Pringle Falls

Pringle Falls Research Natural Area (RNA) was established to represent lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests characteristic of a large region of the Oregon Cascade Mountains with aerially-deposited pumice from Mount Mazama. The topography of the western tract of the RNA is mostly flat while the eastern tract varies from flat to rolling to relatively steep. Both tracts lie on a dacite pumice plateau with basalt and basaltic andesite lavas. The western tract is dominated by lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) with patches of western needlegrass (Achnatherum occidentale), Ross' sedge (Carex rossii), bottlebrush squirreltail (Sitanion hystrix), Fragaria cunefolia, bitterbrush (Purshia) and Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis). The eastern tract is dominated by Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) with occasional patches of Ross' sedge (Carex rossii), western needlegrass (Achnatherum eminens), bottlebrush squirreltail, and greenleaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos parryana var. pinetorum). Prescribed fire is used to help maintain ecological conditions and processes for which the RNA was designated to represent.