Understory

The Cone Peak Gradient Research Natural Area contains a variety of vegetation types ranging from maritime to interior-montane, a number of which contribute toward completion of the RNA system for the Pacific Southwest Region. It shares a boundary with the Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve, a component of the University of California Natural Land and Water Reserves System and is actively used by the university for research.

The Sentinel Meadow Research Natural Area straddles an east-west ridge in the Glass Mountains on the north rim of the Long Valley Caldera. North slopes drain into the Mono Basin, and the southern escarpment drops into the Owens River drainage. Vegetation includes primarily the arid subalpine forest, several shrub communities, and large areas of barren soil.

The Last Chance Meadow Research Natural Area lies on a subalpine ridge between the Cottonwood Creek and Mulkey Creek drainages. The ridge is typical of the southern Sierra Nevada Crest region. Foxtail pine on this RNA grows in pure stands and in mixed stands with limber pine and lodgepole pine.

The Cub Creek Research Natural Area includes mixed conifer forest and six other major vegetation types which in total support more than 230 different plant species. In addition, the diverse community patterns and mixed arrangements of the communities taken as a whole make this area a good representative of the unique and diverse vegetational patterns that occur in the Cascade Range physiographic province of California.

FIFTY YEARS OF FORESTRY RESEARCHThis is a year of celebration' Across our land citizens will gather to observe the 200th birthday of our great nation. Along with the celebration of national birth, the Forest Service is also commemorating the first 50 years of forestry research in the Pacific Northwest.Fifty years ago the Pacific Northwest witnessed a new breed of woodsmen- men armed with the instruments and tools of science. In the years which have passed, scientists from the Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station have worked to gain an understanding of the complex ecosystems of...

The Yurok Research Natural Area contains 120 acres of superlative old-growth redwood forest type, mostly on moderate slopes. Redwood comprises well over 80 percent of the volume composition with the remainder made up of Douglas-fir, western hemlock, Port-Orford-cedar, and Sitka spruce. A dense, lush cover of shrubs and herbs grows beneath the overstory and is composed primarily of salmon berry, salal, coast rhododendron, California huckleberry, sword fern, and redwood sorrel. Less common understory species include tanoak, western thimbleberry, and California red huckleberry.