Deception Creek Experimental Forest

Deception Creek Experimental Forest is located 20 miles (32 km) east of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in one of the most productive forests of the Rocky Mountains. When the experimental forest was established in 1933, people valued mature western white pine to produce matches, toothpicks, and other wood products. Deception Creek is located in the heart of the western white pine forest type, which allows researchers to study the ecology and tree management practices of western white pine and other species that grow with them. Research at Deception Creek has focused on topics including forest regeneration and management methods, research on insects and diseases, impacts of forest management on wildlife, impacts of forest management on watershed runoff/erosion, and soil productivity.  

Tree stands within Deception Creek Experimental Forest range from old-growth stands to young stands that are actively managed for silvicultural studies. Deception Creek contains Montford Creek Research Natural Area, 297 acres (120 ha), an unmanaged area set aside in 1937 as a reference site for this productive forest type. Deception Creek has also been used for education and outreach, including hosting several tours and workshops for university, private, and government agencies, and most recently a field day for the 2022 National Silviculture Workshop where forest managers and scientists came together to learn about root disease, blister rust, beetles, free selection practices, density management, and more

Check out Deception Creek Experimental Forest: A legacy of research video for more information on current and historical research and education activities at Deception Creek. 

Climate

Maritime climate from the Pacific Coast influences weather in Deception Creek. Summers are short; autumn and winters are cloudy, with precipitation averaging 5 ft (1,400 mm). Annual snowfall averages 13 ft (4,060 mm) or 25 percent of total precipitation.

Vegetation

Western white pine, western hemlock, Douglas-fir, western larch, and queen cup beadlilly are found frequently within Deception Creek. Mixed stands containing grand fir, western hemlock, Douglas-fir, western larch, and western white pine range in age from 20 to more than 250 years old. Lodgepole pine, ponderosa pine, subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, and western redcedar grow in small amounts across the forest.  

Deception Creek Experimental Forest hosts diverse species of plants, lichen, and fungi. Please see the below species taxa lists for more information.

• Deception Creek Experimental Forest vascular plant species list
• Deception Creek Experimental Forest fungi species list
• Deception Creek Experimental Forest lichen and bryophyte species list

Soils

Soils are primarily Typic Vitrandepts, which are volcanic ash (0.9 to 6 feet [0.3 to 2 m] deep) above Beltian metasediments.

Elevation & Topography

Elevation ranges from 2,788 to 4,600 feet (850 to 1402 m). The topography contains predominantly north- and south-facing slopes, with slope angles ranging from 35 to 80 percent. Deception Creek dissects the experimental forest from west to east, and many small side drainages also cut through the landscape.

Hydrology

The forest includes the entire drainage of Deception Creek, a tributary of the Little North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River in northern Idaho. 

There are no facilities at Deception Creek.

Historical Research

Deception Creek Experimental Forest was originally established as a center for conducting silviculture studies, focusing on western white pine. Researchers have explored regeneration methods and subsequent effects on the establishment, composition, and growth of naturally and artificially regenerating western white pine. Research generated from Deception Creek provided the foundation for understanding moist, northern Rocky Mountain forests, and changed the ways that people manage coarse woody debris throughout the Rocky Mountains. Using long-term monitoring plots on the forest, researchers have monitored forest productivity and changes in species composition since the early 1900’s.

Deception Creek has also hosted research on insects and diseases, forest fuels treatment, mycology, methods of timber-stand improvement, watershed run-ff and erosion, impacts of forest management on deer and elk feeding habits, and long-term soil productivity. Deception Creek research made important contributions to the development of western white pine trees that are resistant to the blister rust pathogen. Genetic studies of rust-resistant western white pine began in the mid-1950s and continue today. In addition, long-term forest-growth records provided information that was integral in developing Prognosis (now known as the Forest Vegetation Simulator).  

Ongoing Research

Currently, research on the forest looks at ways that forest management affects ecosystem structure and function. Because clearcut harvesting will probably be used much less in future forest management, researchers are studying both even-age and uneven-age tree management systems. Other studies on the forest include fire effects on sedimentation and soil nutrients, soil productivity, management effects on overstory and understory species composition, growth and yield, forest genetics, and root disease.

Current and ongoing research projects at the DCEF include:

Free-selection experiment: This is one of two replicates of a landscape-scale implementation of the free selection silvicultural system - the other replicate being located at Priest River Experimental Forest. This study acts as an example of free selection as implemented in forests of the northern Rockies historically associated with western white pine. Overstory removal treatments were conducted in 2007. A wide variety of conditions were created as part of this project, with canopy openness ranging from 25-45% in some locations, to over 92% in others. This range of conditions allows us to study stand development across a variety of conditions.  

Permanent plot re-measurements: Permanent plots were established over the years to study long-term forest stand demography and dynamics. Decadal measurements have been taken since the early 20th century. Tree measurements common to all permanent plots include species, diameter at breast height, total height, percent live crown, crown class, tree status, tree class, and damage to the trees. Some permanent plots also have measurements of shrub cover, height of shrubs, and photographs.

Ongoing western white pine related research:

• Understory response to canopy opening and residual density of western white pine
• Western white pine blister rust resistance research
• Development of new genetic strains for increased vigor and disease resistance
• Seed source plantations

Research Opportunities

Deception Creek provides ideal conditions for research requiring mixed stands, as stands range in age from 20 to more than 250 years. Because it is one of the most heavily roaded drainages in Idaho, the Deception Creek also offers excellent opportunities for studying road abandonment and rehabilitation as well as erosion and watershed management. Additionally, it offers uniquely moist forest conditions found nowhere else in the West except on the Pacific Coast.

We welcome future research projects and collaborations that fit within the overall research goals of the Rocky Mountain Research Station and are compatible with other ongoing research at Deception Creek. All research conducted at Deception Creek Experimental Forest requires an approved study plan, regardless of type, extent, duration, or impact. Data collected at Deception Creek for use in any publication or product must be submitted to the Forest Service Research Data Archive for a data DOI (how to submit data). It is routine professional ethics to acknowledge RMRS, Deception Creek Experimental Forest, and the efforts of collaborating Forest Service scientists and staff in any subsequent publications. Please also forward subsequent publications to RMRS collaborator.  

Contact Scientist-in-charge Sharon Hood for more information on research opportunities, setting up a study plan, or archiving data collected at Deception Creek Experimental Forest. 

Long-term databases include forest growth (1935–present), weather (1935–1965), and western white pine genetic trials (1955–present); available upon request. The Experimental Forest and Range network encourages re-use of data from among its collaborators. We also recognize that it is important for scientists to receive proper credit for the contribution their data make to other projects. Thus, the data user must properly cite the data publication in any other publications or in the metadata of any derived products developed using Forest Service data (Conditions of Use).    

Surface, Terrain, and Canopy Height Models: This data publication contains three raster datasets with a spatial resolution of one meter: 1) a digital surface model (DSM), which represents the highest lidar return in each grid cell; 2) a digital terrain model (DTM), a representation of the ground surface with vegetation and other non-ground returns removed; and 3) a canopy height model (CHM), a representation of the height of vegetation above the ground surface. Digital surface, terrain, and canopy height models for Deception Creek Experimental Forest in 2011

Sediment and runoff collected from skidder biomass reduction plots: Investigation of the impacts of timber harvesting practices on runoff. Data were collected 2003-2007 and can be found in the Forest Service Research Data Archive.