California condors are the largest soaring land bird on the continent, but they’ve been missing from Northwest skies for decades.

Their numbers across the West dwindled to just 22 birds in 1985. Since then, captive breeding and reintroduction efforts have been slowly rebuilding the population. There are now 312 condors in the wild in the southwestern U.S. and Baja, Mexico, region.

Susan Sawyer with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the new plan would introduce around six birds a year into Redwood National Park — about 20 miles south of the Oregon state line.

"The reintroduction sites are considered to be prime condor habitat within redwood forests and mountain ranges," she said. "And there’s a good chance these birds will be seen flying over Oregon skies once again. They are impressive birds. If you have never seen one, they are big."