Chugach National Forest
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| Chugach National Forest | |
|---|---|
| IUCN Category VI (Managed Resource Protected Area) | |
| | |
| Location | Alaska, USA |
| Nearest city | Anchorage, AK |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
| Area | 5.4 million acres (23,000 km²) |
| Established | July 23, 1907 |
| Governing body | U.S. Forest Service |
The Chugach National Forest is a 5.4 million acre (23,000 km²) United States National Forest in south central Alaska. It is located in the mountains surrounding Prince William Sound including the eastern Kenai Peninsula and the delta of the Copper River. It is the second largest forest in the U.S. national forest system, and is the northernmost national forest. The Chugach National Forest envelops Prince William Sound and is surrounded by the Chugach Mountains. It was originally designated in 1907 by Theodore Roosevelt and was originally 23 million acres (93 000 km²) in size. Approximately one-third of the area of the forest is rocks and ice. The supervisor's office is located in Anchorage.
Though the Chugach forest is largely wild, with only 90 miles of Forest Service roads, none of it is currently designated as wilderness.
[edit] Ecology
The Chugach is a temperate rain forest in the pacific temperate rain forest region. Here the forest occupies only a very narrow strip between the ocean and the icy alpine zone. The dominant trees are limited to sitka spruce, western hemlock and mountain hemlock. This zone is known as the"sub-polar rainforest". [1]
[edit] References
- ^ Temperate Rainforests of the North Pacific Coast (accessed 2007-05-16).
[edit] External links
- U.S. Forest Service site: Chugach National Forest
- Alaskan.com: Chugach National Forest
- The Rainforests of Home, an Atlas of People and Place
- Temperate Rainforests of the North Pacific Coast
