2008Report The Health of Colorado’s Forests Special Issue: High Elevation Forests Acknowledgements David A. Leatherman, Forest Entomologist, Colorado State Forest Service (retired), is the primary author of the 2008 Report on the Health of Colorado’s Forests. Thanks to the following Colorado State Forest Service employees who served on the Report Working Group and/or provided guidance and feedback on the report: Ingrid Aguayo, Forest Entomologist Ron Cousineau, Granby District Forester Shawna Crocker, Project Learning Tree Coordinator Dave Farmer, North Area Forester Skip Edel, GIS Program Manager Joseph Duda, Forest Management Division Supervisor Jan Hackett, Assistant Staff Forester, Policy and Legislative Affairs Kathryn Hardgrave, Assistant District Forester, Salida District Mike Harvey, South Area Forester Damon Lange, Salida District Forester Randy Moench, Nursery Manager Tim Reader, Forester, Utilization and Marketing, Durango District Tom Wardle, Assistant State Forester Keith Wood, Community Forestry – North Area Thanks to those who reviewed and/or provided information for this report: Marta Ahrens, Division of Water Resources, State of Colorado Dr. Tony Cheng, Director, Colorado Forest Restoration Institute, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University William Ciesla, Aerial Survey Coordinator, U.S. Forest Service (retired) and Colorado State Forest Service Colorado State Demography Office Colorado Tourism Office Nancy Fishering, Vice President, Colorado Timber Industry Association Susan Gray, Group Leader, Forest Health Management Rocky Mountain Region, U.S. Forest Service Dr. Kurt Mackes, Research Scientist, Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Watershed Stewardship, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University Dr. William Romme, Professor, Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Watershed Stewardship, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University Dr. John D. Stednick, Professor, Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Watershed Stewardship, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University John Schmid, Forest Entomologist, U.S. Forest Service (retired) Richard Schneider, Publications Manager, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Forest Service Dr. Wayne Shepperd, Senior Scientist, U.S. Forest Service (retired) Ari Stiller, Colorado Ski Country USA Robert Sturtevant, Senior Research Associate, Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Watershed Stewardship, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University Lori Torikai, Division of Water Resources, State of Colorado Tom Troxel, Director, Colorado Timber Industry Association Dr. Charles Troendle, Senior Scientist, U.S. Forest Service (retired) Special thanks to: Katherine Timm, Outreach Division Supervisor, Colorado State Forest Service, and Judy Serby, Conservation Education Program Manager, Colorado State Forest Service, for project leadership, and to Barbara Dennis, Bradley Thomas, and Jeannine Kline, Communications and Creative Services, Colorado State University, for their creative production of this report. February 2009 The 2008 Report on the Health of Colorado’s Forests focuses on our high country forests and the insects and diseases that threaten them. It also takes a look at the connection between humans and these forests, which provide unparalleled recreational opportunities, food and shelter for a diverse array of animals, and raw material for homes. They also capture, purify, and release water for our use. Recent aerial surveys confirm that our high elevation forests are being threatened by spruce beetle, sudden aspen decline, and mountain pine beetle. But change in our forests is inevitable. To truly understand what is occurring in Colorado’s high elevation forests, it is important to understand how these forests die, renew, grow, and function. That is the purpose of this report. This is the eighth in a series of forest health reports developed by the Colorado State Forest Service with guidance from stakeholders who share our concern for Colorado’s forests. As you begin reading the report, you will notice that we took a different approach in telling the story about our high country forests. The report still contains the latest scientific forestry information that readers have come to expect, but it also tells a story that considers the human connection with our forests. During my travels around the state, I have been reminded about the importance of that connection. Many of us choose to live here because of the quality of life our forests provide. And it is up to each of us to take the necessary action to protect them. The action we take now will shape the forests of the future – and the benefits they provide. I hope you enjoy reading about Colorado’s high country forests, and I invite you to contact the Colorado State Forest Service office nearest you to learn more about forestry and what you can do to help restore and protect this valuable natural resource. Thank you for your interest in Colorado’s forests. Sincerely, Jeff Jahnke State Forester / Director Colorado State Forest Service Dave Leatherman COLORADO’S High Country Forests They are the inspiration for postcards. contribution is the thoracic vertebrae. They define the pathways of winter The ribs and muscle, our forests, enclose playgrounds and provide food and shelter the heart of the West. Four major rivers for boreal owls, paintbrush blooms, and originate atop its peaks, and one drop martens. They suffer from avalanches, from one tributary at a time, they gain stem-bending wind, beetles, and killing momentum on their journey to the cold. They are the shaft bones of mines sea. In draining more than a quarter of rich in gold and silver memories. They the lower 48 states, a total exceeding yield raw material for rustic homes, 750,000 square miles, they yield precious exquisite paneling, and life-giving energy. water of immense value to cities, towns, They capture, purify, and release water agriculture, and wildlife. It is no stretch to nurture artichokes in a Pacific valley to claim that the general natural resource and corn on our Eastern Plains. They health of America significantly depends buffer the earth from potential harm and on the well-being of Colorado’s high- sustain life, human and otherwise. These forest ecosystems. high country forests deserve our awe, Ecologists and foresters define our respect, study, use, and sustenance. And lofty forests as the mixed conifer, upper they are the focus of the 2008 Report on montane, and subalpine zones. For the the Health of Colorado’s Forests. purpose of this report, high country If the Rocky Mountains are the forests are defined as those that occur spine of North America, Colorado’s 9,000 feet and above in elevation. Introduction Dave Leatherman Opposite: Spruce and fir forest on Cameron Pass in the foreground; Nokhu Crags are in the background (photo by Ingrid Aguayo). Left: Expansive spruce and fir forest near Clear Creek in Lake County. Above: The phenomenon of “timberline” at about 11,000 feet in the San Juan Mountains near Silverton. Ingrid Aguayo For hundreds of years, their growth But those are the parameters of the learn about how these forests die, renew, and change virtually imperceptible, forests we see when hiking a fourteener grow, and function. And during the forests have simply existed in the minds or cruising a paved mountain pass. Of next forest cycle, we can learn together of many as a pleasant, dark-green blanket course, change in forests, in Colorado where an active hand of intervention is around the flanks of beloved mountains. and everywhere on earth, is inevitable. appropriate and where we should just Not many people live there, and the ones But at times like the present, when vast, watch with eyes wide open. who do are a hardy lot relying on them old forests are reaching their time, when The next section of this report for subsistence. Most of us, however, incremental change transforms another introduces “the players” – the dominant know them as destinations for skiing, millimeter of new wood to bright red tree species and a few of the prominent hiking, camping, aspen viewing, firewood foliage and death, we suddenly notice. associated plants and animals of gathering, hunting, and places to wow Our immediate emotional response and Colorado’s high elevation forests. Of visitors. They exist at scales difficult to sense of something being out of balance necessity, these pages are brief but, imagine. Who can relate to landscapes is understandable. To truly understand hopefully, will spark further inquiry. and timeframes that are more than three what is occurring in our high elevation centuries old? forests, we must engage our intellect and Simplified Elevational Gradient of Colorado Ecosystems (Elevations of these ecosystems are approximate, as ranges Alpine Tundra 11,500 vary from location to location.) Forest-Alpine Ecotone 11,000 Sub-Alpine Forest 9,000 Upper Montane 7,000 Elevation (feet) Lower Montane 6,000 Lower Ecotone Shrubland 5,000 Shortgrass Steppe High Elevation Forests 3 High Country Players High Country Players Conifers dominate the vast expanse of Colorado’s high elevation forests. Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir dominate the higher elevations. These two evergreens are so tightly bound that they seem one species. On closer look, they are individually mingled with the upper reaches of lodgepole pine forests. Blue spruce, bristlecone pine, limber pine, and white fir add their own assets High Elevation to the portfolio. And of course,