2024 · ArcGIS Pro • Remote Sensing • Raster Analysis • Model Builder • Site Suitability Analysis

Could Mountain Goats Return to Mount Hood?

The question. Mountain goats once lived across the Oregon Cascades. They were reintroduced to the Central Oregon Cascades, including a release on Mount Jefferson in 2010, and in recent years there have been sightings on Mount Hood. Is there suitable habitat for mountain goats on Mount Hood?

Data. DEMs from USGS, land cover from the State of Oregon, mountain goat observations from iNaturalist, and public roads from GEOHub.

What I did. A site suitability analysis using three criteria: land cover, ruggedness, and distance from roads. I used the established Central Oregon population to determine the land cover mountain goats prefer, calculated ruggedness and distance from roads, combined the three to find suitable habitat on Mount Hood, and then ran a least cost path between the established population and the potential habitat.

What I found. Mount Hood does have suitable habitat, but much less of it: 24,263 acres of most suitable habitat, compared with 68,147 acres in the Central Oregon Cascades. The least cost path gives a possible wildlife corridor between the two areas, a journey of roughly 40 miles that involves crossing two highways.