The Siuslaw National Forest ( ) is a national forest in western

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

in the United States. Established in 1908, the Siuslaw is made up of a wide variety of

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...

s, ranging from coastal forests to sand dunes.

Geography

The Siuslaw National Forest encompasses more than along the central

Oregon Coast The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately from the California state border in the south to the Colum ...

between

Coos Bay Coos Bay is an estuary where the Coos River enters the Pacific Ocean, the estuary is approximately 12 miles long and up to two miles wide. It is the largest estuary completely within Oregon state lines. The Coos Bay watershed covers an area of abou ...

and Tillamook, and in some places extends east from the ocean, beyond the crest of the

Oregon Coast Range The Oregon Coast Range, often called simply the Coast Range and sometimes the Pacific Coast Range, is a mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, in the U.S. state of Oregon along the Pacific Ocean. This north-south ru ...

, almost reaching the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the eas ...

. The forest lies primarily in Lane County (39% of the forest) and Lincoln County (27% of the forest); the rest in descending order of land area are Tillamook,

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

, Yamhill, Benton, Coos, and

Polk Polk may refer to: People * James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States * Polk (name), other people with the name Places * Polk (CTA), a train station in Chicago, Illinois * Polk, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Polk, Missour ...

counties. It includes the Sand Lake Recreation Area and the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. The Forest Supervisor's office is located in Corvallis, and the Siuslaw is broken up into two ranger districts—the Hebo Ranger District, with approximately , and the Central Coast Ranger District, with approximately . Siuslaw Map

The forest contains

Marys Peak Marys Peak (formerly Mary's Peak and sometimes still spelled this way) is a mountain in Benton County, Oregon, Benton County, Oregon, United States, just southwest of Philomath, Oregon, Philomath. According to the Benton County Historical Societ ...

, the highest point in the Oregon Coast Range at . Numerous aquatic habitats are found in the forest: marine shore, rivers and streams—, including the Alsea, Nestucca, Siuslaw, and Umpqua rivers—and 30 lakes. The terrestrial environment can be regarded as two major vegetation zones, one near the coast dominated by

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-lar ...

(''Picea sitchensis''), and the other dominated by

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 ...

(''Tsuga heterophylla'') and

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 v ...

(''Pseudotsuga menziesii''). Western hemlock often grows in the shade under Douglas fir. Other major tree species in the forest are

western red cedar ''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae ...

(''Thuja plicata''),

red alder ''Alnus rubra'', the red alder, is a deciduous broadleaf tree native to western North America (Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Montana). Description Red alder is the largest species of alder in ...

(''Alnus rubra''), and bigleaf maple (''Acer macrophyllum''). A 1993 Forest Service study estimated that the extent of

old growth An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

in the forest was . The

Cummins Creek Wilderness The Cummins Creek Wilderness is a wilderness area in the Siuslaw National Forest within the Oregon Coast. It is one of three wilderness areas created in the Siuslaw in 1984, along with Drift Creek and Rock Creek. It is ''"dedicated to preserv ...

and the Rock Creek Wilderness preserve some of this old growth.

Recreational activities

Recreational activities in the Siuslaw National Forest include fishing, camping, hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, exploring tide pools, and riding off highway vehicles.

Wilderness areas

There are three officially designated

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

s within the Siuslaw National Forest that are part of the

National Wilderness Preservation System The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the Na ...

, all established in 1984: * Drift Creek Wilderness - Lincoln County *

- Lane County * Rock Creek Wilderness - Lane County

References

External links

Siuslaw National Forest
official website * {{Authority control National Forests of Oregon Protected areas of Benton County, Oregon Protected areas of Douglas County, Oregon Protected areas of Coos County, Oregon Protected areas of Lane County, Oregon Protected areas of Lincoln County, Oregon Protected areas of Polk County, Oregon Protected areas of Tillamook County, Oregon Protected areas of Yamhill County, Oregon 1908 establishments in Oregon Oregon Coast Range Protected areas established in 1908

Geography

Recreational activities

Wilderness areas

See also

References

External links