Yolla Bolly–Middle Eel Wilderness
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The Yolla Bolly–Middle Eel Wilderness is a federally designated
wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural) are Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human activity, or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally ...
in the Yolla Bolly Range of the southern
Klamath Mountains The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly populated mountain range in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the western United States. As a mountain system within both the greater Pacific Coast Ranges and the California Coast R ...
and the Inner Northern
California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte County, California, Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Trans ...
, in Northern
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.


Geography

The wilderness area is located northeast of Covelo, west of Red Bluff and
Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...
, and east of Garberville and
U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...
. It is within sections of eastern
Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza") is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United S ...
, western
Tehama County Tehama County ( ) is a county located in the northern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,829. The county seat and largest city is Red Bluff. Tehama County comprises the Red Bluff, California m ...
, and Trinity County. The Yolla Bolly–Middle Eel Wilderness was created by the
Wilderness Act The Wilderness Act of 1964 () is a federal land management statute meant to protect U.S. Wilderness Area, federal wilderness and to create a formal mechanism for designating wilderness. It was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Socie ...
of 1964, with an original land area of . It was enlarged by the
California Wilderness Act of 1984 The California Wilderness Act of 1984 is a federal law (Public Law 98-425), passed by the United States Congress on September 28, 1984, that authorized the addition of over within the state of California to the National Wilderness Preservation ...
, and again by the
Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act The Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act is a U.S. federal law enacted in 2006 that enlarged existing wilderness boundaries and created new wilderness areas for protection under the National Wilderness Preservation System. The ...
of 2006, for a present-day total of . Most of the area (172,998 acres) is managed by the
US Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...
and is within three national forest boundaries, the:
Mendocino National Forest The Mendocino National Forest is located in the California Coast Ranges#Northern Coast Ranges, Coastal Mountain Range in northwestern California and comprises . It is the only national forest in the state of California without a major paved road ...
, Shasta-Trinity National Forest and
Six Rivers National Forest The Six Rivers National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in the northwestern corner of California. History It was established on June 3, 1947 by U.S. President Harry S. Truman from portions of Klamath, Siskiyou and Trinity Nationa ...
. The remaining is managed by the
Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...
. The name is a combination of: a phrase from the Native American
Wintun language Wintu is a Wintu language which was spoken by the Wintu people of Northern California. It was the northernmost member of the Wintun family of languages. The Wintun family of languages was spoken in the Shasta County, Trinity County, Sacrament ...
of the region's Wintun peoples, ''Yo-la'' meaning snow-covered and ''Bo-li'' meaning high peak; and a reference to the Middle fork of the Eel River. Elevations range from to a high point of at the summit of
Mount Linn Mount Linn, at , is the easternmost summit of South Yolla Bolly Mountain, and is located in the Yolla Bolly Mountains of the Northern Coast Ranges and sibling Klamath Mountains System, in Tehama County, northwestern California. Mt. Linn is the ...
.


Climate


History

In 1927 U.S. Chief Forester William Greeley directed the district supervisors to study and recommend areas in the nation's forests suitable for a new classification as "wilderness". By 1929 fourteen areas in the California Region 5 forests were proposed for this designation. The regulations for wilderness areas, known as the L-20, became − with modifications by Secretary of Agriculture William Jardine − the management policy for these areas. The L-20 Regulations used the term "primitive areas" with the purpose stated as to:
::''maintain primitive conditions of environment, transportation, habitation, and subsistence with a view to conserving the value of such areas for purposes of public education and recreation''.
Of the three new "primitive areas" located in northern California, the Middle Eel–Yolla Bolla Primitive Area was the largest at . The size was reduced to in 1931. By the close of 1932 California had eighteen new primitive areas protecting . Federal protection was given when this area became part of the
National Wilderness Preservation System The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federal government of the United States, federally managed Wilderness, wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally ...
, created by the passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964.


Waterways

Located within the southern
Klamath Mountains The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly populated mountain range in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the western United States. As a mountain system within both the greater Pacific Coast Ranges and the California Coast R ...
and Inner Northern
California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte County, California, Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Trans ...
, the rugged topography of the Yolla Bolly–Middle Eel Wilderness protects headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Eel River, the North Fork of the Eel, the Mad River, the South Fork of the Trinity River and the East Fork of the South Fork Trinity River. The eastern side has the watersheds of Cottonwood and Thomes Creeks, which flow into the
Sacramento River The Sacramento River () is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–San Joaquin River D ...
. The very northern tip of the wilderness—around the summits of Black Rock Mountain and North Yolla Bolly Peak—are in the Klamath Mountain Range. Both the Middle and North Forks of the Eel River have
Wild and Scenic River The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-f ...
designation, as does the South Fork of the Trinity River. Several small, shallow lakes occur in remnant glacial basins near the highest peaks. Numerous springs are found off of the main ridgetops. The largest of these include North Yolla Bolly Lake, Black Rock Lake, Square Lake, and Long Lake.


Flora and fauna

The wilderness has Coast Range and Klamath
montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...
, mixed evergreen and
Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...
forest types. Conifers include the California endemic
foxtail pine ''Pinus balfouriana'', the foxtail pine, is a rare high-elevation pine that is endemic to California, United States. It is closely related to the Great Basin and Rocky Mountain bristlecone pines, in the subsection ''Balfourianae''. Descriptio ...
,
ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is t ...
,
red fir ''Abies magnifica'', the red fir or silvertip fir, is a western North American fir, native to the mountains of southwest Oregon and California in the United States. It is a high-elevation tree, typically occurring at elevation, though only rarel ...
and
white fir ''Abies concolor'', the white fir, concolor fir, or Colorado fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Sierra Nevada and southern Rocky Mountains, and int ...
, the rare western white pine,
sugar pine ''Pinus lambertiana'' (commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine) is the tallest and most massive pine tree and has the longest Conifer cone, cones of any conifer. It is native to coastal and inland mountain areas along the Pacific coa ...
, incense cedar, and the
Pacific yew ''Taxus brevifolia'', the Pacific yew or western yew, is a species of tree in the yew family Taxaceae native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. It is a small evergreen conifer, thriving in moisture and otherwise tending to take the form o ...
. Other tree species include oaks and cottonwoods. The southern side of Shell Mountain is home to a rare stand of Juniper trees. The Cedar Basin area is also home to the farthest western stand of Quaking Aspen trees. The area includes wet meadows and open grasslands supporting abundant deer herds (as well as cattle and sheep but they are mainly kept out of the wilderness area). Lower elevations have chamise,
manzanita Manzanita is a common name for many species of the genus '' Arctostaphylos''. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from Southern British Columbia and Washington to O ...
, and
ceanothus ''Ceanothus'' is a genus of about 50–60 species of nitrogen-fixing shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae). Common names for members of this genus are buckbrush, California lilac, soap bush, or just ceanothus. ''"Ceanothus" ...
. Wildlife in the wilderness includes black bear,
Roosevelt elk The Roosevelt elk (''Cervus canadensis roosevelti)'', also known commonly as the Olympic elk and Roosevelt's wapiti, is the largest of the four surviving subspecies of elk ('' Cervus canadensis'') in North America by body mass. Mature bulls we ...
,
black-tailed deer Black-tailed deer or blacktail deer occupy coastal regions of western North America. There are two subspecies, the Columbian black-tailed deer (''Odocoileus hemionus columbianus'') which ranges from the Pacific Northwest of the United States and ...
,
gray fox The gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener (biology), congener, the diminutive island fox ...
,
mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...
,
bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...
, coyote,
northern flying squirrel The northern flying squirrel (''Glaucomys sabrinus'') is one of three species of the genus '' Glaucomys'', the only flying squirrels found in North America.Walker EP, Paradiso JL. 1975. ''Mammals of the World''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Universit ...
, fisher and martin. The
northern spotted owl The northern spotted owl (''Strix occidentalis caurina'') is one of three spotted owl subspecies. A western North American bird in the family Strigidae, genus ''Strix (genus), Strix'', it is a medium-sized dark brown owl native to the Pacific N ...
can be found here, as well as eagles, hawks,
turkey vulture The turkey vulture (''Cathartes aura'') is the most widespread of the New World vultures. One of three species in the genus '' Cathartes'' of the family Cathartidae, the turkey vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of Sou ...
s and smaller birds like
grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order (biology), order Galliformes, in the family (biology), family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the Tribe (biology), tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetr ...
, quail, and
band-tailed pigeon The band-tailed pigeon (''Patagioenas fasciata'') is a pigeon native to the Americas, and the largest pigeon native to North America. They are a native species throughout the Southwestern United States and Mexico, extending south to Peru. Taxo ...
. On rare occasions Turkey and herds of wild horse have been spotted as well. Rainbow trout live in most larger streams, such as in the South Fork of Cottonwood Creek, and in Black Rock Lake. The Middle Fork Eel River watershed and the South Fork Trinity River watershed has summer- and winter-run steelhead and spring-run and fall-run chinook salmon, but fishing is restricted. North Yolla Bolly lake was also stocked with Eastern Brook Trout but few remain. Coho Salmon and German Brown Trout have also been seen in many of the rivers but are rare.


Geology

Rocks in the northern mountains are predominantly gray greenstone while the southern mountains include sandstone and serpentine of the Franciscan formation. Cirque basins from former glaciers are seen above about elevation. Extensive faulting in the rocks makes the region prone to erosion, slumping and landslides. One modern landslide near Ides Cove, on the north flank of Mount Linn, reached more than two miles (3 km) toward the South Fork Cottonwood Creek,Wenzel, R., de la Fuente, J., Faust, R.. Assessment of the Slides Glade Landslide, Mendocino National Forest. USDA Forest Service. 1st North American Landslide Conference, June 3–10, 2007, Vail, Colorado. upending old-growth forests and leaving large fissures on its perimeter.


Recreation

Recreational activities include
backpacking Backpacking may refer to: * Backpacking (travel), low-cost, independent, international travel * Backpacking (hiking), trekking and camping overnight in the wilderness * Ultralight backpacking, a style of wilderness backpacking with an emphasis on ...
, day-
hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...
,
camping Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a Bivy bag ...
, fishing, hunting, and
nature photography Nature photography encompasses a wide range of photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures. Nature photography tends to place a stronger ...
. There are 15 trailheads all around the wilderness boundary with the most frequent users being hunters in the autumn months. Visitor use has one of the lowest densities among wilderness areas in California. The Ides Cove Loop Trail is over in length and travels through very scenic areas. This trailhead is also the beginning of the Bigfoot Trail. The US Forest Service encourages visitors to use
Leave No Trace Leave No Trace, sometimes written as LNT, is a set of ethics promoting conservation of the outdoors. Originating in the mid-20th century, the concept started as a movement in the United States in response to ecological damage caused by wilderne ...
ethics when visiting the wilderness to minimize impact to the environment. Access to trailheads on the northwest side of the wilderness is available by paved road from Ruth. Other roads suitable for most passenger vehicles reach the south boundary from Covelo and the east boundary from Corning or Red Bluff.


See also

* * * *


Footnotes


References

# Adkinson, Ron ''Wild Northern California''. The Globe Pequot Press, 2001 # Godfrey, Anthony ''The Ever-Changing View – A History of the National Forests in California'' USDA Forest Service Publishers, 2005 # Wuerthner, George "California Wilderness Areas". Westcliffe Publishers, 1997. # Shechter, Mordechai, and Robert C. Lucas "Simulation of Recreational Use for Park and Wilderness Management". Resources for the Future, 1979.


External links


USDA Forest Service: official website

Wilderness.net: Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness website

Mendocino National Forest: wilderness area
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness Wilderness areas of California Klamath Mountains Protected areas of Mendocino County, California Protected areas of Tehama County, California Protected areas of Trinity County, California Mendocino National Forest Shasta-Trinity National Forest Six Rivers National Forest Bureau of Land Management areas in California Protected areas established in 1964 1964 establishments in California