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Upper Elk Meadows Research Natural AreaEugene District , BLMWest Cascades, Oregon EcoregionCell(s):
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Publication: Upper Elk Meadows Research Natural Area Est. Rpt. or Guidelines |
The 90 ha Upper Elk Meadows RNA is located in Douglas County, southeast of Cottage Grove, Oregon. Characterized by gentle slopes with a southerly aspect, the RNA lies near the crest of the Calapooya Divide in the western Cascades. Elevations range from 1160 to 1290 m. Summers are warm and dry; winters, cool and wet. Most of the 140 cm of annual precipitation falls as snow. Soils in the forested area of the RNA include the deep, well-drained Keel soils and pockets of moderately deep to shallow Winberry and Holderman series soils. All are derived from basalt or other basic igneous rocks. Clayey water-logged soils in the meadow area are either Histic Cryaquepts or Typic Cryaquents. Vegetation is a mosaic of open and shrub-covered wetlands surrounded by old growth forests. Wet sedge (Carex) meadows are located near perennial springs that drain southwest to form Rock Creek. Sitka alder/lady fern (Alnus sinuata/Athyrium filix-femina) thickets bordering the forest are expanding into the wet meadows. Willow (Salix) species and black hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii) grow in dense clumps throughout the meadows. On moist soils adjacent the meadows park-like stands of Pacific silver fir/vine maple (Abies amabilis/Acer circinatum) grow interspersed with openings filled with herbaceous plants, including clustered green gentian (Frasera umpquaensis) and Cusick's checkermallow (Sidalcea cusickii). The drier soils support a closed canopy old growth forest of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) with trees over 300 years old. A basalt rock outcrop 0.4 ha in size occupies the southwestern corner. Disturbances include an aggregate-surfaced logging road, which follows a portion of the Crouch and Hawley trail constructed in 1868 between the Bohemia Mining District and Oakland, Oregon. Upper Elk Meadows became a favorite camping site for people using this trail. During the 1970s, timber was harvested on 8.5 ha. In subsequent years some of the Abies species have been killed by balsam wooly aphid. The forest is susceptible to wind throw, particularly at the southern edge adjacent to private timberland logged during the past twenty years. Allan B. Curtis wrote a guide book, Upper Elk Meadows, Research Natural Area Supplement 18, 1986. BLM personnel have monitored Frasera umpquaensis (1991, 1993) and Rhoda Love completed studies on Crataegus douglasii (1987, 1990).
Access by aggregate-surfaced road
Publication: Upper Elk Meadows Research Natural Area Est. Rpt. or Guidelines