Maricao State Forest (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Bosque Estatal de Maricao'') is a

state forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by a sovereign state, sovereign or federated state, or territory (country subdivision), territory. Background State forests are forests that are Administration (gov ...

located in the western

Cordillera Central Central Cordillera refers to the New Guinea Highlands. Cordillera Central, meaning ''central range'' in Spanish, may refer to the following mountain ranges: * Cordillera Central, Andes (disambiguation), several mountain ranges in South America ** ...

mountains of

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. It is commonly known as ''Monte del Estado'' because it was one of the first forest reserves in Puerto Rico to be designated a ''state forest'' in its official name. With an area of , the Maricao State Forest is the largest of the 20 forestry units of the Puerto Rico state forest system.

History

The Maricao State Forest was created after a proclamation on December 22, 1919, by then

Governor of Puerto Rico The governor of Puerto Rico () is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. Elected to a 4 year-term through popular vote by the residents of the archipelago and island, ...

Arthur Yager.

Geography

The forest location makes its environment unique in Puerto Rico for its humid climate, its

serpentinite Serpentinite is a metamorphic rock composed predominantly of serpentine group minerals formed by serpentinization of mafic or ultramafic rocks. The ancient origin of the name is uncertain; it may be from the similarity of its texture or color ...

soils and its high rate of animal and plant endemicity. The forest is located on the western region of the

of Puerto Rico and encompasses of land in a high

rainfall Rain is a form of precipitation where water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. ...

area through the municipalities of San Germán, Sabana Grande and Maricao.

Climate

In summer the climate is warm and humid. Thunderstorms are common, along with temperature around 85 °F with heat index in the upper 90s during the daytime. In summer, nighttime is usually cool with low temperature in the mid- to lower 60s. In winter, it is very dry, the forest with mild temperature in daytime and cold in nighttime. Occasional days drop to 40 °F with mid-30s wind chill.

Geology

Almost 100% of the soils of the Maricao forest are derivates of serpentinite, a

metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...

that produces red and argillaceous soil whenever it crumbles down. More than 80% of the forest ground is low in depth and close to the

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...

. These soils are

acidic An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis acid. The first category of acids are the ...

with high contents of

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

and aluminum oxides.

Biology and ecology

Flora

There are 1,164 species of plants in the forest. Of the 128 species of

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

plants of

, 23 are in the Maricao State Forest. There are plantations of

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

, Honduras pine, and others.

Fauna

There are 136 species of birds recorded in the park, 23 of which are

. Some examples are the Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk (''Accipiter striatus venator''), which is an

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

subspecies, and the Puerto Rican emerald (''Chlorostilbon maugaeus'').

Recreation

Due to its location along the Luis Muñoz Marín Scenic Route (better known as the ''Ruta Panorámica''), the Maricao State Forest offers some iconic panoramic views of the Cordillera Central and the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico. In clear days it is possible to observe the city of Mayagüez and even Mona Island from the Santa Ana Observation Tower (better known as ''Torre de Piedra''). The forest has hiking trails and is featured in Caribbean guides as an important destination for

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

. Hiking trails are accessible from route PR-120, from the Monte del Estado Ecological Park (''Parque Ecológico Monte del Estado'') and the Monte del Estado Vacation Center (''Centro Vacacional Monte del Estado''), both of which also provide limited camping and lodging to visitors. In addition to the Torre de Piedra, other historic attractions within the state forest include the Stone House (''Casa de Piedra''), the ruins of a former architectural gem built during President Roosevelt's

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

works during the 1930s, and the Maricao Fish Hatchery, built in 1937 for research purposes and now listed under the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as one of the New Deal Era Constructions in the Forest Reserves of Puerto Rico (1933-1942). Curet Falls (''Salto Curet'') is an impressive waterfall located along the Lajas River in the northeastern section of the forest reserve. Other waterfalls found in the forest area include El Pilón and La Iglesia waterfalls.

References

External links

Information about Maricao Forest

Hiking trails (AllTrails)
{{Protected areas of Puerto Rico Puerto Rico state forests Puerto Rican moist forests Civilian Conservation Corps in Puerto Rico 1919 establishments in Puerto Rico Protected areas established in 1919 Maricao, Puerto Rico Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico San Germán, Puerto Rico