Plumas National Forest

Plumas National Forest is a 1,146,000-acre (4,640 km²) United States National Forest located at the northern terminus of the Sierra Nevada, in northern California. The Forest was named after its primary watershed, the Rio de las Plumas, or Feather River.

Plumas National Forest
Bucks Lake in Plumas National Forest
Map of California Show map of California Plumas National Forest (the United States) Show map of the United States
Nearest city	Quincy, California
Coordinates	40°00′01″N 120°40′05″W
Area	1,146,000 acres (4,640 km2)
Established	1907
Governing body	U.S. Forest Service
Website	Plumas National Forest

Geography

About 85% of Plumas National Forest lies in Plumas County, portions extend into eastern Butte, northern Sierra, southern Lassen, and northeastern Yuba counties.^[1]

Management

The land is managed by the United States Forest Service under the Department of Agriculture with local management stationed at the Plumas National Forest Supervisor's office in Quincy, California. The forest is also subdivided into three Ranger Districts, the Beckwourth Ranger District, the Feather River Ranger District and the Mt. Hough Ranger District, with local management in Blairsden, Oroville, and Quincy, respectively.^[2]

History

Plumas was established as the Plumas Forest Reserve by the United States General Land Office on March 27, 1905. In 1906 the forest was transferred to the U.S. Forest Service, and on March 4, 1907, it became a National Forest. On July 1, 1908, a portion of Diamond Mountain National Forest was added.^[3] The Bucks Lake Wilderness was officially designated in 1984 as a part of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

Ecology

Further information: Ecology of the Sierra Nevada

A 2002 study by the Forest Service identified 127,000 acres (51,000 ha) of the forest as old growth, using an economic type definition.^[4] The most common old-growth forest types are mixed conifer forests of:

• Coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii)
• Pacific and Columbia Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa ssp. critchfieldiana) in the west, transitioning to (P. ponderosa ssp. ponderosa) in the far eastern section
• Sierra White Fir (Abies concolor ssp. lowiana)
• Jeffrey Pine (Pinus jeffreyi)
• Red Fir (Abies magnifica)
• Sierra Lodgepole Pine (Pinus Contorta ssp. murrayana)
• Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens)
• Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana)

Virtually no virgin timberland exists, as the area has been a logging epicenter starting with the gold rush continuing into the modern era.

See also

• List of national forests of the United States
• List of plants of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.)
• Modoc Cypress
• Category:Fauna of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
• Beckwourth Ranger District
• Butterfly Valley Botanical Area
• Feather Falls
• Lake Davis
• Frenchman Lake (California)
• Bucks Lake
• Mount Ingalls (California)
• Thompson Peak (Plumas County, California)
• Adams Peak
• Diamond Mountains (California)
• Moonlight Fire
• Camp Fire (2018)
• Walker Fire
• North Complex Fire
• Dixie Fire
• The Lost Sierra
• Yuba County Five
• Disappearance of Gary Mathias, the only one of a group of five men who otherwise perished in a mysterious incident in winter 1978 whose body has not been found

References

1. http://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/lar/2007/TABLE_6.htm ^{[bare URL]}
2. "USFS Ranger Districts by State" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-19. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
3. Davis, Richard C. (September 29, 2005), National Forests of the United States (PDF), The Forest History Society, archived from the original (PDF) on October 28, 2012, retrieved August 13, 2011
4. Warbington, Ralph; Beardsley, Debby (2002), 2002 Estimates of Old Growth Forests on the 18 National Forests of the Pacific Southwest Region, United States Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region

External links

• Official Plumas National Forest website
• Plumas National Forest - Map (detailed)