Lake Twenty-Two RNA

Lake Twenty-Two Research Natural Area (RNA) was established to represent a virgin old-growth western red cedar (Thuja plicata) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) forest. The RNA includes almost all of the Lake Twenty-two Creek drainage. The topography is steep to very steep and broken, with a few small benches present. There are snowfields in the basin, wet rocky cliffs, boulder fields, scree slopes, and alluvial deposits along the lakeshore of the RNA. Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis), mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), and Alaska cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis) dominate these nonforested habitats. Old-growth stands of western hemlock and western red cedar dominate the lower elevation forests while Pacific silver fir and Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) are also present. Pacific silver fir, mountain hemlock and Alaska cedar dominate higher elevation forests with Alaska blueberry (Vaccinium alaskaense), buckwheat (V. ovalifolium), rusty menziesia (Menziesia ferruginea), salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) and copperbush (Cladothamnus pyroliflorus) in the shrub layer. Vine maple (Acer circinatum) often dominates brushfield stands on scree slopes.