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Author(s):
Stephen F. Arno, Lars Ostlund, Robert E. Keane
Year Published:

Cataloging Information

Topic(s):
Fire History
Frequency
Fire Regime
Fire Intensity / Burn Severity
Fire & Traditional Knowledge
Management Approaches
Recovery after fire
Ecosystem(s):
Ponderosa pine woodland/savanna

NRFSN number: 8160
FRAMES RCS number: 7217
Record updated:

Until late in the nineteenth century, magnificent ponderosa pine forests blanketed much of the inland West. They covered perhaps 30 million acres, an area the size of New York state, spreading across the mountains of New Mexico, Arizona, and California and flourishing throughout the eastern Cascades, the intermountain Pacific Northwest, and the Rocky Mountains northward as far as British Columbia. This magazine article discusses the ecology of the ponderosa pine forests of the west, their significance to the Native Americans who used the trees for shelter, building material, firewood, and food, and the importance of fire to maintain these historically open forests.

Citation

Arno, Stephen F.; Ostlund, Lars; Keane, Robert E. 2008. Living artifacts: the ancient ponderosa pines of the west. Montana: The Magazine of Western History. Spring 2008: 55-62.