Scoping
A primary step in managing a forest is to develop an overview of its current condition and future potential; this is the scoping process described in The Decision-Making Approach. The following attributes of the forest are examined:
Pack Forest consists of 4,300 acres at the juncture of the Puget Sound Lowlands and Cascade Mountain Range in central western Washington, near Eatonville. Forest elevations range between 500 and 2,000 feet with slopes ranging from flat to greater than 80%. Pack Forest can be divided into six physiographic areas:
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Soils at Pack Forest are predominantly moderately productive soils (average site index: 109 ft at 50 yrs, King 1966). The most productive sites (site index: 120 ft at 50 yrs) are found in the concave slopes of residual soils at upper elevations. The least productive sites (site index: 75 ft at 50 yrs) are found in the Mashel Flats area, a flat, low elevation site of gravelly outwash. |
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Most of Pack Forest's stands developed as the result of three disturbance episodes:
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The distribution of age classes is generally independent
of site index; that is, each of the three main age classes contain a similar
proportion of sites in each site index class. The major exception is the low
site quality area of the Mashel Flats, which has only been harvested in the
past 30 years. This has created a large area (~550 acres) of low site index
stands in the youngest age group.
Douglas-fir is the dominant tree species at Pack Forest. It occurs in nearly pure stands (i.e., >75% stand basal area) as well as mixed stands (i.e., stands in which other species account for >25% of the basal area). Stands are classified by their relative species dominance as shown below:
Less productive sites such as the Mashel Flats tend to be dominated by Douglas-fir; whereas the more productive soils have mixtures of species or are dominated by species other than Douglas-fir.
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Like most areas of the Pacific Northwest Pack Forest has experienced occasional stand replacing fires. The areas indicated at the right are examples of stands that contain relic trees that survived pre-1800 fires. |
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| Examples of relict trees in stand where everything else is slightly under 200 years old. | Examples of two relict trees in stand where everything else is slightly under 200 years old. (fallen tree and big one in center back are relics.) |
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Eatonville Fire
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A major fire in the Eatonville area burns much of Pack Forest around 1920. The map at right show the approximate view directions for the following photographs. The photographs were taken in 1934. The picture on the left is looking toward the east with Mount Rainier in the background. The picture on the lower right shows the mosaic created by the fire with young stands regenerating and old stands to the right. |
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| The following stands are examples stands that have developed since the Eatonville Fire. | |
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Pack Forest has a well maintained road system for access for demonstration, teaching, and management purposes. The images below show the road network; forest roads are white, state and county roads are red and black.
Unique attractions to Pack Forest requiring special management attention include:
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Complex forest in ecological area
