About ...

 

Eagle Lake, the second largest freshwater lake entirely within the boundaries of California, lies in an isolated valley on the eastern side of the Cascade range. The remnant of a much larger Pleistocene lake, Eagle Lake covers about 30,000 acres and is nearly 14 miles long. Located at the juncture of four major geologic provinces, it is bordered on the west by the forested slopes of the Cascades, on the South by the Sierra Nevadas, on the east by the arid Great Basin Desert, and to the north and east by the Modoc Plateau. The terrain immediately around the lake ranges from the surface of the water at 5100 feet to the 8000 foot elevation of Fredonyer Peak to the northeast. The lake's geologic diversity provides for a unique set of ecological communities. Montane coniferous forests become interspersed with western juniper and mountain mahogany which give way to sage and rabbit brush to the east. The high pH of Eagle Lake (near 9) allows only 5 species of native fishes to thrive including the prized Eagle Lake subspecies of the rainbow trout. But the lake is quite productive with moderate numbers of invertebrates and fish eating birds. Volcanic ice caves on the west side of the lake support populations of cave crickets as well as other cave biota, and the lake supports one of California's largest breeding populations of western grebes.

 

Opportunities ...

 

The field station may be used by any public or private group whose primary purpose is educational and whose activities are consonant with the natural environment. College classes, high school groups, consulting firms, and government agencies have all used the field station, but the vast majority of its use has been by university natural science and archaeology classes. Biology, geology, chemistry, soil science, zooarchaeology and many other ecological courses have been offered there.

 

Research ...

 

The Eagle Lake area is fairly isolated and the field station is located in a remote area that sees little activity. Although there has been a lot of student and faculty research over the years, published data is scarce and baseline information is needed. This large mesotrophic lake lies at the juncture of several different geologic provinces offering exciting research potential in many areas of natural science and archaeology.