Lanphere National Natural Landmark Evaluation
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Evaluation of Lanphere / Ma-le’l Dunes Humboldt County, California For its Merit in Meeting National Significance Criteria as a National Natural Landmark to Represent Siskiyou – Klamath Coastal Sand Dunes in the North Pacific Border Biophysiographic Province Peter Alpert and James S. Kagan May 2019 Contact Information: Peter Alpert, Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003 James S. Kagan, Oregon Biodiversity Information Center. Institute for Natural Resources – Portland, Portland State University. Mailstop: INR. P.O. Box 751, Portland, Oregon 97207. Citation: Alpert, P. and J.S. Kagan, 2019. Evaluation of Lanphere / Ma-le’l Dunes, Humboldt County, California for its Merit in Meeting National Significance Criteria as a National Natural Landmark to Represent Siskiyou – Klamath Coastal Sand Dunes in the North Pacific Border Biophysiographic Province. National Park Service Technical Report, National Natural Landmarks Program, Fort Collins, CO. Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge the work of the many people who participated in the evaluation of the North Pacific Border province coastal dunes theme studies. The authors would also like to acknowledge the help, support and patience of our partners at the National Park Service, in particular Laurette Jenkins, who took this on as her first project, and has done a wonderful job, helping us with formatting, questions, and direction on the project. We also especially thank Steve Gibbons, who recently left the Pacific West Region’s NNL program job after 22 years to become the superintendent of Mount Lassen National Park and who inspired us to take on this report. Both authors would like to recognize Andrea Pickart, for her help, great photos, guidance, and advice. Andrea has been working to conserve, restore, and protect this site for over 30 years and deserves a large amount of credit for this project. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................ ii Table of Contents..............................................................................................................................iii Table of Figures ................................................................................................................................ iv Executive Summary........................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................ 2 Source of Site Proposal.................................................................................................................... 2 Evaluators ........................................................................................................................................ 2 Scope of Evaluation......................................................................................................................... 2 Characterization of the Coastal Sand Dunes in the North Pacific Border Province................... 3 Subtheme Description...................................................................................................................... 3 Primary Geological Features...................................................................................................... 3 Climate......................................................................................................................................... 4 Primary Biological Features ....................................................................................................... 4 Distribution and Context ............................................................................................................. 6 Regional Variation....................................................................................................................... 6 Significance.................................................................................................................................. 6 Distinguishing Features............................................................................................................... 7 Lanphere / Ma-le’l Dunes Site Description ..................................................................................... 8 Overview.......................................................................................................................................... 8 Natural History Theme Represented ............................................................................................... 8 Natural Features............................................................................................................................... 9 Primary Biological Features ....................................................................................................... 9 Primary Geological Features.................................................................................................... 11 Physical Setting ............................................................................................................................. 12 Location and Access...................................................................................................................... 12 Land Use and Condition ................................................................................................................ 15 Historic Land Use...................................................................................................................... 15 Current Land Use and Present Condition................................................................................. 15 Sensitive or Hazardous Resources................................................................................................. 16 Anticipated Damage to the Area.................................................................................................... 17 Effects of Publicity ........................................................................................................................ 17 Comparative Assessment ................................................................................................................ 17 Regional Site Inventory ................................................................................................................. 17 Site Descriptions........................................................................................................................ 18 Comparative Analysis and Discussion .......................................................................................... 20 Evaluation Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 24 Potential Landmark Boundary and Ownership Maps.................................................................... 24 References......................................................................................................................................... 25 Appendix A: Photographs of Lanphere / Ma-le'l Dunes PNNL by Andrea Pickart................. 27 Appendix B: Vascular Plants of Lanphere / Ma-le'l Dunes PNNL ............................................. 34 Appendix C: Lichens of Lanphere / Ma-le'l Dunes PNNL .......................................................... 55 Appendix D: Birds of Lanphere / Ma-le'l Dunes PNNL .............................................................. 60 Appendix E: Mammals, Reptiles and Amphibians of Lanphere / Ma-le'l Dunes PNNL.......... 68 Appendix F. Lanphere / Ma-le’l Dunes National Natural Landmark Brief .............................. 72 iii Table of Figures Figure 2. Sea lyme dune patch alliance (left) and the dune mat herbaceous alliance (right) .............. 5 Figure 3. Oblique air photo showing Lanphere / Ma-le'l Dunes landforms ........................................ 8 Figure 4. General Location of Lanphere / Ma-le’l Dunes PNNL in northwestern California........... 13 Figure 5. Map and air photograph of Lanphere / Ma-le’l Dunes boundary and ownership.............. 15 Figure 6. Locations of the six evaluated proposed National Natural Landmark sites....................... 18 iv Executive Summary The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program encourages the preservation of exceptional examples of the Nation’s biological and geological features. To qualify for NNL designation, a site must be one of the best examples of a geological or biological feature within a biophysiographic province. Lanphere / Ma-le’l Dunes represents a perfect example of this concept, containing one of the most diverse and highest quality remnants of coastal dunes in the North Pacific Border Biophysiographic Region. Located 3 miles west of Arcata in Humboldt County, California, it is within the largest system of dunes between Point Reyes National Seashore and the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. While dune ecosystems elsewhere in the bioregion continue to be more heavily impacted by disturbance, invasive species and development, the proposed National Natural Landmark remains in exceptional condition and is by far the best example of the Klamath – Siskiyou Coastal Sand Dunes subtheme. A map of the proposed landmark boundary, encompassing 834.17 acres (337.58 hectares) of lands owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management, is included (Figure