Day 14 Olympic National Park- Forestry

Patrick speaking about forestry

This morning we were driving through BLM land and saw some sectional cutting. We stopped and Patrick talked about the US Forestry Service and logging. The USFS was created to regulate logging and make sure it was done in a sustainable way, taking things like density and health of the forest into account to make decisions about where to cut. The USFS is criticized often because they don't bring in as much money as they spend, and they don't enforce as much as they should.
Patrick explained that the sectional cuts we were seeing is more sustainable and leads to more biodiversity and successional growth, which is good for the forest. It also minimizes soil loss, landslides, and it protects trees from wind damage. Without any cutting, the forest would be too dense. This is a problem because it leads to high fuel for wildfires and makes trees more vulnerable to bugs and diseases.
When logging in a national forest, trees must be replanted. However, about 1/3 or more don't get replanted. They seem to only replant in high visibility areas, such as along roads. This was upsetting news, I thought that the USFS was doing a good job. I was pretty disappointed by this. I hope that they start enforcing the rules for replanting.

Hiking up the mountain!

We drove through Olympic National Park and went for a hike up the mountain in the clouds. It was so cool to be hiking in the snow in the morning, and then swimming in the Pacific Ocean by the afternoon! I couldn't believe it! When we drove to the shore it was simply breathtaking; I was in awe. We did a mini hike through this temperate rain forest and it was like a jungle. Then, all of the sudden, there it was. The Pacific Ocean! I couldn't believe it. It was like something out of a movie. The little islands in the water were harder rock than the rest of the shore, so it hasn't eroded as much.

First Beach

They were really cool looking and I was thinking about what kind of birds and bugs must live there in the trees. It was also interesting how many trees were washed up on the shore. Tait explained the techtonics of the area and I didn't realize that Olympic wasn't part of the Cascades. I also thought it was interesting that the amount of rainfall here supports distinct flora and fauna in the area. There is more biomass here than anywhere in the world, and I thought that was awesome.

Rialto Beach

Patrick explained that this tree was probably struck by lightening or had some other disturbance that caused this terminal trunk to form. This is a somewhat rare phenomenon.