The Lubrecht State Experimental Forest is a tract of
protected
Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...
land located in
Missoula
Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...
and
Granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
County,
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
, owned and managed by the
W.A. Franke College of Forestry & Conservation, of the
University of Montana
The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fa ...
.
Land Use
Up until 1992, the W.A. Franke College of Forestry & Conservation had operated various programs that centered around spending either a quarter term or semester working within the boundaries of the forest to learn about forest management and to study the history of certain tracts of land used for logging decades prior. Today the Lubrecht Forest is used as a classroom by the W.A. Franke College to teach subjects such as
forest ecology
Forest ecology is the scientific study of the interrelated patterns, processes, flora, fauna and ecosystems in forests. The management of forests is known as forestry, silviculture, and forest management. A forest ecosystem is a natural woodland ...
,
controlled burns
A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A cont ...
, and studies of
surface
A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a physical object or space. It is the portion or region of the object that can first be perceived by an observer using the senses of sight and touch, and is ...
and
groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated ...
measurement. The forest also has lodging for university students and 12 miles of trails for
cross-country skiing and hiking.
Flora and Fauna
The Lubrecht Experimental Forest features four major types of trees, the
Western larch
The western larch (''Larix occidentalis'') is a species of larch native to the mountains of western North America (Pacific Northwest, Inland Northwest); in Canada in southeastern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta, and in the United State ...
,
Douglas fir,
Lodgepole and
Ponderosa. The Forest is unique compared to other protected areas in the state in that it annually sells timber to the community to help fund the upkeep of the area.
Although the flora is the main focus of the Forest, there are still over 60 different species of wildlife in the area, including
black bears,
eagles
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, jus ...
,
elk, and
bobcats
The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...
.
History
From 1864 to 1937, the Lubrecht Forest was owned by the
Northern Pacific Railroad
The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whi ...
, with some small tracts being sold off to the
Anaconda Copper for the purpose of providing timber to be used in their mines. On December 24, 1937, the Anaconda Copper Company donated 19,058 acres to the state to be used by the university. The forest was named in for W.C. Lubrecht, the general manager of the Anaconda Company lumber operations. The Northern Pacific Railroad donated a further 1,210 acres two years later. The current acreage reflects small changes resulting in the buying and selling of parcels of land to and from private individuals.
Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation Official Website
Retrieved 2022-02-09
See also
* List of forests in Montana
References
External links
Source Water Delineation and Assessment Report
at the Montana State Official Website. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
{{Protected areas of Montana
Protected areas of Montana
Geography of Missoula County, Montana
Protected areas established in 1937