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Clark Fork Valley and Mountains

Ecoregion in Rocky Mountains in MT, ID

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The rugged, wet, forested Clark Fork Valley and Mountains ecoregion is affected by moist maritime air masses, and is commonly underlain by Precambrian quartzite, argillite, and argillaceous rock. Characteristically, it is more rugged than the lower Salish Mountains (15l), lithologically distinct from Idaho Batholith (16), has a different topographic orientation than the drier, southeasterly trending Grave Creek Range-Nine Mile Divide (15a), and was not glaciated by continental ice sheets unlike the more northerly Purcell-Cabinet-North Bitterroot Mountains (15q). Soils are often deep and derived from volcanic ash which increases the fertility and water holding capacity of the soil. Ash is a more common soil constituent in Ecoregion 15k than in further south in Ecoregion 16e. Ecoregion 15k experiences much more maritime influence than more easterly and southerly ecoregions. Pacific air masses increase both cloudiness and precipitation. Average annual maximum precipitation can exceed 100 inches, which is characteristically much greater than that of neighboring, more easterly ecoregions. Climax vegetation is mapped as subalpine fir, grand fir, and Douglas-fir forests; Engelmann spruce and Pacific species such as western redcedar and western hemlock also occur. Land uses include intensive logging and recreation.

— EPA

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