page_title: Caribou Wilderness
section_title: Flora, fauna and fungi
hierarchical_section_title: Caribou Wilderness / Flora, fauna and fungi
caption_attribution_description: English: The Sasta Tiger Lily (Lilium pardalinum subsp. shastense
context_page_description: The Caribou Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area created by the Wilderness Act of 1964 and is part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. It is located 60 miles east of Redding in the state of California, USA. The Caribou Wilderness comprises 20,546 acres and is adjacent to the east side of Lassen Volcanic National Park. Although the park is surrounded by Lassen National Forest, it is managed separately by the National Park Service, whereas the U.S. Forest Service manages the wilderness.
  Elevations range from 6,400 feet to 8,374 feet.
  The terrain is a volcanic plateau with 75% covered by water and conifer forests and the remainder being barren rock such as cliff faces, talus slopes and cinder cones. Most of this area has been preserved since 1932 which makes the Caribou Wilderness one of the few remaining pristine forests of the California Cascade region. There are 23 named lakes, innumerable unnamed ponds and tarns, cinder cones and volcanic buttes within the wilderness. Although there are no year round surface streams, the area provides high quality water for the headwaters of the Susan River, and Bailey Creek, a tributary of the Feather River.
context_section_description: The forest is  lodgepole pine, Jeffrey pine, ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, white and red fir, western white pine, incense cedar, and hemlock.
  21 of Caribou's lakes are stocked by air with rainbow trout.  Black-tailed deer and black bears along with squirrels, chipmunks, and the protected (from hunting) pine marten live here. There are bald eagles and ospreys overhead, mergansers and grebes on the ponds and lakes.
  Much smaller in size, but critically important to the forest ecosystem are the fungi.
  The cup fungus, for instance, can be found in the Caribou. As the sanitary agents of the forest that consume dead organic matter, fungi spread on the floor of a conifer area. Fungal spores blow in on the winds and take up residence at the foot of trees. One type, called the king bolete, is the edible mushroom most sought. Not all fungi have a symbiotic relationship with the trees, some fungi are parasitic, causing heartwood rot.
  Along some trails in the Caribou, hikers will see a timber-destroying (causes brown rot)  pore fungi called the red-belt fomes.  It is a white and yellow fungi on the bark of both white fir and red fir trees.  An interesting aspect of red-belt fomes is that it has a laquared feel if touched.
caption: A Shasta tiger lily ( Lilium pardalinum ssp. shastense)
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