, including a range of 14 through 7.
Input Layer Definitions
The results of the individual species distribution and wildlife viewing analyses are presented here. For each species or wildlife viewing area, the following definitions apply:
- 1 = Priority Habitat for species or Wildlife Viewing Area
- 2 = General Habitat for species
- 9999 = Species distribution or Wildlife Viewing Area has not been documented within this hexagon
Data Source
Dataset Name |
Dataset Description |
Data Steward |
2008-2009 Oregon Furbearer Harvest Reports |
Counties with high harvest numbers within the 2008-2009 harvest reports, for the following species, were used to distinguish priority habitat for furbearers: Beaver, Bobcat, Coyote, and Muskrat. |
ODFW |
ODFW Bighorn Sheep Occupied Habitat |
Bighorn Sheep occupied range in Oregon. Based on the expert judgment of ODFW district wildlife biologists and assistants. Last updated in Aug 2013. |
ODFW |
ODFW Mountain Goat Occupied Habitat |
General depiction of Rocky Mountain Goat occupied range in Oregon. Based on <= 2 years of telemetry data, and also includes some anticipated use areas based on expert opinion. Last updated in May 2013. |
ODFW |
ODFW Upland Game Bird Distributions |
Generalized Upland Game Bird Distributions throughout Oregon. Species include: Sotty Grouse, Dusky Grouse, California Quail, Chukar, Hungarian Partridge, Mountain Quail, Ring-necked Pheasant, and Ruffed Grouse. |
ODFW |
ODFW Waterfowl Breeding Bird Population Surveys |
The areas and rivers where ODFW undergoes waterfowl breeding surveys. These areas reflect known breeding and/or wintering areas for waterfowl throughout Oregon. |
ODFW |
ODFW Wildlife Viewing Areas |
This layer contains polygons representing places to view wildlife in Oregon and the master list is derived from the ODFW Wildlife Viewing Map as of October 2013. |
ODFW |
Oregon Black Bear Range and Density |
General Black Bear Range, and density, throughout the state of Oregon. |
ODFW |
ODFW Deer and Elk Big Game Winter Range |
Winter range for Deer and Elk throughout Oregon, deliniated through expert and biological opinions within ODFW Wildlife Staff. |
ODFW |
Relative Density of Cougars in Oregon, by Wildlife Management Unit; from the 2006 ODFW Cougar Management Plan |
Data used to create Figure 1 within the 2006 ODFW Cougar Plan. Data shows Cougar densities by Wildlife Management Unit. |
ODFW |
RMEF Elk Range |
Important habitats for Elk as reported to RMEF during west-wide mapping efforts. |
RMEF |
WAFWA Mule Deer |
Important habitats for Mule Deer as reported to WAFWA during west-wide mapping efforts. |
WAFWA |
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