The Dean Creek Wildlife Area (or Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area) is a

wildlife management Wildlife management is the management process influencing interactions among and between wildlife, its habitats and people to achieve predefined impacts. It attempts to balance the needs of wildlife with the needs of people using the best availabl ...

area located near

Reedsport Reedsport is a city in Douglas County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,310. History Reedsport was established on the estuary of the Umpqua River on January 7, 1852. It was named for a local settler, Alfred ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Jointly managed by the

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is a government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for programs protecting Oregon fish and wildlife resources and their habitats. The agency operates hatcheries, issues hunting and ...

and the United States

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

, it is the year-round residence for a herd of

Roosevelt elk The Roosevelt elk (''Cervus canadensis roosevelti)'', also known commonly as the Olympic elk and Roosevelt's wapiti, is the largest of the four surviving subspecies of elk (''Cervus canadensis'') in North America by body mass (although by antle ...

History

Elk have inhabited the location that is now the Dean Creek Wildlife Area since the 1930s. During that time, native salt marshes were drained and freshwater allowed to irrigate the site's grasslands. Originally used for cattle grazing by area farmers, the Bureau of Land Management, in partnership with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, took over management of the site in 1991. The same year, an outdoor, covered interpretive center was constructed at the site. The O.H. Hinsdale Interpretive Center was built at a cost of $85,000 and was named after a Reedsport-area community leader. Funds to finance the center were privately raised by a local community group. In addition to the interpretive center, the site also includes restrooms and several viewing platforms.

Geography

The are roughly divided between

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

. The pasture (with some

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s) covers about of the area and is generally visible from the road. The remaining of the wildlife area comprise mainly

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

trees and other hardwoods.

Fauna

The Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area is the year-round residence for a herd of about 100 Roosevelt elk. A mild winter climate and abundant food allow the Roosevelt elk to remain at the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area all year. In addition to the elk, beaver, muskrat, and Canada geese all spend some time at Dean Creek, as do coyotes, red-legged frogs, and the

great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos ...

. Migrating ducks use the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area as a rest stop on their long journeys between winter and summer homes, and resident waterfowl raise their young at Dean Creek during the summer.

References

{{USGovernment, url=http://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/files/brochures/Dean%20Creek%20Elk%20Viewing%20Area.pdf Oregon state wildlife areas Protected areas of Douglas County, Oregon Oregon Coast Range Protected areas established in 1991 1991 establishments in Oregon