The Coram Experimental Forest was established in 1933 within the

Flathead National Forest The Flathead National Forest is a national forest in the western part of the U.S. state of Montana. The forest lies primarily in Flathead County, south of Glacier National Park. The forest covers of which about is designated wilderness. It ...

in the US state of

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, about 45 kilometers east of Kalispell, near Coram, and just outside the borders of Glacier National Park. The forest is an outdoor laboratory established for research into the management of one species, the western larch (''Larix occidentalis''). In 1938, about of the original facility were designated as the Coram Research Natural Area. A few of its western larches are over 500 years old. The forest is networked with roads but is not inhabited. Many species of plant are researched in the forest, including the aforementioned western larch, as well as ''

Thuja plicata ''Thuja plicata'' is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the family Cupressaceae, native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. Its common name is western redcedar in the U.S. or western red cedar in the UK, and it is also called pacific re ...

'' and '' Pinus albicaulis.'' Fauna in the region include large predators, such as the

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...

and

lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

. The forest has a typical mean temperature between 2 and 7 degrees Celsius. Coram Experimental Forest was a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

but was withdrawn from the program as of June 14, 2017.

References

External links

Coram Experimental Forest, U.S. Forest Service

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
{{Coord, 48, 25, 00, N, 113, 57, 40, W, format=dms, display=title, type:mountain_region:US-ID Former biosphere reserves of the United States Forests of Montana Protected areas of Flathead County, Montana Flathead National Forest Research forests