A Story of a Forest

Here is a image of a forest, a natural stand of old growth forest near Lake Whatcom, Washington that escaped clearcutting during the railroad logging era of pioneer settlement in early 1900's. Superimposed on this image is a section of a log found in this forest showing 107 years approximately of growth.
This lovely tract of land has recently been transferred from the Stimson Family to a protected natural area with a series of developed trails. Come with us for a walk in this place
More...We enjoy walking on these trails and especially our wildlife encounters. On the day this image below was taken I literally bumped into a coyotte, who came trotting towards me on our path and came to a skidding stop just 30 feet away. This deer below was fearless and we watched her for a half hour browsing on vegetation on the forest floor and now and then lifting her head and carefully sniffing the air. Perhaps that coyoteHere is an example of wise stewardship in this natural protected forest. This is a 'beaver deceiver' Beavers are friendly little rodents who serve a useful role in ecology to perpetuate disturbance. Sometimes though their enthusiasm for damming water flows can cause damage to nearby property by flash flooding and plugging culverts. This simple structure is a fence with trapizoidal shape that confuses the beaver to find the water outlet to dam. Simple, and amazing that this technique works so well