Trees Across Oregon: The Western Hemlock Zone

Nowhere else in the world does a single tree species dominate the landscape over such a vast area, as Douglas-fir does in Oregon's Western Hemlock Zone. This zone is the most extensive forest zone in Oregon and includes most of the Coast Range as well as the Cascade Mountains below about 3,500 feet in elevation. In this half-hour video--written and narrated by Whitey Lueck, a Eugene-based naturalist and an instructor at the University of Oregon--you'll learn how this zone's different forest types function, from old-growth stands of fir and hemlock, to sites dominated by western redcedar or red alder. Whitey also discusses the landscape history of these forests, which developed quite recently despite being sometimes referred to as "ancient" forests. All of the film footage was made in the McKenzie River watershed of Oregon's central West Cascades, within just a few miles of McKenzie Bridge.