North Fork Silver Creek Research Natural Area

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North Fork Silver Creek Research Natural Area

Medford District , BLM

Klamath Mountains Ecoregion

Cell(s):

Port Orford cedar-western hemlock with leucothoe and swordfern
White fir/dwarf Oregon grape moderately dry site forest with twinflower and vanillaleaf

Access by gravel roads

The North Fork Silver Creek RNA protects 243 ha of rugged, steep, north-facing terrain near the lower Rogue River. It lies about 40 km from Galice, Oregon in Josephine County, with elevations ranging from 730 to 1,160 m. Chosen to represent the diverse shrub species that occur in the western Siskiyou Mountains on non-serpentine, metamorphic bedrock, the RNA supports manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.), golden chinquapin (Chrysolepis chrysophylla), Sadler oak (Quercus sadleriana), Pacific rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum), and salal (Gaultheria shallon). Red alder (Alnus rubra) dominates the lower riparian zone, but is replaced by coniferous forest in the upper reaches. This forest contains Port Orford cedar (Cupressus lawsoniana) and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) in the moist draw with salal, Sadler oak, and Pacific rhododendron in the understory. Upslope forests comprise white fir (Abies concolor) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) with sporadic red huckleberry (Vaccinium parviflora) and tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus). Upper slopes are more xeric, and support 150-year-old Douglas fir, sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), with white fir regeneration in the understory. Soil series include Beekman and Vermisa. The climate consists of warm, temperate, dry summers and cool moist winters. Annual precipitation averages 254 cm. Although the surrounding region has been intensively logged and roaded, the RNA is centered in an unlogged drainage. Hawk (1977) studied Port Orford cedar forest types within the RNA.