Brush Creek Hemlocks

State Natural Area (No. 466)

Location: Within the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Taylor County. T32N-R2W, Sections 29, 30. 283 acres.

Access: From the intersection of Hwy M and Hwy 73 go east on M 4.75 miles, then south on FR 1417 1.75 miles to the intersection of FR 1420. Go northeast about 0.5 mile on FR 1420. The site is located on both sides of the road.

Description: Brush Creek Hemlocks centers around a good quality northern mesic forest of second growth hemlock hardwood forest containing an exceptional super-canopy white pine component on rugged terminal moraine topography. Punctuated throughout the area are numerous forested stands of mixed conifer and hardwood swamps in kettle depressions and along riparian drainages. Hemlock, yellow birch, and sugar maple are the canopy dominants with red maple, basswood, and paper birch common. Other associates include red oak, white ash, black cherry, and bitternut hickory. Tree sizes range up to 24 inches in diameter for hemlock and hardwoods and at least 32 inches for white pine. Although the forest is second-growth, the frequent snags, den trees, coarse woody debris, and small canopy gaps contribute to a developing old-growth structure. One of the largest den trees is a very large yellow birch, about 36 inches in diameter, which may be one of the largest yellow birch on the Park Falls-Medford Ranger District. The understory is generally open, though yellow birch and sugar maple saplings are common and ironwood and eastern hop-hornbeam are frequent. Also included is a forested reach of Brush Creek, a headwater, morainal stream with rocky, cascading segments alternating with black ash bottoms. The site borders a large ice-walled-lake plain to the south, which collapses down into Brush Creek creating a steep sided ravine. A small, but well preserved ice-walled-lake plain also occurs within the site boundary toward the eastern boundary. To the east is a semi-open tamarack and black spruce bog containing a diverse mix of species including pitcher plant, arrow-grass, royal fern, and moccasin flower. Other notable species include dwarf scouring rush (Equisetum scirpoides) and lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria). Brush Creek Hemlocks is owned by the US Forest Service and was designated a State Natural Area in 2007.