Location
The Entiat Experimental Forest was established in 1957 to study the effects of road building and timber harvesting on the quantity, quality, and timing of water discharge from small watersheds in the mountains of north-central Washington. Instrumentation was installed in three similar, adjacent watersheds (4.74 to 5.65 km2 each) to monitor weather and streamflows. Scientists from the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station’s Wenatchee Forestry Sciences laboratory collected baseline data for almost 12 years before a lightning-caused wildfire burned all three watersheds in 1970. This unplanned “treatment” shifted the research focus from road and timber harvesting effects on hydrology to wildfire and post-fire recovery effects on hydrology. Over the following decade, research within the Entiat produced numerous publications related to fire effects on streamflow characteristics, water temperature, water quality, and sediment production. Additional studies investigated the efficacy of various post-fire forest rehabilitation treatments. Work continued on the Entiat until 1977 when a change in research priorities at PNW halted research efforts. Elevation ranges from 610 to 2,164 m, and mean aspect in the three watersheds ranges from 205 to 237 °.