Learn More

Publications

Move Over, Douglas-Fir: Oregon White Oaks 

Need Room to Grow (Science Findings #98, 2007) 

http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/sciencef/scifi98.pdf

To request a print copy, call (503) 261-1211. 

A Practical Guide to Oak Release

Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-666, 2006

http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr666.pdf 

To request a print copy, call (503) 261-1211.

A Landowner’s Guide for Restoring and 

Managing Oregon White Oak Habitats 

http://www.oregonoaks.org/documents/

landguide.pdf

To request a print copy, call (503) 375-5646.

Regional Working Groups

Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team (Canada)

http://www.goert.ca/ 

Oregon Oak Communities 

http://www.oregonoaks.org/

South Puget Sound Prairie Landscape 

http://www.southsoundprairies.org/

Financial and Technical Assistance

If you are a private landowner, you can receive 

additional information and may be eligible for 

financial or technical assistance to support your 

oak preservation and restoration activities. Contact 

the Natural Resources Conservation Service, your 

extension office, or your state’s forestry or wildlife 

organizations for more information and to learn 

about possible cost-share programs.

June 2008

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and 

where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual 

orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an 

individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited 

bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means 

for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should 

contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202)720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint 

of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence 

Avenue S.W., Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 

720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. 

How You Can Help 

Protect existing oak communities. 

Because as much as 99 percent of the oak 

communities in some areas have already 

been lost, it is important to protect those that 

remain. If oaks are growing on your property, 

protect them from conifer encroachment and 

nonnative plant invasion.

Remove conifers growing around oaks. 

Conifers grow much faster than do oaks and 

can quickly overtake oaks and shade them 

out. Learn about management techniques, 

like oak release, that can curb conifer 

growth and create conditions ideal for 

oak communities and the countless species 

they support.

Eliminate invasives from oak communities. 

Invasive plants aggressively compete for 

resources and can rapidly dominate oak 

communities once they become established. 

Learn how to identify and safely remove 

invasive plants growing on your property. 

Plant oaks in new areas. 

To help offset the loss of the region’s oak 

communities, consider planting seedlings 

of native oak species, such as Oregon white 

oak, on your property. 

Reestablish native plants. 

When planting on your property, consider 

choosing native species instead of non-native 

ornamentals. Many of the species found in 

oak communities can be purchased from 

nurseries that specialize in native plants. 

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United States

Department

of Agriculture

Forest

Service

Pacific Northwest

Research Station

Pacific Northwest 

Oak Communities

DEPAR TMENT OF AGRICULT URE
Camas. Blue-flowering and a 

member of the lily family, the 

common camas has edible, starchy 

bulbs that have been harvested by 

Native Americans for generations. 

It thrives in open, grassy meadows.

Taylor’s Checkerspot. This colorful 

butterfly exists in only a few 

populations in Washington and 

Oregon. Camas is an important 

nectar source for adult checkerspots.

Oregon Sunshine. This plant, whose 

leaves and stems are covered with 

fine hairs, grows in open, sunny 

areas. It provides nectar for butterflies and is browsed by caterpillars 

for food.

Western Gray Squirrel. The western 

gray squirrel is the largest native tree 

squirrel in Washington State, where 

it also is a threatened species. It is 

closely associated with oaks, which 

provide denning and nesting sites, 

acorns for food, and seasonal cover.

Magnet for Biodiversity

Oak communities play a major role in sustaining 

the region’s biological diversity. Over 200 species 

of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and 

insects—some of them rare or threatened—use 

oaks for the shelter and food they provide. Oak 

communities also support other species indirectly 

by maintaining open areas in the landscape. These 

open habitats are ideal for many types of wildlife 

and shade-intolerant plants. Often, the wildlife 

and plants that live and grow in oak communities 

are found in no other habitat type. Some of the 

species that rely on oak communities include:

D. Powell, U.S. Forest Service; Bugwood.org T. Spivey, U.S. Forest Service; Bugwood.org T. Spivey, U.S. Forest Service; Bugwood.org Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

W. Devine, U.S. Forest Service

Rich Past, Uncertain Future

For hundreds of years, oaks thrived in many 

parts of the Pacific Northwest’s lowlands, growing 

in a variety of conditions and as part of several 

ecological communities—from dry rock outcrops 

and wetlands, to prairie 

edges, grassy savannas, and 

woodlands. Periodic fires in 

the region, especially those 

set by Native Americans, 

limited the growth of conifers 

in some places and favored 

the fire-tolerant oaks.

But, today, many of the 

region’s oak communities 

are in decline.

Decades of fire suppression following European 

settlement have allowed conifers to overtop, 

and shade out, oaks. At the same time, many 

oak communities have been overrun by invasive 

plants or converted to agricultural or urban land. 

The result: as much as 99 percent of the oak 

communities historically present in some areas of 

the Pacific Northwest have been lost.

A Myriad of Threats

Conifer Encroachment

Decades of fire suppression have created conditions 

largely inhospitable to oaks. Oak communities, 

which are fire-tolerant and slow-growing, are 

increasingly being overtopped and shaded out by 

faster-growing conifers, which were historically 

controlled by fire. Without abundant sunlight, oaks 

and the other shade-intolerant plant species found 

in oak communities eventually die.

Invasive Plants

Like many of the region’s other ecosystems, oak 

communities also are threatened by invasive 

plants. These nonnative plants, such as Scots 

broom and Himalayan blackberry, grow 

much faster than do many of the plants in oak 

communities. When the 

native plants are crowded 

out, the habitat is no longer 

suitable for the wildlife 

species that depend on them.

Land Use Change

Many of the region’s oak 

communities also have been 

converted to agricultural 

or urban land. The lowland 

areas that provide ideal 

conditions for oaks also 

are attractive for the development of farms and 

commercial and residential sites. 

Partners in Conservation

Pacific Northwest Research Station scientists 

are studying ways to restore and manage the 

region’s oak communities. They are conducting 

studies that will help enhance understanding of 

the biology of Oregon white oak—the region’s 

most widespread oak species—and are using their 

results to address pressing management issues. 

Station scientists also are making their findings 

accessible to, and forming partnerships with, 

private landowners—key partners in preserving 

and restoring the legacy of the Pacific Northwest’s 

oak communities. Collectively, this work is 

helping to ensure that the region’s oaks do not 

become a thing of the past.