Washington Native Plant Society: Okanogan Chapter-Tiffany Mountain Project

Home > WNPS Local Chapters > Okanogan Chapter

Tiffany Mountain gets new sign

Tiffany Mountain is a special place, and because of its splendor and its uniqueness it was designated a Research Natural Area (RNA) twenty years ago. As an RNA, it is a special management area that highlights the importance of its flora while also providing for recreation. A few years ago members of the Tonasket District, Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest, approached the Okanogan Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society and suggested a joint project to create a sign that would explain this special place. The two groups spent the next year planning the sign, followed by a year for production. With both groups present and with great enthusiasm, the new sign was installed along the Tiffany Lake trail on July 2, 2004.

The Tiffany Mountain area is a topographically complex region comprising about 3,000 acres of diverse forests, alpine and sub-alpine meadows, and aquatic habitats. It sits about 25 miles northeast of Winthrop in the Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest. Elevations range from 6,000 feet at Tiffany Meadows to 8,242 feet at the top of the mountain.

Photograph of new sign for Tiffany Mountain.

The new Tiffany Mountain sign was a collaborative effort between members of the WNPS and the Tonasket District of the Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest. Pictured from left to right are George Wooten, Dennis Kirkland (standing), Joyce Bergen, Caryl Campbell, Patti Baumgardner (in front), Eric Burr, Dennis O'Callaghan, Mark Morris, and Larry Loftis (hard hat). Photographed by Dennis O'Callaghan. Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.

Through photographs and text, the sign describes this diverse and exciting place. The photographs were provided by Dennis Kirkland and Dennis O’Callaghan. On the Forest Service side, thanks go to Patti Baumgardner with Larry Loftis and George Halekas. Many thanks to all those in the Okanogan Chapter who worked on this project including Joyce Bergen, Sally Ranzau, Caryl Campbell, George Wooten, and Eric Burr.

Text of the Tiffany Mountain sign:
Tiffany Mountain is a panoramic setting for unfolding change. Glaciers shaped this landscape over 10,000 years ago, carving the north-facing cirques, and hollowing out the depression now filled by Tiffany Lake. Ice flowed around, between, and over many of the surrounding peaks, but Tiffany may be a nunatak, a geological term describing a mountain peak that protruded above an ice sheet.

The climate warmed and glaciers receded. Plants colonized the newly exposed earth, eventually leading to the diverse communities on the mountain today. Tiffany hosts uncommon plants and animals that are typically found in forests far to the north, including boreal owls, boreal chickadees, Canada lynx, and Kotzebue’s grass of Parnassus.

In the deep, moist soils by Tiffany Lake, riotous wildflowers thrive under canopies of Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, and Douglas fir. Higher up the slope, whitebark pine and subalpine larch survive harsher conditions, while at the top, thin soils drain water quickly, and trees are left behind. Plants in this alpine zone hug the rocky soil, grow in clusters, or cloak their leaves with hairs to survive cold, desiccating winds.

At this moment Tiffany and the surrounding peaks are alpine islands in a sea of coniferous forest, but change is ever present. Spruce beetle and mountain pine beetle are killing vast strands of Engelmann spruce and lodgepole pine. Fire, as natural to this landscape as the trees themselves, could come with a lightning strike.

What will happen over the ages? If the climate cools, the treeline could slip down the mountain; if it grows warm, the forest could replace the alpine community. Time will tell, and for eons to come, Tiffany Mountain will be listening.