The Redwood Experimental Forest (also Yurok Redwood Experimental Forest, formerly Yurok Experimental Forest) (established 1940) is an

experimental forest An experimental forest, or experimental range, as defined by the United States Forest Service, is "an area administered ... 'to provide for the research necessary for the management of the land.'" Size and relation to other areas According to the ...

Del Norte County, California ), in California , seat_type = County seat , seat = Crescent City , parts_type = Largest city , parts = Crescent City , unit_pref = US , area_total_sq_mi = 1230 , area_land_sq_mi = 1006 , area_water_sq_mi = 223 , elevation_max_footnote ...

. The forest is near the mouth of the

Klamath River The Klamath River (Karuk: ''Ishkêesh'', Klamath: ''Koke'', Yurok: ''Hehlkeek 'We-Roy'') flows through Oregon and northern California in the United States, emptying into the Pacific Ocean. By average discharge, the Klamath is the second larges ...

in the

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. P ...

of Northern California. The forest is drained by High Prairie Creek. As its name implies, the principal species in the forest is coast redwood (''Sequoia sempervirens''), but the site also contains

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

Sitka spruce ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to almost tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-larg ...

western hemlock ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma ...

, and

Port Orford cedar ''Chamaecyparis lawsoniana'', known as Port Orford cedar or Lawson cypress, is a species of conifer in the genus '' Chamaecyparis'', family Cupressaceae. It is native to Oregon and northwestern California, and grows from sea level up to in th ...

. The forest is managed by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

. Tree ages range up to 1,200 years. Topography varies considerably over the forest. Slopes range from 0 to over 75 percent, and elevation ranges from . About 45 percent of the total area was clearcut between 1956 and 1985. About 1 percent was harvested in 1981 using the selection system. An additional 23 percent is available for approved manipulative research studies, and 16 percent is preserved in an undisturbed old-growth redwood forest condition in the Yurok

Research Natural Area Research Natural Area is a designation for certain protected areas in the United States. Research Natural Areas (RNAs) are part of a nationwide network of ecological areas set aside for both research and education. The network includes areas man ...

(RNA) established in 1976. The Redwood Experimental Forest was designated part of the

International Biosphere Reserve Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments. MAB's work engag ...

in 1983.

Climate

The climate at the Redwood is typically mild and foggy in summer. The average July temperature is , with little precipitation other than fog drip. The average January temperature is . Annual rainfall averages and snowfall is uncommon. Precipitation is well in excess of potential

evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) is the combined processes by which water moves from the earth’s surface into the atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, canopies, and water bodies) and transpi ...

, except for about a month in midsummer.

Geology

The entire region is underlain by

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

rocks of the

Franciscan formation The Franciscan Complex or Franciscan Assemblage is a geologic term for a late Mesozoic terrane of heterogeneous rocks found throughout the California Coast Ranges, and particularly on the San Francisco Peninsula. It was named by geologist Andrew ...

, a complex of raw to slightly

metamorphic Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

s. This formation is generally soft and easily weathered, so that soil development is good, with unweathered

regolith Regolith () is a blanket of unconsolidated, loose, heterogeneous superficial deposits covering solid rock. It includes dust, broken rocks, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, Mars, some asteroids, and other terrestria ...

at depths of about in most areas. Rock outcrops are few, and where they do occur, shallow soils and exposure combine to make such sites ecologically unique.

References

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External links

Yurok Redwood Experimental Forest
(1983) 1940 establishments in California Research forests National Forests of California Coast redwood groves