Starting about a hundred and fifty years ago, the forests of the west were extensively logged to timber mines, support railroad tracks, for buildings, and for fuel. If you look at old pictures of Aspen, the hillsides were nearly bare. By the early 1900's, the mountains were so stripped of timber that the residents began a campain to manage the forests. One such area that inspired the complaints was an area north and west of Colorado Springs called the Rampart Range, a spot that is near and dear to me. Old pictures show it nearly devoid of trees.

(EDIT: This campain led to the creation of the National Forests, to be managed by the agricultural department.)

For foresters, they don't seem to know much about forest succession. Aspen trees are basiclly big weeds that love lots of sunshine. That's why they are naturally the first trees to grow in an area that has been logged or burned. Aspen spreads primarily by sending out an extensive root system from which new trees pop up. When you see a big grove of aspen trees you are looking at a handful of primary trees surrounded by their genetically identical offspring. That's way they often turn color in clumps. Aspen trees typically live from 100 to a 150 years. Not long ago, there was a study that showed that most Aspen trees in Colorado were mature and getting old.

Evergreen trees, on the other hand, like shade when they are young seedlings. They like to grow up under the quaking caonpy of the aspens. As they mature, they begin to take over the forest, succeeding the aspens as they grow.

Right now, the pine beetle is destroying whole mountain sides of pine trees. I was just up in the mountains, and the area along I-70 near the Eisenhower tunnel is pretty depressing: whole forests dead where they stand, their dark greens now a dark brown. And we've been lucky this year with ample rain and snow, if it gets dry again, the place could go up in an inferno that will make the fire in California look like a birthday candle. The state is starting to log those areas, you are going to see alot of blue stained wood showing up as dimension lumber and for wood crafting, and processed into wood stove pellets.

I only hope that the foresters don't try to plant pine trees in these areas, like they always seem to. They should be planting aspen, and let the forest heal in the way it has for thousands of years.

But what do I know, I'm just a geologist.