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Experimental Forests
Science makes the US Forest Service unique. The
ability to conduct scientific research in-house, to apply
research findings on the National Forest System lands,
and to transfer them to others for use on all of the
nation's forest land sets the Forest Service apart as a
natural resource agency. A unique and exceedingly
valuable part of the infrastructure in place to conduct
this research is the national network of experimental
forests and ranges, a land base authorized by Congress
and designated by the Chiefs of the Forest Service over
the last 100 years. These experimental forests and ranges
are not historical relics, but the sites for most of the longterm
research conducted by Forest Service Research and
Development and our partners. The experimental forests
and ranges are living laboratories where Forest Service
scientists not only make discoveries but also demonstrate
research results for cooperators and stakeholders. They
provide the opportunity to conduct the bold, imaginative
research that will be required for the future.
The Rocky Mountain Research Station administers and conducts research on 14 experimental
forests and ranges:
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Black Hills Experimental Forest (South Dakota) - silviculture of ponderosa pine, mountain pine beetle, and wildlife habitat.
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Boise Basin Experimental Forest (Idaho) - old-growth restoration, prescribed fire, and root-system structures.
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Coram Experimental Forest (Montana) - forest regeneration, wildlife, climate and hydrology.
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Deception Creek Experimental Forest (Idaho) - sedimentation, forest genetics, root disease, small tree utilization, and fire effects.
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Desert Experimental Range (Utah) - cold desert plant communities, desertification, sheep management, rodent ecology, pronghorn antelope, soils, and bird and mammal populations.
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Fort Valley Experimental Forest (Arizona) - forest pathology, forest restoration, wildland-urban interface studies, and fire effects.
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Fraser Experimental Forest (Colorado) - nutrient cycling, snow hydrology, ecosystem carbon storage, climate, streamflow, and water chemistry.
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GLEES (Glacier Lake Ecosystem Experiments Site) (Wyoming) - seedling germination, nitrogen deposition, riparian hydrology, disturbance dynamics, tree growth, atmospheric pollutants.
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Great Basin Experimental Range (Utah) - plant adaptation and succession, nutrient cycling, revegetation, restoration ecology, and game habitat.
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Long Valley Experimental Forest (Arizona) - ponderosa pine, burning interval effects, tree growth history.
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Manitou Experimental Forest (Colorado) - ponderosa pine ecosystems, fire, insect and bird biology, dwarf mistletoe, and wildland-urban interface issues.
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Priest River Experimental Forest (Idaho) - woody debris, soil productivity, acid deposition, seedling development, water yield and quality, and wood decomposition.
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Sierra Ancha Experimental Forest (Arizona) - long-term hydrologic studies.
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Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest (Montana) - hydrology, climate, and regenerating and restoring lodgepole pine.
Experimental forests and ranges (and other experimental
areas within this network) remain as some of the few
places where ecological research can be maintained over
the long term. This kind of protection allows for
experiments that can last longer than an individual
scientist's career. For example, at the H.J. Andrews
Experimental Forest in Oregon, a study of log
decomposition that was established in 1982 is expected
to last for 200 years! The existence of these experimental
forests and ranges allows for long-term data to be
collected, and for us to learn how forests change over
time as climate and other factors change. At the Bartlett
Experimental Forest in New Hampshire, 500 growth
plots were laid in a grid across the forest in 1931.
Remeasurements of these plots have helped us better
learn how to manage forests that are dynamic and subject
to a variety of stresses over time. Because experimental
forests and ranges often encompass whole watersheds and
large areas, it is possible to do landscape-scale
experiments. Finally, operating as a network of ecological
research sites representing a wide range of forest and
range types allows scientists to conduct cross-site
comparisons, to help leverage funding, and to evaluate
landscape patterns and processes at landscape to regional
scales.
Experimental forests and ranges are extremely varied, and
are located throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.
They are as small as 47 ha (Kawishiwi
Experimental Forest in Minnesota) and as large as 22,500
ha (Desert Experimental Range in Utah). They range
from boreal forests (Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest
in Alaska) to tropical forests (Luquillo Experimental
Forest in Puerto Rico) to dry desert ranges (Great Basin
Experimental Range in Utah). Long-term records on
many of these experimental forests and ranges date back
to the 1930s when 29 of the 77 were established. The
oldest research records date back to 1911 (Priest River
Experimental Forest in Idaho) and 1912 (Great Basin
Experimental Range in Utah), whereas the newest
experimental forests were designated in the early 1970s
(McCormick Experimental Forest in 1970 and Entiat
Experimental Forest in 1971). Such diversity is a
hallmark and a strength of the network of experimental
forests and ranges.
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The material for the Experimental Forests pages was originally published in:
Adams, Mary Beth; Loughry, Linda; Plaugher, Linda, comps. 2004.
Experimental Forests and Ranges of the USDA Forest Service.
Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-321. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. 178 p.
GTR-NE-321 - 5.5 mb pdf
Information has been updated since original publication.
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