Ponderosa Pine Plantation

The following is a true story of tragedy and hope.

In the 1930's the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) planted Ponderosa Pine on the Meadow Creek Bench in Southern Utah. The trees did fantastic! They were to be enjoyed by all. It was a real pleasure riding through the plantaion on horseback once the trees had matured.

Sometime around the mid 1980's, a firewood cutter, led by greed, girdled about a dozen trees. Girdling removes the protective bark and destroys the cambium layer, the lifeblood of the tree. Needless-to-say, all the trees died. It is a well-known fact that standing dead makes some of the best firewood. The problem, however, went deeper than just the chosen dozen.

Because the dozen mature trees were stressed and dying, they attracted the Ponderosa Pine Beetle. Scientists' discovered in the late 1980's that the beetle are attracted to sick and dying trees by a high-frequency sound emitted from the trees but inaudible to the human ear. Trees are living entities.

Once the beetles had infested the girdled trees and reproduced, they began attacking the healthy trees as well. Unfortunately, the current method of control is to remove all infected trees. The U.S. Forest Service marked over a thousand trees for timber harvest. The original plantation was virtually destroyed.

In 1989, after gaining a special permit to remove a few more infected trees, I was involved with the local Boy Scouts and contacted the Forest Service about replanting. I borrowed planting equipment, prepared the seedlings, and planted over a thousand trees. After more than 15 years, we have had a phenomenal success rate and the trees are healthy and doing great! Below are pictures of the plantation today (fall 2006). Pictured is my good friend Jerry Dixon of Alaska (author, climber of mountain peaks, and RidgeRunner), myself, and Al Wingate (who taught with me in Alaska) playing Pine Cone Baseball under some mature trees that survived the previous onslaught.

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