Deception Creek Experimental Forest (DCEF) is located approximately 22 miles northeast of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in one of the most productive forests in the Rocky Mountains and in the heart of the western white pine (Pinus monticola) forest type. The forest is 3,520 acres, with elevations ranging from 2,790 to 4,600 feet, and includes the entire drainage of Deception Creek. The ecology and silviculture of the western white pine ecosystem has been a primary research focus. When the forest was established in 1933, large, old-age western white pine was used extensively by the timber industry. Within the experimental forest is the Montford Creek Natural Research Area, which was set aside in 1937 to serve as an unmanaged reference site. Modern research projects on the experimental forest have examined forest management and regeneration, insects and disease, impacts of management on wildlife and watershed runoff/erosion, and soil productivity, include data and research that were integral to the development of the Forest Vegetation Simulator growth modeling tool.
Since the 1940s the presence of white pine blister rust has decreased the population of white pine within the forest. The dominant forest types across the experimental forest are western hemlock/queencup beadlilly and grand fir/queencup beadlilly, with Douglas-fir and western larch also common (Schmidt & Friede 1996). Lodgepole pine, ponderosa pine, subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, and western redcedar are found in smaller amounts within the forest.
For more details on species found in Deception Creek Experimental Forest:
- List of vascular plant species in DCEF
- List of forest fungi species in DCEF
- List of lichen and bryophyte species in DCEF
The Pacific Coast maritime climate the experimental forest, with short summers and cloudy autumns and winters. Average precipitation is 5 ft (1,400 mm) with 25% of that as snow (13 ft [4,060 mm]). Soils are rich and productive, primarily Typic Vitrandepts (volcanic ash above beltian metasediments) with the depth of the ash caps varying based on slope and aspect (Schmidt & Friede 1996).
Sources:
Schmidt, W.C., and Friede, J.L. (1996) Experimental Forests, Ranges, and Watersheds in the Northern Rocky Mountains: A Compendium of Outdoor Laboratories in Utah, Idaho, and Montana. USDA Forest Service Intermountain Research Station, General Technical Report INT-GTR-334, 128 p. https://www.fs.usda.gov/rm/pubs_int/int_gtr334.pdf
Documents
- Physical and chemical characteristics of surface fuels in masticated mixed-conifer stands of the U.S. Rocky Mountains
- Effect of particle aging on chemical characteristics, smoldering, and fire behavior in mixed-conifer masticated fuel
- Northern Rocky Mountain Experimental Forests: settings for science, management, and education alliances
- One-hundred years of wildfire research: A legacy of the Priest River, Deception Creek, and Boise Basin Experimental Forests of Idaho
- Experimental forests and climate change: views of long-term employees on ecological change and the role of Experimental Forests and Ranges in understanding and adapting to climate change
- Western white pine growth relative to forest openings
- White pine in the American West: a vanishing species - can we save it?
