Ecological Setting of the Wind River

The Wind River old-growth forest, in the southern Cascade Range of Washington State, is a cool (av-erage annual temperature, 8.7"C), moist (average annual precipitation, 2223 mm), 500-year-old Douglas-fir-westem hemlock forest of moderate to low productivity at 37 1-rn elevation on a less than 10 % slope. There is a seasonal snowpack (Novem-ber-March), and rain-on-snow and freezing-rain events are common in winter. Local geology is characterized by volcanic rocks and deposits of Micocene/Oligocene Micocene-Oligocene (mixed) Micocene and Quaternary age, as well as intrusive rocks of Miocene age. Soils are medial, mesic, Entic Vitrands that are deep (2-3 m), well drained, loams and silt loams, generally stone free, and derive