Ecology of the Cedar River Watershed

The Cedar River Watershed is an ecological preserve in the midst of an increasingly urban region.

The Cedar River Municipal Watershed (the upper two-thirds of the basin) contains diverse habitat and plant species. The Watershed spans elevations from 538 feet at Landsburg to 5,447 feet at Meadow Mountain at the Cascade Crest. Precipitation ranges from 57 inches to more than 140 inches at higher elevations. Plant habitats here are correspondingly diverse and include bogs and forested fens, extensive riparian forests, ancient coniferous forests, subalpine and arctic-alpine meadows and lakes, and scree/talus.

Learn more about the flora of the upper and lower Cedar River Municipal Watershed.

The wildlife of the Watershed is also diverse. The Cedar River Watershed is home to many species, including cougar, black bear, deer, Rocky Mountain elk, common loons and many other creatures of the land, water and air. The Cedar supports four salmonid species—Chinook, coho, sockeye and steelhead—and there is a healthy population of bull trout in Chester Morse Lake.