Archive:Caribou Wilderness

Caribou Wilderness, Lassen National Forest, California

Template:Infobox protected area 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 feet) located near the boundary between the wilderness and the park. Other peaks are North Caribou (7,784 feet), South Caribou ( 7,757 feet) and Black Butte in the northeast at 7,884 feet.

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 hemlock.

The larger lakes support brook and rainbow trout. Black-tailed deer and black bears along with squirrels, chipmunks, and the protected (from hunting) pine marten live here. There are bald eagles and ospreys overhead, mergansers and grebes 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 red-belt fomes. It is a white and yellow fungi on the bark of such trees as the white fir.

Area history

Old growth red fir.

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, 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.

These political maneuverings by the US Forest Service in the years 1929 - 1964 helped in the development of the wilderness preservation system of today.

Recreation

A wilderness is managed to preserve the natural, undeveloped condition of the area as much as possible so there are limitations in the use for recreation. No motorized equipment, vehicles or bicycles can be brought into a wilderness. There are no man-made structures or conveniences, although occasionally evidence of prior land use before the wilderness designation, such as old fences and tree blazes are found. The Caribou is one of the areas protected by the first major legislation for setting aside lands from development and resource extraction. The 1964 Wilderness Act created the Caribou Wilderness out of what was a primitive area since 1932. As a result, an almost pristine, old-growth forest describes the Caribou.

Long Lake

The Hay Meadow trailhead is the southern entrance to the main north-south trail with the north trailhead at Cone Lake. The east side has Silver Lake and Caribou Lake with a trail connecting to the north-south route. There are many alternate trails to many other lakes such as Evelyn Lakes as well as trails to the national park's backcountry wilderness area next to the Caribou on the west. Backpacking and day hikes are possible with a variety of one-way or loop trips of any length . There are lakes within two miles of any trailhead and also volcanic cinder cones and rocky cliffs for the adventurous. Off-trail travel is possible but challenging due to many large fallen trees and brush between wet meadows which is the nature of a wilderness area.

A wilderness addition was proposed for areas just outside the present boundaries including Indian Meadow ( near Hay Meadow) and the lake for which the wilderness is named. These 2,000 acres have been identified by the forest service for having ancient forests of white fir, western white pine, sugar pine, lodgepole pine, red fire, incense cedar and Jeffrey pine. These areas provide habitat for the exceedingly rare wolverine. The adjacent national park has had a difficult time protecting the wolverine, Sierra Nevada red fox, great gray owl, and other rare species because of logging and road construction on the edge of the park. This proposed addition did not make it into the 2006 Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act.

References

Adkinson, Ron Wild Northern California The Globe Piquet Press, 2001

External links

Wilderness.net's page on the Caribou Wilderness. accessed 18 July 2008