White Pine Hollow State Forest
{{Short description|State forest in Dubuque County, Iowa}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox protected area
| name = White Pine Hollow State Forest
| photo =
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| location = Dubuque County, Iowa, United States
| nearest_city = Luxemburg, Iowa
| map = Iowa#USA
| map_caption = Location in Iowa##Location in United States
| map_width = 280
| relief = 1
| label = White Pine Hollow State Forest
| coordinates = {{coord|42.62971|-91.11207|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coords_ref =
| elevation = {{convert|700|ft}}
| area = {{convert|944|acre}}
| established =
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| administrator = Iowa Department of Natural Resources
| website = {{Official website}}
| embedded = {{designation list | embed = yes
| designation1 = NNL
| designation1_date = 1967
}}
}}
White Pine Hollow State Forest is a {{convert|944|acre|ha|adj=on}} forested area in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States. Of the forest, a {{convert|712|acres|ha|adj=on}}{{Cite book|last=Herzberg|first=Ruth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfNafPv3qw4C&pg=PA171|title=The Guide to Iowa's State Preserves|last2=Pearson|first2=John A.|date=2001-12-01|publisher=University of Iowa Press|isbn=978-1-60938-008-3| page=171|language=en}} tract is a National Natural Landmark and Iowa State Preserve. The state forest is named after its dominant old-growth tree, the white pine. The grove is said to be the only old-growth patch of white pines still growing in Iowa.{{cite web |url=https://www.iowadnr.gov/places-go/state-forests/white-pine-hollow-state-forest |title=White Pine Hollow State Forest |publisher=Iowa Department of Natural Resources |access-date=March 16, 2025}} The nearest town of any size is Luxemburg.
Ecology
The Dubuque region is relatively far south for the white pine to thrive. White Pine Hollow, part of the Driftless Area, is a patch of north-facing algific talus slope land, a subset of dolomite karstland with many sinkholes, caverns, and other sharp changes in elevation. The conifer population may have established itself here at a time when the climate of Iowa was colder than it is today, and this grove could be a relict of what was once a much larger population.{{cite book |title=Iowa Underground: A Guide to the State's Subterranean Treasures|last=Brick |first=Greg A. |year=2004 |publisher=Trails Books|location=Boulder CO |isbn=978-1-931599-39-9 |page=39}}
White Pine Hollow contains over 625 species of plants. Two endangered species of animals, the Indiana bat and the Iowa Pleistocene snail, have been observed here. One threatened species of plant, the northern wild monkshood, has also been observed growing here.
Status
The White Pine Hollow State Forest and Preserve was designated as a state forest in 1934, listed as an Iowa State Preserve in 1968, and listed as a National Natural Landmark in 1967.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nnlandmarks/site.htm?Site=WHPI-IA |title=White Pine Hollow Preserve |publisher=National Park Service |series=National Natural Landmarks |access-date=March 16, 2025}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.iowadnr.gov/places-go/state-forests/white-pine-hollow-state-forest White Pine Hollow State Forest] Iowa Department of Natural Resources
{{Protected Areas of Iowa}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Protected areas of Dubuque County, Iowa