Natural Resources
About 34 inches of precipitation falls on the Umatilla
National Forest each year, producing over 800 billion gallons
of water that flows from five major river basins: the John Day
River, Grande Ronde River, Umatilla-Willow Creek, and the Walla
Walla and Lower Snake Rivers. The Forest's streams, rivers, and
lakes provide fish and wildlife habitat, and water for surrounding
communities as well as for agricultural, grazing, and recreational
purposes.
Maintaining fish and wildlife habitat is an important
part of our multiple-use management job. The Umatilla National
Forest supports 324 species of fish and wildlife including one
of the largest herds of Rocky Mountain elk in the nation. There
are also large herds of mule and white-tailed deer which help
draw over 20,000 hunters to the Umatilla National Forest for their
annual big game hunt.
Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep can be found in the
Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness and a small population of California
bighorn sheep can be found in the Cottonwood-Cummings Creek area
east of the wilderness. Merriam turkeys have been released at
Madison Butte, Bridge Creek Flats, and Troy. Chinook salmon, steelhead,
and Dolly Varden and rainbow trout are found in the Grande Ronde,
Umatilla, Wenaha, Tucannon, Walla Walla, and North Fork John Day
Rivers and many of their tributaries.
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![[photo] Jubilee Lake](images/archjubileenr2.png)
