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THE FORESTS OF MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK. 



By G. F. ALUEN, United States Forest Service. 



GENERAL STATEMENT. 



The remarkable development of the forests about the base of 

 Mount Kainier results from climatic conditions peculiarly favorable 

 to tree growth. The winters are mild and short. The ocean winds 

 that pass through the gaps of the Coast Range are laden with 

 moisture which falls in the form of rain or snow on the west slope 

 of the Cascades. The trees are nourished by this moisture through 

 a long season of annual growth, and form an evergreen forest which 

 is, in some respects, the most remarkable in the world. This forest, 

 distinguished by the extraordinary size and beauty of the trees and 

 by the density of the stand, extends into the deep valleys of the rivers 

 which have their sources in the glaciers. On the dividing ridges and 

 in the upper stream basins the composition and character of the 

 .forest change with the increasing severity of the climate. 



The distribution of the different species of trees according to the 

 intervals of altitude at which they occur separate the forests of the 

 Mount Rainier National Park into different types. The lines of sepa- 

 ration are to some extent also determined by complex conditions of 

 slope, exposure, and moisture. The successive forest belts are uni- 

 form in the composition of their central areas, but blend and overlap 

 where they come together. 



The low valleys of the main and west forks of White River, of 

 the Carbon, the Mowich, the Nisqually, and the Ohanopecosh are 

 covered with a dense and somber forest of fir, hemlock, and cedar. 

 The trees, pushing upward for light, are very tall and free from 

 limbs for more than half their height. Their tops form a con- 

 tinuous cover which the sunshine rarely penetrates, and on which 

 the light snows of early winter fall and melt, without reaching the 

 ground. Even in midsummer the light is soft and shaded, and the 

 air cool and humid. In the wintertime the young growth is sheltered 

 from wind and the severity of the cold is tempered by the protecting 

 mountain ranges. Saved from fire by the uniform dampness of the 

 air the trees grow until they decay and fall from old age. They are 



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