The Wind River Experimental Forest is an ecological and silvicultural research in Stabler, Washington, in the United States. Used as a research site by the U.S. Forest Service beginning in 1908, and functioning as an experimental forest since 1932, it is "known as the cradle of forest research in the Pacific Northwest". The site is probably best known for the Wind River Canopy Crane Research Facility (WRCCRF), a -high freestanding tower crane which supported an 8-person gondola allowing scientists to view the forest canopy from above. The tallest trees in the forest are about . Many studies at Wind River continue for decades. This long-term research has resulted in important findings about forest ecology and management. Location It is located west of the Cascade Range in the south-central area of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, north of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. It is about a 1.5-hour drive east of Vancouver, Washington, in the Mount Adams Ranger District. History Research at Wind River began with the assignment of Forest Service scientist Thornton T. Munger in 1908 to the new North Pacific District in Portland, Oregon. Munger began studying the Douglas fir trees of the western Cascades, setting up research plots throughout the Wind River area. In 1910, Munger, along with Julius Kummel, established a permanent nursery at Wind River, near the existing Hemlock Ranger Station on the Columbia National Forest (today the Gifford Pinchot National Forest). In 1912, Munger established the Wind River Arboretum to study the sustainability of exotic trees in the Pacific Northwest environment. The successful research operations already in place at Wind River led to the Forest Service officially designating the site as the Wind River Experiment Station in 1913. The Wind River Experiment Station became the Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station in 1924, with operations based in Portland, Oregon and Thornton Munger as director. In 1932, the research area was officially designated as the Wind River Experimental Forest. The WRCCRF The WRCCRF was established in 1994 and erected in 1995 as a cooperative scientific and educational venture among the University of Washington (UW) College of Forest Resources, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Pacific Northwest Research Station, and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The crane is a Liebherr 550 HC freestanding tower crane with a load jib extension purchased from Morrow Crane Company, Inc., of Salem, Oregon. According to an article by Sandra