AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT

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BIOTIC COMMUNITIES

Vegetation

The Highway 62 West corridor occupies lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. murrayana) and mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) dominated forests of the Cascade Mixed Forest – Coniferous Forest – Alpine Meadow Section of the Marine Regime Mountains Division; Sierra Cascade Forest Province (Crater Lake National Park–FMP 2002a; NatureServe 2002a, b; Bailey 1998). Two forest communities consisting of the Lodgepole Pine Forest Alliance and the Mountain Hemlock Forest Alliance are present, along with mixed stands that are considered ecotones. The lodgepole pine forest dominates the western and eastern portions of the Highway 62 West corridor (approximately 40% of the corridor) and the mountain hemlock forest dominates the switchbacks and the area adjacent to Whitehorse Creek (approximately 60% of the corridor).