Fallen Trees

The forest floor is covered with logs from trees which have been blown down by winter storms. Wind speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour are experienced in some of these storms. The amount of rain received in the Olympic National Forest keeps the forest wet enough to prevent most forest fires. The fires that do burn are usually small in area and are easily extinguished by additional rains. People refer to the forest here as being the asbestos forest. As a result logs of threes which have been blown down litter the understory of the forest. These logs will provide a nursery for trees to grow on, taking their nutrients from the decaying fallen log.