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9^Ti^NA*S

NATURAL RESOURCES

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Sit down in climbing, and hear the pines sing.

- John Muir

The evergreen forests of Montana are far different from the hardwood forests in other parts
of the United States. In Montana, the trees are mostly conifers with their roots in the rocky,
acid soils of the western mountains or the benches and uplands of the eastern two-thirds of
the state. Ground cover is sparse in many places, partly because soils are thin and moisture is
low. These forests provide a variety of valuable things— water, timber, livestock grazing,
recreation, and wildlife habitat.

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation thanks
the Iowa State University Press for permission to use illustrations from its
publication. Rocky Mountain Trees, by Richard J. Preston.

western
redcedor

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Figure 1. Some of the Principal Trees in Montana

Peggy Todd

What Grows Where?

Many factors influence the kinds of trees
that grow in certain locations. Moisture,
soil, and elevation are three of these fac-
tors. Equally important is aspect or expo-
sure— which direction a mountain slope or
a foothill faces. Slopes that face south or
west are ordinarily dryer and warmer than
those that face north or east. A north-fac-
ing area usually holds snow or other mois-
ture longer. These are some of the
conditions that help determine the kinds of
trees that will grow in certain areas, their
size, and how dense a stand of timber may
be.

. Most of Montana's forests (80 percent) lie
in the western third of the state. But
wherever they grow, the first trees above
the grasslands are usually ponderosa pine.
Douglas fir grows well in moist areas, and
in those places that receive even more
moisture, grand fir, redcedar, western
hemlock, and spruce grow. Below tim-
berline. dryer slopes have subalpine fir.
mountain hemlock, whitebark pine, and al-
pine larch; along the rivers cottonwoods
grow in groves.

The following section includes the loca-
tions where the trees in figure 1 are most
likely to grow.

Limber pine

Limber pine is adapted to a dry climate,
so you wouldn't expect to see large num-
bers of these trees on moist locations. A
small, slow-growing tree, it grows in the
shallow, rocky soils common in the
foothills at 4.000 feet, and to the highest
elevations where trees can grow. The
growth of limber pine may be stunted in
very cold areas, but these trees often live to
be 400 to 500 years old. Rocky Mountain
juniper is also found in these forests,
which provide range for the deer and elk
that feed on the bluebunch wheatgrass and
fescues there.

Ponderosa pine

Montana's state tree, ponderosa pine, is
usually found in a belt that separates
grassland from Douglas fir forests, al-
though Douglas fir are often mixed with
juniper in these stands. The dry uplands
and high benches of eastern and southeast-
ern Montana have open stands of this pine.
Shrubs that grow with ponderosa are
snowberry, bitterbrush, Oregon grape, and
chokecherry. Soils may vary from rocky to
deeper soils with a top layer of duff com-
posed of fallen needles and leaves.

Douglas fir

Moisture and moderate elevations are
the principal requirements of Douglas fir,
which, with subalpine fir, larch, and lodge-
pole pine, predominates in many of the
coniferous forests in Montana's Rockies.
Douglas fir grows in northwestern
Montana at elevations of up to 5,500 feet,
and in southern Montana at elevations of
up to 7,500 feet. (At higher elevations, the
average temperature is lower, which limits
the growth of Douglas fir.) Douglas fir
grows best on deep, moist soils on north
exposures. Shrubs usually growing among
these trees are ninebark, snowberry, and
kinnikinnick. Soils are mostly gravelly,
sandy loams.

Engelmann spruce

Engelmann spruce grows in cool ravines,
at higher elevations of western Montana,
and at the lower elevations of central
Montana. These forests have a mix of
Douglas fir, western larch, and lodgepole in
northwestern Montana. East of the Con-
tinental Divide larch disappears from
forests there. Deer, elk, and moose live in
these mixed forests, where undergrowth is
varied, with huckleberry, Solomon's seal,
geranium, pinegrass, and twinflower.

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Western white pine

Western white pine is found mostly in the
far northwestern corner of Montana,
sharing with western larch the distinction
of being the tallest tree in our forests—
from 90 to 180 feet tall. It grows very
straight, with wood that is soft, light, and
easily worked, so white pine is valuable as
timber.

Redcedar and western hemlock forests
occur in moist areas in the mountainous
northwest corner of Montana, and extend
along the river valleys at lower altitudes.
Larch, lodgepole pine, and Douglas fir, as
well as spruce, are often part of the mixed
forests in these places. Redcedar and
hemlock can grow in dense shade, and of-
ten outlive other trees; redcedar may reach
an age of 600 to 1,000 years. Hemlock
rarely lives to be over 500 years old.

Western redcedar

Grand fir

Grand fir grows in northwest Montana at
lower and middle elevations (2,400 to
5,000 feet), where the climate is like that of
the cool, moist Pacific Northwest, and in
the river valleys of west central Montana.
Undergrowth is usually beargrass, twin-
flower, and wild sarsaparilla.

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Western larch may grow in nearly pure
stands or in mixed forests of Douglas fir,
ponderosa and lodgepole pine. Engelmann
spruce, and alpine and grand fir. It ranges
from 2,000 to 7,000 feet, growing best on
moist locations. These conifers are easily
recognized because their foliage is a light
green, turning to yellow and dropping in
the early fall. Larch is a large, slow-grow-
ing tree that can live over 500 years.

Western larch

Lodgepole pine often grows in dense
stands, where it usually has followed
forest fires. The cones may stay unopened
on the tree for years, but will burst in in-
tense heat and take root in the mineral soil
exposed by fire. This slow-growing conifer
reaches maturity at about 200 years. Be-
cause of its shallow root system, it is prone
to windfall. The wood is fine-textured and
strong, and is used for lumber, mine tim-
bers, and railroad ties.

Lodgepole is found in many forest types,
and has an elevation range of 3,000 to
8,500 feet. Deer, moose, and elk live in
these forests.

^11

Lodgepole pine

Aspen and cottonwood, because they
need lots of moisture, are usually found
along waterways and in damp locations.
Aspen grow in spring-fed groves near con-
ifers, where their golden fall foliage
splashes color against the dark ever-
greens. Along streams beaver often cut as-
pen for winter food, and they use the
trunks of cottonwoods to build their dams
across creeks and ditches.

Subalpine fir ranges from 3,500 feet to
timberline; it grows best with large
amounts of moisture, but has a wide range
and can stand extremely cold tempera-
tures. It is found in mixed forests with
lodgepole and white pine, spruce, and al-
pine larch. Subalpine fir grows very slowly
at high elevations, reaching a height of
only 60 to 70 feet at the age of 200 years,
and may look more like a shrub at tim-
berline.

Subalpine fir

Other trees in this band of severe cli-
matic conditions are whitebark pine,
Engelmann spruce, and, on lower levels,
lodgepole pine. Most trees become dwarfed
at the highest elevations, where July mean
temperatures are not more than 50 °F.
These trees also have to contend with bliz-
zards, deeply frozen soil, high winds, and
wide fluctuations in temperatures. At
higher elevations the principal ground
cover is timberline bluegrass, mosses, and
forbs. The subalpine areas provide sum-
mer range for many species of wildlife —
mountain goats, bighorn sheep, elk, deer,
bear, and mountain lion are among the
larger ones.

Forests as Watersheds

Montana is a headwaters state; three ma-
jor rivers have their beginnings here.
About 65 percent of the water that flows
out of state comes from rivers and streams
that start inside Montana's borders. Water
is one of the most valuable resources that
comes from our forests. People who will
never see our wooded mountains will use
water that once fell as snow or rain in
Montana's Rockies. For instance, an area
that has only 1 5 percent of the state's land
surface contributes a large amount of wa-
ter to the Columbia River Basin— 58 per-
cent of the total amount of water in the
Clark Fork drainage. Only about 10 per-

cent of Montana's water is used in the
state; most of that goes to irrigate crops
and pasturelands.

It would be hard to overestimate the im-
portance of forests to our watersheds. (A
watershed is a region or area that supplies
water to a lake or river.) Trees and shrubs
in the forests help to hold the snowpack
that builds up during our long cold winters;
the shade and undergrowth help to keep it
frozen. In some years, brief warming pe-
riods in January and February may melt
some of this snowpack. Often, though, be-
low-freezing temperatures keep it trapped
in the higher elevations. In May and June,
the snow melts and runs into streams and
rivers, providing more water for agricul-
ture, industry, home use, recreation, and
power generation. Some of this water is
stored in about 61,000 farm ponds and 67
reservoirs; there are also 1,500 natural
lakes in the state.

(For more information on Montana's wa-
ter resources, see the Water chapter of this
series.)

Forest Products

Montana's lumber industry began as an
offshoot of her first industry, mining. The
first commercial lumber mill was set up in
Virginia City in 1863 to supply mine tim-
bers and building materials. The railroads
that advanced into Montana needed lum-

Early Day Logging

ber for their ties, and for the towns that
sprang up along the way. With the advent
of copper mining, sawmills supplied mil-
lions of dollars worth of fuel for the smel-
ters and timbers for the tunnels.

Montana's logging industry is centered
on the west side of the Continental Divide,
where 58 percent of the state's timber
grows. Montana's portion of the nation's
commercial forests is not large— 3 1/2 per-
cent, but lumbering is an important part of
the state's commerce. Lumber mills and
other industries that use timber and wood
products ordinarily employ about 40 per-
cent of the manufacturing workers in the
state. In 1981, 9,100 people worked in
these industries. Montana's forests con-
tain 23,200,000 acres of forested land, of

which 14,400,000 acres are commercial
timberland.

Douglas fir and larch provide over half of
Montana's lumber production: the most
valuable woods for lumber are white pine,
Douglas fir, larch, and ponderosa pine. The
long, straight trunks of the lodgepole pine
are used for utility poles, posts, and house
logs. Their use depends on their size and
the quality of the wood. Veneers, plywood,
pulp, and paper are processed in the state.
There is also a thriving business in Christ-
mas trees in western Montana.

Four principal types of logging are used:
clearcut, seedtree, selective, and shelter-
wood (figure 2). In the clearcut method, all
trees are taken from an area, allowing uni-
form regrowth and opening the forests to

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CLEARCUT

SHELTERWOOO

SELECTIVE CUT

SEED TREE

Figure 2. Four Methods of Cutting

Poggy Todd

grazing by livestock and big game animals.
The second method, shelterwood cut-
ting, leaves some larger trees to provide
shade for young trees. Selective cutting,
the third method, is done by removing the
oldest and largest trees in a stand of tim-
ber. This may be done over a period of
several years. The fourth method is the
seed-tree method which leaves scattered,
mature trees to seed a logged-over area.

Fire — Tool or Disaster?

Primitive people often used fire to drive
game out of shelter. They also set fires to
clear land for crops, as some tribes do in
Africa. Early settlers in this country did
the same thing. But usually fire has been
considered a disaster by modern people,
and for good reasons (figure 3).

lost. For years after, the rivers ran thick
with silt washed from the bare earth.

Fire control in the northwest had begun
before 1910, but the fires of that year gave
terrible evidence of what uncontrolled fire
could do. By the next year, the lumber com-
panies had joined with foresters to prevent
fire in the woods and to get fire fighters as
fast as possible to those fires that did start.
The University of Montana at Missoula es-
tablished a smoke jumpers school, and a
laboratory for the design of fire fighting
equipment was set up. Both are at the Mis-
soula airport; visitors may tour this center.
And to help restore the forests that had
been burned, millions of new trees were
planted.

A fire may occur in a location where it
doesn't threaten human life or property.

Figure 3. Forest Fire!

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The worst fire in Montana's history,
which began on August 20, 1910, was part
of a flaming band of forest fires that swept
across Idaho and Washington that sum-
mer. It burned 3 million acres of tim-
berland in the three states, and killed 85
people. An untold number of wildlife was

Such a fire is now sometimes allowed to
burn itself out. Fire is a natural occur-
rence. All-out prevention can upset the bal-
ance of nature and other problems can
result.

Some species of trees, such as ponderosa
pine, Douglas fir. lodgepole pine, and west-

ern larch are adapted for regrowth by the
conditions that follow a fire. Mature trees
with thick bark are protected against the
fire's heat, and seed cones that were on the
ground at the time of the fire break open.
Unless fire burns into the ground, steriliz-
ing it, enough seeds are left for regrowth.
In the mineral soil exposed by the fire, the
seeds germinate, and start to form new
trees.

Insects and Disease

Just as deadly to trees as fire, insects
like the mountain pine beetle can kill whole
stands of trees. The pine beetle attacks ma-
ture trees; another pest, the spruce
budworm, attacks trees of all ages. The re-
sulting dead trees are a fire hazard, as well
as a loss of valuable forestland. Great dam-
age can also be caused by the pine and fir
engraver beetles, the Douglas fir tussock
moth, and the larch casebearer.

Trees sometimes get diseases such as
rust and fungus. Trees attacked by the
parasite, dwarf mistletoe, develop growths
in their branches, called witches' brooms.

Grazing

Grazing for livestock is another impor-
tant forest use in Montana, both on public
and private land (figure 4). About 3.7 mil-
lion acres of public lands on our ten na-

Mtintana Department of Comnifrce

H- NATIONAL FORESTS

When did the idea of national
forests get started? Montana's Lew-
is and Clark National Forest, one of
the early "forest reserves," was set
aside in 1877. Others were es-
tablished in 1891, but it wasn't un-
til 1907 that these reserves became
known as national forests.

Before that time, many of the
hardwood forests in the eastern
United States had already been cut
down for lumber, firewood, and
charcoal. In the Pacific northwest,
the "timber barons" were logging
huge tracts of unclaimed forest,
leaving the land stripped. The first
forest reserves were set aside to
preserve and manage other
woodlands that were being threat-
ened by destruction. So today's na-
tional parks and grasslands,
wildlife and bird refuges, wilder-
ness areas, and many other pre-
serves became a part of our
national inheritance.

Figure 4. Cattle on the Range

tional forests* can be used by ranchers
who have grazing permits or leases. It was
once a common sight to see cattle and
sheep being driven along some of our
highways to summer pasture in June and
back to the ranches again in September.

Cattle and other livestock can share the
summer range with deer and elk with few
problems. Livestock aren't moved to the
ranges until the grass has grown high
enough for grazing. If spring "green-up"
comes late, the permitted grazing season is
shorter.

Recreation

Montana has over sixteen million acres
in her ten national forests, with many
campgrounds, hiking and riding trails, and
scenic highways. Two national parks also
attract visitors. Glacier Park is in the high
peaks of the northwest corner of the state,
and part of Yellowstone Park lies in the
lodgepole pine forests along Montana's
southwest border (figure 5).

The forested western mountains offer
both anglers and hunters many hours of
pleasure. Most of Montana's blue ribbon
trout streams rise in these mountains, and
some of the finest big game hunting can be
found here. also.

Figure 5. Recreation in Our Forests

Miintdn.i Department of Commerce

Skiers have a choice of a number of ski
areas, from Big Mountain north of White-
fish to Showdown near Neihart, and
Bridger Bowl near Bozeman. Cross-coun-
try skiing is popular in many forests, and
there are specially marked trails for snow-
mobiling, too.

Water sports are popular in many places
in Montana's forests. Swimmers can enjoy
hot springs like those located at Chico,
near Pray on the edge of Yellowstone Park,
and Lolo, southwest of Missoula. Flathead
Lake, surrounded by wooded hills, is a fa-
vorite spot not only for swimming, but for
sailing as well.

Hikers, backpackers, and photographers
might prefer to head for one of Montana's
eleven wilderness areas; all are in national
forests. Remarkable for their rugged
beauty, their remoteness, and the variety
of wildlife they hold, they appeal to people
who want challenge, solitude, and inspira-
tion.

Wildlife Habitat

Montana has almost nine million acres of
publicly-owned wildland, and most of it is

forested. The terrain is often extremely
rugged, with steep slopes and rocky out-
crops. Numerous high mountain lakes are
scattered in the hollows between the
peaks; lively small torrents rush along the
drainages, and meandering, willow-fringed
creeks run through the mountain
meadows.

Bighorn sheep and Rocky Mountain
goats range from 5,000 feet to above tim-
berline, where the wind keeps the alpine
grasses clear of snow. Elk, deer, and the
larger carnivores, grizzly bear, black bear,
and mountain lion live in the forests and
forest edges, moving into the upland parks
after food, and retreating into the woods
for shelter. Falcon, eagle, and owl live and
hunt on the forest edges (figure 6). and
moose browse on willows in the
marshlands and along the creeks.

Game fish such as brown trout and Dolly
Varden inhabit the cold, fast-moving wa-
ters. And in the alder, cottonwood, and
quaking aspen groves, the beaver builds
dams and stores food for the time when ice
covers its ponds.

Figure 6. Eagles Gather in Glacier Park

Montana Di'parlnient (if Commerce

The importance of forests as habitat has
increased as more land is occupied by agri-
cultural, urban, and industrial uses. Some
wildlife species, like the grizzly (figure 7),
were once also found on eastern Montana's
plains, but are now limited to the high
mountains and meadows of the Rockies.

All wildlife needs a place to live where it
can get the food it needs, where it can avoid
its enemies, and where there is enough
room for it to move freely. In Montana, the
forests make all these things possible for
many species of wildlife.

Figure 7. Grizzlies

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Issues

An area valued by recreationists may
also have timber wanted by logging
companies. Is the value of the timber to
private industry greater? Or is the land
and its trees more important to the
public? Other questions may be: Are
roads acceptable in a roadless area?
What is the age and condition of the
timber? How will logging affect the wa-
tershed?

2 . There may be a market for the minerals
in national forests. Recent discoveries
of natural gas and oil along the Over-
thrust Belt (see the Minerals section of
this series) may mean that develop-
ment will take place in these forests.
How do we decide how much?

3. As forest land increases in value for re-
sorts, skiing areas, second homes, and
camping, how is a fair decision made?
Who gets what?

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