Hoh-Regenwald

The Hoh Rainforest is located on the Olympic Peninsula in western Washington state, USA. It is one of the largest temperate rainforests in the U.S. Within Olympic National Park, the forest is protected from commercial exploitation. This includes 24mi of low elevation forest 394to along the Hoh River. The Hoh River valley was formed thousands of years ago by glaciers. Between the park boundary and the Pacific Ocean, 48km of river, much of the forest has been logged within the last century, although many pockets of forest remain.FloraThe dominant species in the rainforest are Sitka spruce and western hemlock ; some grow to tremendous size, reaching 95m in height and 7m in diameter. Coast Douglas-fir, western redcedar, bigleaf maple, red alder, vine maple, and black cottonwood are also found throughout the forest.Many unique mosses and lichens are also present in the rainforest, such as lettuce lichen, which "requires the cool, moist conditions found under the canopy of old-growth forests" and is consumed by deer, elk, and other animals.