WildView™

August 4, 2014

Rainforest in the USA

- as seen by -

Graeme Patterson

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Many of us will never get to marvel at the mighty and primeval rainforests of the Amazon or Congo basins, or visit Wildlife Conservation Society field sites in those remote locations. But here in North America, we have a rainforest to match – in beauty if not in scale.

The Hoh Rainforest of the Olympic National Park in Washington State may be at temperate latitudes, but the enormous sitka spruce and western hemlock, the carpeting of mosses and ferns, and the vivid red maple will give you a sense of connection to great rainforests of the world. No primates here, but wildlife abounds, and if you are diligent, you might catch a glimpse of the charismatic Pacific banana slug.

And you well might get rained on. But then again, what did you expect!?

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