This tree is normally found in wet coastal climates but there is a small population near John Day in Central Oregon. Back in the Pleistocene era Central Oregon was wet but after the uplift of the Cascade Mountain range this area became the dry side of Oregon. I love the geologic history of this area!
According to Conifer Country blog by Michael Kauffmann, there is a 26 acre population in the Cedar Grove Botanical Area in the Aldrich Mountains in the Malheur National Forest. The normal range of Yellow Cedar's is Alaska, British Columbia and into Northern Oregon with a few isolated groves in the Siskiyou Mountains of Northern California (an ecologically diverse environment I need to explore more!)
Michael's blog is an excellent and very informative read, he goes into much more depth and I highly recommend you read it.
Since this tree can survive out near John Day I would like to try it here in Bend, Oregon. A tree with such an interesting history should be the focal point of a landscape!
Yellow Cedar 'Aldrich Mountains' in a small nursery pot
Trunks of mature Yellow Cedar 'Aldrich Mountains' by Dave Powell USDA Forest Service taken in the Aldrich Mountains of Oregon.
