Headwaters Forest
| Headwaters Forest Reserve | |
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IUCN category Ia (strict nature reserve)
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Headwaters Forest in Northern California
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| Location | Eureka, California, United States |
| Nearest city | Eureka, California |
| Coordinates | 40°38′16″N 124°04′47″W / 40.63766°N 124.07959°WCoordinates: 40°38′16″N 124°04′47″W / 40.63766°N 124.07959°W |
| Area | 7,472 acres (30.24 km2) |
| Established | March 1999 |
| Visitors | 8,000 (in 2007) |
| Governing body | Bureau of Land Management / State of California |
The Headwaters Forest Reserve is a group of old growth coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) groves, comprising about 7,472 acres (30.24 km2), managed by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Landscape Conservation System. Located in the Northern California coastal forests ecoregion near Humboldt Bay of the U.S. state of California, most of it was owned by the now defunct Pacific Lumber Company, which was owned by Charles Hurwitz and Maxxam Inc, as the result of a hostile takeover in 1985. Since that time the Headwaters Forest has been the site of many tree sits and anti-logging demonstrations, which ensued after Maxxam changed generations-old policies of sustained-yield logging at Pacific Lumber Company with clearcutting.
The climate is characterized by maritime conditions of cool, wet and foggy winters and cool to warm cloudy summers. Elevations range from 100 feet (30 m) to over 2,000 feet (610 m).
The reserve was established in 1999 (H.R. 2107, Title V. Sec.501.) The reserve was created after a 15-year effort to save the ancient ecosystem (with some trees estimated at over two thousand years old), from being clearcut. Almost 60 per cent of what is now the reserve was harvested by mostly clearcutting with over 35 miles (56 km) of road construction and over a hundred stream crossings which greatly degraded watershed ability to store and filter water runoff. The untouched portion, however, is dense, old-growth forest with pristine watershed conditions.
This reserve of 7,472 acres (30.24 km2) is public land and is under the stewardship of the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Of the total area, 3,088 acres (12.50 km2) are old-growth redwood stands surrounded by 4,384 acres (17.74 km2) of previously harvested timberlands, which were included in the purchase to protect the watershed related to the old growth forest. The reserve is located about 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Eureka, CA, but is managed by BLM officials from the agency's regional offices located in nearby Arcata, CA.
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