Duncan Canyon Proposed Wilderness
Managing
agency: Tahoe National Forest
Size: Approximately 2,880 acres.
Location: Eastern Placer County, north of French Meadows Reservoir.
Description:
- Duncan Canyon contains numerous confirmed nesting sites of California spotted
owl and northern goshawk.
- Duncan Canyon is the site of
two of the more recent
wolverine sightings in the
Sierra.
- Duncan Canyon contains one
of the two best ancient forest
stands in the Tahoe National
Forest.
Duncan
Canyon contains one of the two largest, unfragmented groves of old-growth forest
in the Tahoe National Forest. The canyon is one of the last remaining examples
in the Sierra Nevada of untouched, old-growth mixed conifer forest. Nearly all
other mid-Sierra forests in this 5,000 to 7,000-foot elevation range have been
severely impacted over the last 150 years. The fact that this area remains in
a pristine state is truly extraordinary.
Duncan
Canyon also provides critical and increasingly scarce habitat for wildlife species
that are rapidly declining in California. Pacific fisher, American marten, California
spotted owl, northern goshawk, and Sierra Nevada red fox make their home in
the Duncan Canyon proposed wilderness.
In
addition, the canyon contains habitat for the wolverine. There have been very
few sightings of this animal in the state over the past 50 years. Two of those
sightings have been in Duncan Canyon, one on Sunflower Hill and another on Red
Star Ridge.
For
additional information, please contact:
American River Wildlands
P.O. Box 3008
Auburn, CA 95604
Or:
California Wilderness Coalition
info@calwild.org

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