Wind River Experimental Forest

The Wind River Experimental Forest is an ecological and silvicultural research in Stabler, Washington, in the United States. Used as a research site by the U.S. Forest Service beginning in 1908, and functioning as an experimental forest since 1932, it is "known as the cradle of forest research in the Pacific Northwest". The site is probably best known for the Wind River Canopy Crane Research Facility (WRCCRF), a 285-foot (87 m)-high freestanding tower crane supporting an 8-person gondola allowing scientist to view the forest canopy from above. The crane is roughly the height of a 25-story building. The tallest trees in the forest are about 220 feet (67 m).

Many studies at Wind River continue for decades. This long-term research has resulted in important and original findings about forest ecology and management.

It is located west of the Cascade Range in the south-central area of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, north of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. It is about a 1.5-hour drive east of Vancouver, Washington, in the Mount Adams Ranger District.

Research at Wind River began with the assignment of Forest Service scientist Thornton T. Munger in 1908 to the new North Pacific District in Portland, Oregon. Munger began studying the Douglas fir trees of the western Cascades, setting up research plots throughout the Wind River area. In 1910, Munger, along with Julius Kummel, established a permanent nursery at Wind River, near the existing Hemlock Ranger Station on the Columbia National Forest (today the Gifford Pinchot National Forest). In 1912, Munger established the Wind River Arboretum to study the sustainability of exotic trees in the Pacific Northwest environment.

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