About
Grouse Ridge, located about an hour east of Nevada City in the Sierra Nevada, was acquired by Berkeley Forests in 2016 through Pacific Gas & Electric's land conservation program. The forest is composed of three parcels totalling 590 ha (1,459 acres). The vegetation is predominantly mixed conifer with a history of logging, wildfire, and recent regeneration. Two creeks flow through the forest year-round, as well as multiple ephemeral water features. Slopes range from 2-50%, with elevations between 1400-1900m (4600-6200ft). The soils are: Smoky series, Lorack series, horseshoe series, Husysink series, Putt series, Deadwood series, and Zeilbright series. Climate in the region is characterized by warm dry summers and cool wet winters; the average annual temperatures range from 6-13 degrees celcius (44-56F). The average frost free period is between 100-150 days per year. Precipitation ranges from 127-190 cm (50-75in) per year, with snow as the primary form of precipitation.
Dominant Usage
Grouse Ridge is primarily used for research. At present, the predominant research project at Grouse Ridge is the Adaptive Management Experiment (AMEX). AMEX is a large-scale, replicated experiment utilizing progressive, scientifically-supported silvicultural treatments to increase resilience, resistance, and adaptation capacity of California's Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forests. The experiment is designed to generate and track long-term changes in forest composition, structure, and function under ongoing and future climate change, and treatments represent a basic suite of plausible approaches that managers may feasibly take to address ongoing and novel stresses to forest ecosystems. The treatments include a control (no treatment over the next 6 years), resilience (conventional stocking levels and structural heterogeneity), resistance (relatively low stocking levels dominated by large trees), and transition treatments (a low stocking level matrix and canopy openings to facilitate the trial of new species plantings).
There is ample opportunity for future research projects at Grouse Ridge. If you are intersted in becmoing an AMEX collaborator, please contact Ricky Satomi, Forestry/Natural Resources Advisor.
UC Cooperative Extension Shasta County
1851 Hartnell Avenue
Redding, CA 96002-2217
530-224-4900
rpsatomi@ucanr.edu
For more information on how to propose a other research projects on any Berkeley Forest, contact our Research Stations Manager, Rob York.
History
Grouse Ridge was acquired in 2016 through the Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council - a private non-profit foundation established in 20014 as part of a Pacific Gas and Electric Company settlement - as a result of years of dedicated work by Berkeley Forests staff, particularly co-director Dr. William Stewart. Detailed information on the acquisition process can be found on the Stewardship Council website. In December 2017, the land was placed under a conservation easement to be managed by the Bear Yuba Land Trust to help ensure it will remain protected in perpetuity.
Primary Contact
Ken Somers, Grouse Ridge Research Forest Manager
4501 Blodgett Forest Road
Georgetown, CA 95634
Email: bfrs@berkeley.edu
Telephone: 530-333-4475
Location
Lake Spaulding area (about an hour east of Nevada City)
Facilities
There are no facilities at Grouse Ridge.
Size
590 ha (1459 acres)
Elevation
1400-1900m (4600-6200ft)
Temperature
6-13C (44-56F)
Precipitation
Average precipitation: 127-190 cm (50-75in)
Forest Description
Mixed conifer with a history of logging, wildfire, and recent regeneration.
Soils
Smoky series, Lorack series, horseshoe series, Husysink series, Putt series, Deadwood series, and Zeilbright series
Water
Two creeks flow through the forest year-round, as well as multiple ephemeral water features.