Pacific Northwest Region

photo by Don Bertolette

Pacific Northwest Old Growth Forest http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/oldgrowth.htm The Pacific Northwest old-growth forest is a conifer forest, dominated by large, old trees. In the Pacific Northwest, the most common type of old-growth ecosystem is forests dominated by Douglas-firs and western hemlocks, generally 350 to 750 years old. The youngest old-growth forests are 200 years old, and the oldest are about 1,000 years old.
- The Pacific Northwest also has old-growth forests dominated by Sitka spruce and western hemlock, along the Pacific Coast, and at higher elevations in the Cascade Mountains, true fir and hemlock old-growth forests. 

Native Forest Network http://www.nativeforest.org/ The Native Forest Network is a global autononomous collective of forest activists, indigenous peoples, conservation biologists and non-governmental organizations. It functions on a consensus basis, and is non-violent, non-hierarchical and non-patriarchal. Furthermore, it is non-discriminatory on grounds of race, gender, culture, class or species. Mission: To protect the world's remaining native forest be they temperate or otherwise, to ensure they can survive, flourish and maintain their evolutionary potential.

DIVERSITY AND STATE OF FOREST ECOSYSTEMS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST by Yaroslaw Medwidsky  http://www.forestry.toronto.edu/usa/all%20papers.htm The Pacific Northwest has a tremendous wealth of natural resources with spectacular forests, expansive rangelands, and plentiful salmon, having drawn people from throughout the country for more than a century (Smith et al. 1995). The complex physiography, geology, soils and climate of the Pacific Northwestern United States (US) (Kolb and Bailey 2003) have created conditions conducive to such biotic and genetic diversity...Physiography and Forest Ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest Region: There are four primary ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest region: forest ecosystems west of the Cascade Range (commonly called the Westside); forest ecosystems east of the Cascade Range (commonly called the Eastside); Eastside rangeland ecosystems; and riparian and aquatic ecosystems containing anadromous fish populations (Smith et al. 1995). 

  • Smith, J.P., Collopy, M.W., Bury, R.B., Castellano, M.A., Cross, S.P., Dobkin, D.S., Hagar, J., Lattin, J.D., Li, J., McComb, W.C., Martin, K.J., Miller, J.C., Molina, R., Perkins, J.M., Pyke, D.A., Rosentreter, R., Smith, J.E., Starkey, E.G., Tesch, S.D. 1995. Status and Trends of the Nation’s Biological Resources. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Report. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Biological Resources Division Report.