Wallowa–Whitman National Forest

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Wallowa–Whitman National Forest
Wallowa Mountains.jpg
The Wallowa Mountains in northeastern Oregon
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Location in Oregon and Idaho
Location Oregon / Idaho, United States
Nearest city Baker City, Oregon
Coordinates 45°20′00″N117°00′05″W / 45.33333°N 117.00139°W / 45.33333; -117.00139
Area2,392,508 acres (9,682 km2)
EstablishedMay 6, 1905 [1]
Visitors505,000(in 2006) [2]
Governing body U.S. Forest Service
Website Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

The Wallowa–Whitman National Forest is a United States National Forest in the U.S. states of Oregon and Idaho. Formed upon the merger of the Wallowa and Whitman national forests in 1954, it is located in the northeastern corner of Oregon, in Wallowa, Baker, Union, Grant, and Umatilla counties, and includes small areas in Nez Perce and Idaho counties in Idaho. [3] [4] The forest is named for the Wallowa band of the Nez Perce people, who originally lived in the area, and Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, Presbyterian missionaries who settled just to the north in 1836. Forest headquarters are located in Baker City, Oregon with ranger districts in La Grande, Joseph and Baker City.

Contents

Geography

Map of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, including the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area and designated wilderness areas Wallowa-Whitman National Forest map.gif
Map of the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest, including the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area and designated wilderness areas

The national forest may be divided into several distinct sections, which together cover 2,300,000 acres (9,300 km2) of land, including 600,000 acres (2,400 km2) of designated wilderness. [5]

A large section of the forest is located in the rugged Wallowa Mountains, south of Joseph, Oregon, in the upper reaches of the Wallowa, Minam, and Imnaha drainage basins. The alpine area in the heart of the mountain range is designated as the Eagle Cap Wilderness. Bordering the national forest on the north, Wallowa Lake State Park is located on the shore of Wallowa Lake.

A smaller section of the forest is located north of Enterprise, Oregon, along Joseph Canyon. This section is joined to the first by the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, which protects the stretch of the Snake River known as Hells Canyon, the deepest gorge in North America. The recreation area includes portions of the Nez Perce, Payette, and Wallowa–Whitman national forests, but is managed solely by the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest. [6] It contains the Hells Canyon Wilderness, jointly managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. The Hells Canyon Scenic Byway passes through the national forest on Forest Service Road 39. [7]

Another large section of the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest is located west of La Grande and Baker City, Oregon, in the Elkhorn Mountains, a sub-range of the Blue Mountains. It borders the Malheur National Forest on the southwest and the Umatilla National Forest on the northwest. This area includes the upper reaches of the John Day and Grande Ronde rivers. The North Fork John Day and Monument Rock wildernesses are jointly managed by the adjacent national forests. The historic gold mining city of Sumpter is surrounded by the Wallowa–Whitman on all sides.

Ecology

The Wallowa–Whitman National Forest is home to 36 fish species, 236 bird species, over 90  mammal species, 26  reptile-amphibian species, and roughly 1,500 plant species. [8]

Wildlife habitat is affected by logging and grazing, but significant stands of old-growth forest have survived. A 1993 Forest Service study estimated that the extent of old growth in the forest was 173,000 acres (70,000 ha). [9] Large mammal species include Shiras moose, [10] Rocky Mountain elk, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, mountain goat, white-tailed deer, mule deer, black bear, timber wolf, [11] cougar, and bobcat. [12] [13] [14] [15] Several sightings of wolverines, rare within the United States, have been recorded since the 1990s. [16] Smaller mammals include the pika, marten, badger, mink, beaver, river otter, and marmot. Bird species include the peregrine falcon, bald eagle, golden eagle, ferruginous hawk, goshawk, gray-crowned rosy finch, chukar partridge, pileated woodpecker, American dipper, and great gray owl. Rivers and creeks support steelhead and trout. [12] [13] [14] [15]

Plant communities range from low-elevation grasslands and ponderosa pine forest to alpine meadows. Engelmann spruce, mountain hemlock, subalpine fir and whitebark pine can be found in the higher elevations, with Douglas-fir, white fir, western larch, and lodgepole pine elsewhere. Wildflowers include clarkia, Indian paintbrush, sego lily, elephanthead, larkspur, shooting star, and bluebell. Rocky bluffs in the Hells Canyon area support prickly pear cactus and poison ivy. [12] [13] [14] [15]

The Forest Service uses controlled burns before the wildfire season to reduce the natural fuel on the forest floor as part of its management of the forest. [17]

History

The land that is now the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest was first occupied by the Nez Perce people around 1400  CE. The area was the summer home of the Joseph Band of the Nez Perce tribe. The Cayuse, Shoshone and Bannock tribes arrived in the area some time later. The native people hunted deer, elk and bighorn sheep in the Wallowa Valley and surrounding mountains. The first European settlers arrived in the Wallowa Valley in 1860. [18] In 1887, a gang of horse thieves murdered 34 Chinese miners in Chinese Massacre Cove along the Snake River. [19]

In 1905, the Wallowa Forest Reserve and Chesnimnus Reserve were established by President Theodore Roosevelt. The two reserves were later merged to create the Imnaha National Forest on March 1, 1907. On July 1, 1908, the name was changed to Wallowa National Forest, and in 1954 the Wallowa was administratively combined with the Whitman National Forest to create the Wallowa–Whitman. The Whitman had been established on July 1, 1908, from part of the Blue Mountains National Forest. On June 20, 1920, part of Minam National Forest was added. [20]

The Eagle Cap primitive area was established in 1930. The area was designated as a wilderness in 1940. The Wilderness Act in 1964 placed the Eagle Cap Wilderness in the National Wilderness Preservation System. The Eagle Cap was enlarged by 73,410 acres (297 km2) in 1972 and by an additional 67,711 acres (274 km2) in 1984. Its area now totals 350,461 acres (1,418 km2). [18] [21]

The Wallowa Mountains Visitor Center and district office for the national forest, a 20,500-square-foot (1,900 m2) log building in Enterprise, burned to the ground on July 11, 2010. [22]

The forest works with the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation on cultural and natural resources issues.

Recreational uses

Grande Ronde Lake Campground has eight campsites Grande Ronde Lake Campground.jpg
Grande Ronde Lake Campground has eight campsites

The Wallowa–Whitman National Forest is used for hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, and other recreational activities. Anthony Lakes Ski Area is within the forest. The ski area is 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Baker City and 45 miles (72 km) southwest of La Grande. It has groomed slopes for alpine skiing and snowboarding and trails for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. The forest also has many miles of trail specifically designated for snowmobile use. [23]

The forest has 52 developed campgrounds and 9 day-use picnic areas. Most campgrounds are open from May to October. The Forest Service also operates five rental cabins. Hikers have the choice of 66 trails, with vista points along many of the routes, and 26 interpretive sites. The national forest has seven areas where visitors can enjoy swimming, power boating, rafting, canoeing, and kayaking. There are numerous fishing streams, and hunting is allowed during specific seasons. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife regulates hunting and fishing activities on national forest land. [24] [25]

Some forest activities require permits. The type of permit and its cost depends on the specific recreational activity. A Northwest Forest Pass is required for parking at some high-use trailheads. The cost is $30 for an annual pass or $5 for a day pass. The Forest Service uses the permit revenue for trail maintenance. Permits are also required for firewood cutting, Christmas tree harvesting, and mushroom gathering. A special permit is required to raft on the Snake River. [24] [26]

The forest is home to the annual Eagle Cap Extreme Dog Sled Race, a three-day race that qualifies winners for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and the Yukon Quest race in Alaska and Yukon Territory. [27] It is also home to the Wallowa Lake Tramway. [28] [29]

Wilderness areas

There are four designated wilderness areas within the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest. Three of these extend into neighboring national forests or onto land that is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nez Perce</span> Indigenous peoples of North America

The Nez Perce are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region has been occupied for at least 11,500 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallowa County, Oregon</span> County in Oregon, United States

Wallowa County is the northeastern most county in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,391, making it Oregon's fifth-least populous county. Its county seat is Enterprise. According to Oregon Geographic Names, the origins of the county's name are uncertain, with the most likely explanation being it is derived from the Nez Perce term for a structure of stakes used in fishing. An alternative explanation is that Wallowa is derived from a Nez Perce word for "winding water". The journals of Lewis and Clark Expedition record the name of the Wallowa River as Wil-le-wah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hells Canyon</span> Canyon in the western United States

Hells Canyon is a ten-mile-wide (16 km) canyon in the Western United States, located along the border of eastern Oregon, western Idaho, and a small section of eastern Washington. It is part of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area which is also located in part of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. It is North America's deepest river gorge at 7,993 feet (2,436 m), running deeper than the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Mountains (Pacific Northwest)</span> Mountain range in Oregon and Washington, United States

The Blue Mountains are a mountain range in the northwestern United States, located largely in northeastern Oregon and stretching into extreme southeastern Washington. The range has an area of about 15,000 square miles (39,000 km2), stretching east and southeast of Pendleton, Oregon, to the Snake River along the Oregon–Idaho border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grande Ronde River</span> River in Oregon and Washington, United States

The Grande Ronde River is a 210-mile (340 km) long tributary of the Snake River, flowing through northeast Oregon and southeast Washington in the United States. Its watershed is situated in the eastern Columbia Plateau, bounded by the Blue Mountains and Wallowa Mountains to the west of Hells Canyon. The river flows generally northeast from its forested headwaters west of La Grande, Oregon, through the agricultural Grande Ronde Valley in its middle course, and through rugged canyons cut from ancient basalt lava flows in its lower course. While it joins the Snake River upstream of Asotin, Washington, more than 90 percent of the river's watershed is in Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallowa Mountains</span> Mountain range in Oregon, United States

The Wallowa Mountains are a mountain range located in the Columbia Plateau of northeastern Oregon in the United States. The range runs approximately 40 miles (64 km) northwest to southeast in southwestern Wallowa County and eastern Union County between the Blue Mountains to the west and the Snake River to the east. The range is sometimes considered to be an eastern spur of the Blue Mountains, and it is known as the "Alps of Oregon". Much of the range is designated as the Eagle Cap Wilderness, part of the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallowa River</span> River in Oregon, United States

The Wallowa River is a tributary of the Grande Ronde River, approximately 55 miles (89 km) long, in northeastern Oregon in the United States. It drains a valley on the Columbia Plateau in the northeast corner of the state north of Wallowa Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nez Perce National Forest</span> National forest in Oregon, Idaho, and Montana, U.S.

The Nez Perce National Forest is a 4,000,000-acre (16,000 km2) United States National Forest located in west-central Idaho. The forest is bounded on the east by the state of Montana, on the north by the Clearwater National Forest, on the west by a portion of the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest and on the south by the Payette National Forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bitterroot National Forest</span> U.S. Forest across Montana and Idaho

Bitterroot National Forest comprises 1.587 million acres (6,423 km2) in west-central Montana and eastern Idaho of the United States. It is located primarily in Ravalli County, Montana, but also has acreage in Idaho County, Idaho (29.24%), and Missoula County, Montana (0.49%).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hells Canyon Wilderness (Oregon and Idaho)</span> Wilderness area in Idaho and Oregon

The Hells Canyon Wilderness is a wilderness area in the western United States, in Idaho and Oregon. Created 49 years ago in 1975, the Wilderness is managed by both the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service and contains some of the most spectacular sections of the Snake River as it winds its way through Hells Canyon, North America's deepest river gorge and one of the deepest gorges on Earth. The Oregon Wilderness Act of 1984 added additional acreage and currently the area protects a total area of 217,927 acres (88,192 ha). It lies entirely within the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area except for a small 946-acre (383 ha) plot in southeastern Wallowa County, Oregon which is administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The area that is administered by the Forest Service consists of portions of the Wallowa, Nez Perce, Payette, and Whitman National Forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hells Canyon National Recreation Area</span> United States historic place

Hells Canyon National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area on the borders of the U.S. states of Oregon and Idaho. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, the recreation area was established by Congress and signed by President Gerald Ford in late 1975 to protect the historic and archaeological values of the Hells Canyon area and the area of the Snake River between Hells Canyon Dam and the Oregon–Washington border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lostine River</span> River in Oregon, United States

The Lostine River is a 31.4-mile-long (50.5 km) tributary of the Wallowa River in northeastern Oregon in the United States. It drains a portion of the Eagle Cap Wilderness of the Wallowa Mountains in the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest and joins the Wallowa River at Wallowa.

Wallowa National Forest was first established as the Wallowa Forest Reserve in Oregon on May 6, 1905 with 747,200 acres (3,024 km2). On March 1, 1907 it was combined with the Chenismus Forest Reserve to create Imnaha National Forest, which was then renamed Wallowa on July 1, 1908. In 1954 it was administratively combined with Whitman National Forest to make Wallowa–Whitman National Forest. The Wallowa National Forest is located overwhelmingly in Wallowa County, Oregon, but there are much smaller portions in Union County, Oregon and Nez Perce and Idaho counties in Idaho. There are local ranger district offices in Enterprise and La Grande, both in Oregon. Forest headquarters are in Baker City, as part of Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. As of 30 September 2008, the Wallowa portion had an area of 997,063 acres (4,034.97 km2), comprising about 44% of the Wallowa-Whitman's acreage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eagle Cap Wilderness</span> Wilderness area in northeastern Oregon, U.S.

Eagle Cap Wilderness is a wilderness area located in the Wallowa Mountains of northeastern Oregon, within the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest. The wilderness was established in 1940. In 1964, it was included in the National Wilderness Preservation System. A boundary revision in 1972 added 73,000 acres (30,000 ha) and the Wilderness Act of 1964 added 66,100 acres (26,700 ha) resulting in its current size of 361,446 acres, making Eagle Cap by far Oregon's largest wilderness area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Canyon</span>

Joseph Canyon is a 2,000-foot (610 m)-deep basalt canyon in northern Wallowa County, Oregon, and southern Asotin County, Washington, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hells Canyon Scenic Byway</span>

Hells Canyon Scenic Byway is a designated All-American Road in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the northeast corner of Oregon and comprises Oregon Route 82, Oregon Route 350, Forest Roads 39 and 3365, and most of Oregon Route 86. From the west, the byway begins at the intersection of Oregon Route 82 and Interstate 84 near La Grande and ends near Baker City, at the junction of Interstate 84 and Oregon Route 86. It is 218.4 miles (351.5 km) long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Mountains (ecoregion)</span> Temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of the United States

The Blue Mountains ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Pacific Northwest, mainly in the state of Oregon, with small areas over the state border in Idaho and southeastern Washington. It is also contiguous with the World Wildlife Fund's Blue Mountain forests ecoregion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grande Ronde Valley</span>

The Grande Ronde Valley is a valley in Union County in northeastern Oregon, United States. It is surrounded by the Blue Mountains and Wallowa Mountains, and is drained by the Grande Ronde River. La Grande is its largest community. The valley is 35 miles (56 km) long, north to south, from Pumpkin Ridge to Pyles Canyon, and 15 miles (24 km) wide, east to west, from Cove to the Grande Ronde River's canyon. Its name, fittingly, means, "great circle."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wenaha River</span> River in Oregon, United States

The Wenaha River is a tributary of the Grande Ronde River, about 21.6 miles (34.8 km) long, in Wallowa County, northeastern Oregon. The river begins at the confluence of its north and south forks in the Blue Mountains and flows east through the Wenaha–Tucannon Wilderness to meet the larger river at the small settlement of Troy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chief Joseph Mountain</span> Mountain peak in Oregon, United States

Chief Joseph Mountain is a 9,616-foot elevation (2,931 m) mountain summit located in Wallowa County, Oregon, US.

References

  1. Staff. "National Forests". Foresthistory.org. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  2. Revised Visitation Estimates (PDF)- National Forest Service
  3. "Forest Service Land Acreage By State". U.S. Forest Service.
  4. Wallowa–Whitman National Forest: Local Communities Adjacent to Wallowa–Whitman National Forest. U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved on May 13, 2008.
  5. Enjoy Your National Forest. U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved on May 13, 2008.
  6. About the Management of Hells Canyon. U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved on May 19, 2008.
  7. Baker, Mark. "The Roads to Riches". The Register-Guard (Eugene, Oregon), April 15, 2007.
  8. Wallowa–Whitman National Forest Facts and Figures. U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved on May 13, 2008.
  9. Bolsinger, Charles L.; Waddell, Karen L. (1993). "Area of old-growth forests in California, Oregon, and Washington" (PDF). United States Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. Resource Bulletin PNW-RB-197.
  10. "Wildlife Division - Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife". www.dfw.state.or.us. Archived from the original on 2007-09-09.
  11. "ODFW Gray Wolves". www.dfw.state.or.us. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  12. 1 2 3 Eagle Cap Wilderness. U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved on May 13, 2008.
  13. 1 2 3 Hells Canyon Wilderness Information. U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved on May 13, 2008.
  14. 1 2 3 North Fork John Day Wilderness. U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved on May 13, 2008.
  15. 1 2 3 Mountain Rock Wilderness. U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved on May 13, 2008.
  16. Biodiversity Legal Foundation; et al. (2000). "Petition for a rule to list the wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus) as Threatened or Endangered under the Endangered Species Act… within the contiguous United States (p. 38)" (PDF). Submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  17. "USFS burning to reduce woody debris". The Observer (La Grande, Oregon), May 9, 2008.
  18. 1 2 "The Eagle Cap Wilderness", Wallowa–Whitman National Forest, United States Forest Service, Baker City, Oregon, February 8, 2008.
  19. Nokes, R. Gregory. "A Most Daring Outrage": Murders at Chinese Massacre Cove, 1887. Oregon Historical Quarterly, Fall 2006. Vol. 107, no. 3. Retrieved on May 13, 2008.
  20. Davis, Richard C. (September 29, 2005). "National Forests of the United States" (PDF). The Forest History Society.
  21. "Wallowa County History", Wallowa County Chieftain, Enterprise, Oregon, August 6, 2007.
  22. Cockle, Richard (July 13, 2010). "Cause of Wallowa visitor center fire could take weeks to determine". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon.
  23. "Recreation", Wallowa–Whitman National Forest, United States Forest Service, Baker City, Oregon, May 15, 2006.
  24. 1 2 "Frequently Asked Questions", Wallowa–Whitman National Forest, United States Forest Service, Baker City, Oregon, May 15, 2006.
  25. "Forest Facts—Fiscal Year 2007", Wallowa–Whitman National Forest, United States Forest Service, Baker City, Oregon, 28 March 2008.
  26. "Passes & Permits", Wallowa–Whitman National Forest, United States Forest Service, Baker City, Oregon, March 28, 2008.
  27. Goodman, Holly. "Musher racks up firsts to clear path for dogs". The Oregonian , January 10, 2008.
  28. Oppenheimer, Laura. "Beyond Bend". The Oregonian, August 19, 2007.
  29. "Eagle Cap Extreme Sled Dog Race - Home". www.eaglecapextreme.com. Retrieved 14 June 2017.