The West's Vast Ponderosa Pine Forest has been home to people for thousands of years. Ponderosas from distant mountains provided timbers for ancient southwestern pueblos, and nomadic Indians often wintered among the pines and peeled their bark for food in spring. Pioneers on horseback marveled as they rode through yesterday's forest of giant pines and grassy glades. Ponderosa timber built Cold Rush-era flumes and sluice boxes, frontier towns, and ties and trestles for the transcontinental railroad. That forest is mostly gone now. Heavy early logging and successful fire suppression have transformed it into a forest overgrown with small trees, shredded by bark beetles, and ravaged by wildfires. But the new forest is at great risk, and that is the story of this book. Authors Carl E. Fiedler and Stephen F. Arno recount the history of humans among the ponderosa pines, the historical role of fire, how and why the forest has changed, and what people can do to restore the forest to its former glory. Part II of the book features a richly illustrated guide to 64 special ponderosa places scattered across the West.
The West's Vast Ponderosa Pine Forest has been home to people for thousands of years. Ponderosas from distant mountains provided timbers for ancient southwestern pueblos, and nomadic Indians often wintered among the pines and peeled their bark for food in spring. Pioneers on horseback marveled as they rode through yesterday's forest of giant pines and grassy glades. Ponderosa timber built Cold Rush-era flumes and sluice boxes, frontier towns, and ties and trestles for the transcontinental railroad. That forest is mostly gone now. Heavy early logging and successful fire suppression have transformed it into a forest overgrown with small trees, shredded by bark beetles, and ravaged by wildfires. But the new forest is at great risk, and that is the story of this book. Authors Carl E. Fiedler and Stephen F. Arno recount the history of humans among the ponderosa pines, the historical role of fire, how and why the forest has changed, and what people can do to restore the forest to its former glory. Part II of the book features a richly illustrated guide to 64 special ponderosa places scattered across the West.
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