Archive:Caribou Wilderness

2008-07-29T13:20:04Z

65.110.175.155: /* Area history */

[[Image:Caribourockgarden.jpg|thumb|288px|right|Caribou Wilderness, Lassen National Forest, California]]
{{Infobox_protected_area
| name = Caribou Wilderness
| iucn_category = Ib
| image = US_Locator_Blank.svg
| caption = Map of the [[United States]]
| locator_x = 16
| locator_y = 61
| location =
| nearest_city = [[Susanville, California]]
| lat_degrees = 40
| lat_minutes = 30
| lat_seconds = 03
| lat_direction = N
| long_degrees = 121
| long_minutes = 12
| long_seconds = 05
| long_direction = W
| area = 20,825 acres
| established = 1964
| visitation_num =
| visitation_year =
| governing_body = [[US Forest Service]] / [[US Department of Agriculture]]
}}
The '''Caribou Wilderness''' is a federally designated [[wilderness area]] created by the [[Wilderness Act]] of 1964 and is part of the [[National Wilderness Preservation System]]. It is located 60 miles east of [[Redding]] in the state of [[California]], USA. The Caribou Wilderness comprises 20,625 acres and is adjacent to the east side of [[Lassen Volcanic National Park]]. Both the park and the wilderness are within the [[Lassen National Forest]]. The U.S. Forest Service manages the wilderness.

Elevations range from 6,400 feet to 8,374 feet (ft).

The terrain is a [[volcanic]] [[plateau]] with 75% covered by water and conifer forests and the remainder being barren rock such as cliff faces, [[talus]] slopes and cinder cones. Most of this area has been preserved since 1932 which makes the Caribou Wilderness one of the few remaining pristine forests of the California Cascade region. There are 23 named lakes, inumerable unnamed ponds and tarns, cinder cones and volcanic buttes within the wilderness. Although there are no year round surface streams, the area provides high quality water for the [[headwaters]] of the [[Susan River]], and Bailey Creek, a tributary of the [[Feather River]]. The high point is Red Cinder(8,374 ft) located near the boundary between the wilderness and the park. Other peaks are North Caribou (7,784 ft), South Caribou ( 7,757 ft) and Black Butte in the northeast at 7,884 ft.

Recreational activities include day [[hiking]], backpacking, fishing, [[horseback riding]], cross-country skiing and nature photography.

Three trailheads give access to the wilderness; Hay Meadows in the south, Cone Lake in the north and Silver Lake on the east which is also the most popular entry point. Travel by foot or horseback is easy because the landscape has only moderate hills and valleys. No wilderness permits are required, only a California campfire permit for open fires.

== Flora, fauna and fungi ==
The forest is [[lodgepole pine]], [[Jeffrey pine]], white and red [[fir]], [[western white pine]], and [[Tsuga|hemlock]].

The larger lakes support brook and rainbow [[trout]]. [[Black-tailed Deer|Black-tailed deer]] and [[American Black Bear|black bear]]s along with squirrels, chipmunks, and the protected (from hunting) [[American Marten|pine marten]] live here. There are [[bald eagles]] and [[osprey]]s overhead, [[merganser]]s and [[grebe]]s on the ponds and lakes.

Much smaller in size, but critically important to the forest ecosystem are the fungi.
The [[cup fungus]], for instance, can be found in the Caribou, along with man's hair and narrow-headed morel as well as a timber-destroying pore fungi called the [[Fomitopsis pinicola|red-belt fomes]]. It is a white and yellow fungi on the bark of such trees as the white fir.<ref>[http://www.sherpaguides.com/california/mountains/northern_sierra/lassen_nat_forest.html
Sherpaguide webpage on the Caribou Wilderness] accessed July 18, 2008</ref>

== Area history ==

Before this area became a federally protected wilderness in 1964, it had been previously protected as a primitive area since 1932. When the National Park Service was created in 1916, most of the first National Parks were carved out of National Forest Lands.

Beginning in 1929, The United States Forest Service set some areas aside as primitive areas to keep the Park Service from continuing to acquire forest lands. At least that is the conclusion of economist David Gerard,<ref>David Gerard Ph.D, of the Carnegie Mellon University and is also associated with the [[Hoover Institution]], a conservative think tank.</ref> who wrote about the competing interests between the two federal agencies: The Park Service under the federal [[Department of Interior]] and the Forest Service, managed by the federal [[Department of Agriculture]].

The forest service already managed 151 million acres of forest reserves before the National Park Service was even in existence. And each new national park had to be approved by the U.S. Congress. In 1916 there were 14 parks under the National Park Service.<ref>[http://www.foresthistory.org/Publications/FHT/FHTSpring2002/BehindTheWheel.pdf
Havlick, David G. " Behind The Wheel, A Look Back at Public Land Roads". ''Forest History Today'', Spring 2002 edition, p. 3]</ref>

{{quote|Stephen T. Mather, Director of the National Park Service had made his ideas of park expansion at the expense of the national forest system increasingly apparent to the Forest Service. He had generated such support for the park system that there was at least a fair chance of many large areas in the forests being transferred to the Park Service. |(Gilligan 1953, 92)}}

These political maneuverings by the US Forest Service in the years 1929 - 1964 helped in the development of the wilderness preservation system of today.<ref>[http://www.perc.org/pdf/pltcenv6.pdf Gerard, David ''The Origins of the Federal Wilderness System'' p.4] accessed 23 July 2008.</ref>

== Footnotes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
Adkinson, Ron '' Wild Northern California'' The Globe Piquet Press, 2001

== External links ==
[http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&WID=98 Wilderness.net's page on the Caribou Wilderness]. accessed 18 July 2008

[[Category:Wilderness Areas of California]]
[[Category:IUCN Category Ib]]

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Archive:Caribou Wilderness