We started at an elevation of about 6,400 feet. At his location there were many Pinion Pines, Junipers, rabbit brush, sagebrush, Indian rice grass, and cheat grass. At this location there were two different layouts. There were areas with more trees making a forest and there was a large area that had a few trees scattered through out. There were efforts to increase land for deer to graze so the trees were chain sawed down. Sadly their efforts failed because cheat grass has taken over all the open area. Cheat grass is a grass that grows very rapidly and uses all the nutrients and water from the land before any other grass or plant can grow. They removed many pinion pines and junipers, which grow very slowly and up to and over 100 years old. The area that was not removed had less cheat grass, more rocks with moss on them, and more rabbet brush. …show more content…
As we moved up a small amount to an elevation of 6,920 there were still pinion pines and junipers as well as rabbit brush and cheat grass but we began to see gamblers oak.
Gamblers oak is a classic plant that is a major food source for bears with the acorns. At this elevation the trees were denser and there were areas of the land that had been thinned out specifically to allow more growth. The pinion pines were taller it seemed than at the lower elevation. There also seemed to be fewer junipers than pinion pine as well as there was less cheat grass at this elevation because the land had not been manipulated as much as it had been at the elevation of 6,400
feet. A larger distance up to the elevation of 8,160 feet we can begin to see across the way that the junipers and pinion pines are fading out. There are still very similar plants at the lower elevations of pinion pines, junipers, rabbit brush, and gamblers oak. As we move up a short distance to the elevation of 8,400 still similar to the lower elevations, pinion pines, junipers, sagebrush, and gamblers oak. At this elevation there is more moisture and we see that gamblers oak is growing very densely! There are fewer and fewer pinion pines and junipers as we move up in elevation. A new plant is introduced called chokecherries, 7-leaf shrub, mahogany, and thistle plants. The elevation of 9,000 feet brings us to an area that is no longer pinion pine/juniper woodland, yet there are very few scattered junipers and pinion pines at this elevation. At this elevation we are introduced to Aspen trees, subalpine fir which there are less at this elevation than seen at higher elevations, and Douglas fir. There are some gamblers oaks at this elevation, but less than seen before. Galls can be seen on the oak, and we pointed it out at this elevation. Galls are a deformity to leaves. At this elevation there is mutualism with the birds and trees, this can be seen that the birds gets a next in a tree and the tree then gets the seeds dispersed to other areas. As we get higher to the elevation of 9,500 there is an abundance of aspen trees, and some chokecherries. This area we stopped at had a large amount of boulders and rock up the mountain. At this location there are chipmunks, and pikas, the pikas get ay and dry it to fed on it during the winter. We move up more to 9,980 and we are now into spruce fir woodland. In this area there are blue spruce, and more alpine fir than what was seen at the lower level. There are a few thistles, and some grasses, but the land is covered in tall trees.
By noon they had begun to climb toward the gap in the mountains. Riding up through the lavender or soapweed, under the Animas peaks. The shadow of an eagle that had set forth from the line of riders below and they looked up to mark it where it rode in that brittle blue and faultless void. In the evening they came out to upon a mesa that overlooked all the country to the north... The crumpled butcher paper mountains lay in sharp shadowfold under the long blue dusk and in the middle distance the glazed bed of a dry lake lay shimmering like the mare imbrium. (168)
Sidney Investments, a firm based in Dallas, Texas, is considering the purchase of a 360 acre parcel of forested land located in the Quachita Mountains of eastern Oklahoma. This land has been under timber production through one rotation to this point. Sidney Investments would like to be advised on the possibilities of keeping that land in timber production and the operations necessary for the management of shortleaf pine. Sidney has come to Hall-Tree Silvicultural Consultants for a description of the silvicultural procedures involved, and the firm will then perform an economic analysis, checking the current market prices for the implementation of those procedures before making a decision on the purchase of this property.
These are very difficult questions for me personally to answer because I live in the Pacific Northwest, and I have seen the beauty of the old growth forests first-hand.
Although Leopold’s love of great expanses of wilderness is readily apparent, his book does not cry out in defense of particular tracts of land about to go under the axe or plow, but rather deals with the minutiae, the details, of often unnoticed plants and animals, all the little things that, in our ignorance, we have left out of our managed acreages but which must be present to add up to balanced ecosystems and a sense of quality and wholeness in the landscape.
In The Dull Knifes of Pine Ridge by Joe Starita, Starita focuses on five generations of the Dull Knife family which goes from the 1870s until the present. He starts by asking the reader to visualize the history of the Dull Knife family and how they had to adapt and were able to survive after the Northern Cheyenne were forcefully removed from the northern plains to Oklahoma Indian Territory and 3 back to the northern plains again. The story started with Guy Dull Knife Sr. living in a convalescent home in Colorado and would start to trace his ancestry back to the original Chief Dull Knife. George Dull Knife, his son, was born in 1875, most likely came north to the Pine Ridge reservation many years after and found his identity with the Lakota rather than the Northern Cheyenne. George
Long-leaf pine areas have been converted to loblolly or slash pine plantations or severely fire suppressed. Urban development was a major cause of habitat loss in the early part of this century, as was logging.
When people see new construction or a recently paved road, they often do not realize the sacrifice that was made to create these luxuries. Most people pass some form of construction on the way to their jobs or school every day. This simple fact sparks questions regarding what this area looked like before it was inhabited by humans. Illinois forests have undergone drastic changes in the decades since European settlement. Only 31 % of the forest area present in 1820 exists today. (Iverson Pdf) Tearing down trees to build new structures isn’t bad if done in moderation, in some ways with time and good planning its wonderful. However, anyone that hunts or claims to be an outdoorsman will relate to the incomparable feeling experienced when alone in the woods and far from the hustle of the urbanized world.
The plants growing among Montana’s peaks and valleys range from tall evergreen trees to grasses. The mountainous areas are covered with forests. However, at each level, from the mountaintops to the valleys, there are different, distinct collections of plant life. The mountainsides are largely covered with towering spruce, pine, cedar, and Douglas fir trees (Av2
America’s federal forest management dates back to the mid 1870’s when Congress decided to create the U.S. Department of Agriculture to maintain the forestry. This environmental department represented the growth in America’s industry and the depletion of forests. Yet, as it was defeating the initial purpose, more natural resources were being lost from their area and the government had not acknowledged the damage. The conservationist Gifford Pinchot, created an impact on society by taking a stand to conserve the natural resources by leading the United States Forest service, embracing scientific forest, and contributed to Roosevelt’s decision to protect wildlife, thus paving the way for natural conservation in the future.
The area of Black Forest was settled in pre-colonial times by numerous native Indian tribes like the Utes and the Comanche’s. These groups were eventually driven out by various other groups like the Arapahoe and Cheyenne tribes who prior to settlement drove out the native Kiowa tribes, the Arapahoe and Cheyenne consequently, were the last known native inhabitants of the area. These native tribes made great use of the land which was abundant with natural and valuable crops and trees. With vegetation such as the Ponderosa Pines which provided fuel and materials for building, and the corn and wheat crops used for multifaceted tools and cooking items, the various indigenous groups were well suited to their surrounding location. White settlers began to inhabit the area in earnest around the mid 1800’s and eventually became the dominant group of the range by the 1860’s. This eventually led to the perpetual settlement and commercialization of the area and it later became known for its lumber, cattle and crop farming, ranching, and potatoes. By the late 1880’s Black Forest was predominantly shipping out cattle, potatoes, crops such as corn, wheat and hay. However ...
In August 2002, President Bush launched his revolutionary campaign against wildfires known as the Healthy Forest Initiative (HFI). The President’s dynamic plan centers on preventing massive forest fires by thinning the dense undergrowth and brush commonly seen in our national forests. The thinning will occur in priority areas that are in close proximity to homes and watersheds. The Healthy Forest Initiative also aims at developing a more efficient response method to disease and insect infestations that sabotage our forests. Finally, if fully enacted, the Healthy Forest Initiative would provide the loggers with what is known as “goods for services”. This will compensate the loggers for the financial burden that will surface as a result of this aggressive thinning (http://www.sierraclub. org/forests /fires/healthyforests initiative.asp). In order to promote the progress of his Healthy Forest Initiative, in 2003 President Bush announced the Healthy Forest Restoration Act. This act took the main issues discussed in the Healthy Forest Initiative a step further. Bush plans to make a collaborative effort with federal, state, tribal, and local officials to protect our woodlands against future infernos. The act also calls for more public participation in reviewing any actions taken in lieu of the Healthy Forest Initiative. Furthermore, Bush wants to restore the land that has already been destroyed by wildfires and help to recover the threatened and endangered species that were affected by the fires (http://www.
While this was most likely not his intention, his rhetoric would lay the foundation of what the average American expected to experience, and see, when out in nature. Muir’s definition of wilderness was grounded in the most aesthetically pleasing a specific environment could be, not human presence; although humans do have a habit of natural destruction. While discussing the found in Black Hills Reserve he includes arnica as one of plants, which, “Give abundance of color and make all the woods a garden” (Muir). Interestingly, Arnica, also known as Wolfsbane, is an invasive species brought over from Northern Europe. To Muir the components of a wilderness, “as pure as paradise” do not necessarily have to be traditionally native as long as it is beautiful.
Petrified Forest National Park is located in the Painted Desert in northeastern Arizona taking up 93,532.57 acres of its land. Before the national park was established, it was founded as a National Monument on December 8, 1906 when President Theodore Roosevelt signed the proclamation. Years later, the Congress passed a bill and established it as a national park on December 9, 1962. Centuries before Petrified Forest National Park was preserved as a national park, the land was preoccupied by the Paleo people. At the onset of the end of the last Ice Age, hunter-gatherers, people who lived by hunting game and only gathering edible plants, roamed the Southwest from 13,500 to 8000 B.C. Although these people enjoy meals consisting of meat and vegetables, they don’t raise livestock and grow crops. During these years of hunting and gathering, the region was cooler with a grassland environment, and people gathered wild plants for food and hunted bison and other large herd of animals. The types of bison these people hunted are now extinct. Nomads used a device called an atlatl to throw their weapons, such as spears and darts, to hunt. By 4000 B.C., during the archaic culture, the climate had changed and became similar to the one of the present. This period of hunting, gathering, and farming had lasted from 8000 to 500 B.C. In contrast to the time of the Paleo people, the climate was warmer, people extended their access to different types of food, and people began to farm and grow their crops. Due to the extinction of animals of the past, people had to expand their source of food, and they had to include many different species of plants and animals into their meals. Two hundred twenty-five million years ago, trees fell and were washe...
Hills dominate much of San Rafael’s geographical profile. Partially located on a large rock quarry, San Rafael’s jagged edges provide stark contrast with its smooth, rolling hills and the nearby China Camp State Park, an almost unknown escape filled with lush greenery and forests. 10 years ago, both the state park and the surrounding hills were covered with oak trees. Recently however, the disease Sudden Oak Death has posed a serious threat to every oak tree in the area. Forestry officials have been forced to burn out any trees that have been infected with the disease, leaving the skeletons of these once mighty trees to dot the landscape. These reminders of nature’s tr...
In the last decade, from the Rockies to New England and the Deep South, rural and suburban areas have been beset by white-tailed deer gnawing shrubbery and crops, spreading disease and causing hundreds of thousands of auto wrecks. But the deer problem has proved even more profound, biologists say. Fast-multiplying herds are altering the ecology of forests, stripping them of native vegetation and eliminating niches for other wildlife. ' 'I don 't want to paint deer as Eastern devils, ' ' said Dr. McShea, a wildlife biologist associated with the National Zoo in Washington, ' 'but this is indicative of what happens when an ecosystem is out of whack. ' ' The damage is worse than anyone expected, he and other scientists say. Higher deer densities have affected growth, survival, and reproduction of many plant species which have aesthetic, economic or ecological value. In some cases, many species of trees have also been shown to have reduced growth as a result of high deer density (Environmental Benefits of Hunting, 1). Deer prefer certain plant species over others and frequently feed on economically valuable tree species. For example, they prefer oak and sugar maple seedlings, as well as acorns, over less palatable species like American Beech and striped maple. Thus, less marketable species are more likely to survive to maturity,