Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

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Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

IUCN Category VI - Protected Area with Sustainable use of Natural Resources

Glacier Peak from Image Lake

Glacier Peak from Image Lake from

location Washington , USA
surface 6,977.70 km²
Geographical location 47 ° 46 '  N , 121 ° 23'  W Coordinates: 47 ° 45 '57 "  N , 121 ° 22' 41"  W
Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest (Washington)
Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
Setup date 1974; Mount Baker National Forest: Jan 21, 1924; Snoqualmie National Forest: July 1, 1908
administration US Forest Service

The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington is an almost 7,000 km² national forest of the USA, which extends over more than 230 km along the western slopes of the Cascade Range from the border between Canada and the United States to the northern border of Mount Rainier National Park extends. It is administered by the United States Forest Service from the headquarters in Everett .

tourism

Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest covers parts of Snohomish , Whatcom , Skagit , King , Pierce , and Kittitas Counties (in descending order of forest area) . The forest consists of four ranger districts , which are listed below from north to south: the Mount Baker District with two ranger stations in Glacier and Sedro-Woolley ; the Darrington Ranger District with two ranger stations in Darrington and Verlot ; the Skykomish Ranger District with a ranger station in Skykomish ; the Snoqualmie Ranger District with two ranger stations in North Bend and Enumclaw .

Together with the other central counties on Puget Sound , 62% (3.63 million people) of the population of Washington state live within a radius of approximately 100 kilometers and the state forest. Another 1.5 million people in the metropolitan area of Vancouver can reach the northern part of the forest relatively easily. The large population and easy access by road make Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest the second most visited national forest in the United States.

geography

mountains

The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest has many scenic spots as well as places of historical importance. The peaks reach heights of 1500 to 1800 meters in the south and between 2100 and 2400 meters in the north of the forest. The great volcanoes Mount Baker and Glacier Peak are still enthroned almost a thousand meters above the adjacent ridges.

Map of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

glacier

There are more glaciers and snowfields in the forest than in any other national forest outside of Alaska. As of 1971, the largest glaciers with areas of more than 2.5 km² are:

The number of glaciers in the forest has decreased from 295 (1971) to fewer than 287 (1998). This is part of the global glacier retreat since 1850 . The forest's glaciers lost between 20 and 40% of their volume between 1984 and 2006. The cause is seen in the continued warm conditions and the negative mass balance. The White Chuck Glacier (Glacier Peak) is not on the above list of the great glacier. Between 1958 and 2002 it shrank from 3.1 to 0.9 km². With the retreat of the glaciers, the summer glaciogenic runoff has also decreased by 65 to 80%. This reduces the flow rate and sedimentation and increases the water temperature. Salmon and many other species are affected by such changes.

Twin Sisters Mountain in the Mount Baker Wilderness

protection

The northern and eastern parts of the forest are extraordinarily wild and scenic. In 1968 the forest was handed over to the National Park Service to be incorporated into the North Cascades National Park . A study by the Forest Service estimated the population of old trees to be 260,400 hectares. The following wilderness areas have been established since 1964 through the activities of the Congress, which cover 3,347 km² - almost half of the total area:

These pristine areas offer clean water, solitude and permanent protection of the mature trees of over 42% of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

Congress also established the Skagit Wild and Scenic River System in 1978 . Its 200 km of running waters on the Skagit River, Cascade River , Sauk River , and Suiattle River provide significant wilderness habitats and recreation. The Skagit River System is home to one of the largest winter populations of the bald eagle in the United States.

The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest encompasses much of the North Cascades ecoregion, a Level III ecoregion of North America. It includes the following Level IV ecoregions:

  • Western Hemlock Ecoregion
  • Silver Fir Ecoregion
  • Subalpine Mountain Hemlock Ecoregion
  • Alpine Ecoregion

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Mt.Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest - About the Forest . www.fs.usda.gov/detail/mbs/. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  2. ^ The National Forests of the United States (PDF) ForestHistory.org. Archived from the original on February 21, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 30, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.foresthistory.org
  3. ↑ Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest Gains New Forest Supervisor . Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  4. ^ A. Post, D. Richardson, WV Tangborn, FL Rosselot: Inventory of glaciers in the North Cascades, Washington . In: USGS Prof. Paper . 705-A, 1971, pp. A1-A26.
  5. ↑ Lyn Topinka: Mount Baker Glaciers and Glaciation . United States Geological Survey . July 9, 2002. Retrieved May 9, 2008.
  6. ↑ M. Pelto, C. Hedlund: Terminus behavior and response time of North Cascade glaciers, Washington, USA . In: Journal of Glaciology . 47, No. 158, 2001, pp. 496-506. doi : 10.3189 / 172756501781832098 .
  7. ↑ Beckey, Fred: Cascade Alpine Guide: Climbing and High Routes: Rainy Pass to Fraser River , 2nd. Edition, Mountaineers Books, 1995, ISBN 0-89886-423-2 , OCLC 14692076 .
  8. ↑ Mauri S. Pelto: North Cascade Glacier Retreat . In: North Cascade Glacier Climate Project . Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 14, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nichols.edu
  9. ↑ Mauri S. Pelto: Glacier Mass Balance . In: North Cascade Glacier Climate Project . Archived from the original on December 25, 2007. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 14, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nichols.edu
  10. ↑ Mauri S. Pelto: Recent Glacier retreat and changes in stream flow in the North Cascades . In: North Cascade Glacier Climate Project . Archived from the original on March 7, 2006. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 14, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nichols.edu
  11. ^ Charles L. Bolsinger, Karen L. Waddell: Area of ​​old-growth forests in California, Oregon, and Washington . (PDF) In: United States Forest Service , Pacific Northwest Research Station (Ed.): Resource Bulletin PNW-RB-197 . 1993. Retrieved February 14, 2015.

See also

Web links

Commons : Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest  - Collection of images, videos and audio files